The Ambivalent Role of Chiefs: Rural Decentralization Initiatives in Malawi

Chiweza, Asiyati Lorraine

doi:10.1057/9780230609716_3

Cited by 26 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Local governments are understood as decentralized political and administrative authorities with elected representatives of the people primarily entrusted with the tasks of democratizing state power and advancing participatory democracy and decision making at the grassroots (Chinsinga, 2005;Chiweza, 2005). Malawi has a two-tier system of government: central and local.…”

Section: An Overview Of the Local Government System In Malawimentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The administrative Downloaded by [Temple University Libraries] at 02:14 19 November 2014 structure is popularly referred to as the Secretariat and responsible for the day to day operations of the local government whereas the political structure is responsible for policy making and enactment of bylaws. The Secretariat is thus an organ of execution, while the Assembly is an organ of debate and decision-making (Chinsinga, 2009;Chiweza, 2005).…”

Section: An Overview Of the Local Government System In Malawimentioning

confidence: 99%

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Slapping Accountability in the Face: Observance of Accountability in Malawi's Local Governments in the Absence of Councilors

Chasukwa

Chinsinga

2013

International Journal of Public Administration

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Against the background of Malawi having had no councilors since the second quarter of 2005, this article aims at establishing the effects of the absence of councilors on the promotion of accountability as a tenet of good governance as espoused in the National Decentralization Policy. Adopting a mixed research design with a strong bias towards qualitative research methodologies, the article finds out that in the absence of councilors, observance of accountability by local governments has been negatively affected. The article argues that in the absence of councilors there has been reversal of accountabilities whereby horizontal accountability has been given more emphasis than vertical accountability; having a secretariat that is both a decision-maker and implementer of decisions has been a recipe for abuse of power; and interim mechanisms and emerging institutions responsible for advocating accountability are limited and a mockery of good governance.

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Section: An Overview Of the Local Government System In Malawimentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: An Overview Of the Local Government System In Malawimentioning

confidence: 99%

Slapping Accountability in the Face: Observance of Accountability in Malawi's Local Governments in the Absence of Councilors

Chasukwa

Chinsinga

2013

International Journal of Public Administration

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“…Former President Muluzi used chiefs to drum up support for his bid to extend his tenure to three consecutive terms (Dulani, 2005;Kanyongolo, 2010), although this was ultimately unsuccessful. In the first decade of the present century, the honorarium of chiefs was raised by more than 1000% (Chiweza, 2005;Chinsinga, 2009). Gaining the support of chiefs was a key part of President Mutharika's strategy for achieving re-election in 2009 -alongside the broad-based nature of the first round of FISP voucher allocations, but also in part achieved through attention to chiefs in the second round.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond Technocratic Debates: The Significance and Transience of Political Incentives in the Malawi Farm Input Subsidy Programme (FISP)

Chinsinga

Poulton

2014

Development Policy Review

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“…Their edited volume (2007) presents eight case studies applying different foci and coming to skeptical conclusions. Chiweza (2007) finds in her analysis of Malawi that the increased role of traditional leaders as official representatives of their local communities reduces constituents to dependent subjects rather than creating politically capable citizens. Hagmann (2007) shows for the Somali region of Ethiopia that the legal incorporation of traditional authorities actually decreases their accountability and reduces their popular legitimacy.…”

Section: Consequences: Democracymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Dualism of Contemporary Traditional Governance and the State

Holzinger

Kern

Kromrey

2016

Political Research Quarterly

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In many parts of the world, people live in "dual polities": they are governed by the state and organize collective decision making within their ethnic community according to traditional rules. We examine the substantial body of works on the traditional-state dualism, focusing on the internal organization of traditional polities, their interaction with the state, and the political consequences of the dualism. We find the descriptions of the internal organization of traditional polities scattered and lacking comparative perspective. The literature on the interaction provides a good starting point for theorizing the strategic role of traditional leaders as intermediaries, but large potentials for inference remain underexploited. Studies on the consequences of "dual polities" for democracy, conflict, and development are promising in their explanatory endeavor, but they do not yet allow for robust conclusions. We therefore propose an institutionalist research agenda addressing the need for theory and for systematic data collection and explanatory approaches.

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The Ambivalent Role of Chiefs: Rural Decentralization Initiatives in Malawi

Cited by 26 publications

References 7 publications

Slapping Accountability in the Face: Observance of Accountability in Malawi's Local Governments in the Absence of Councilors

Slapping Accountability in the Face: Observance of Accountability in Malawi's Local Governments in the Absence of Councilors

Beyond Technocratic Debates: The Significance and Transience of Political Incentives in the Malawi Farm Input Subsidy Programme (FISP)

The Dualism of Contemporary Traditional Governance and the State

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