First Quarter Project - Chapter 6 - Nigeria Vocab

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a system of rule in which power depends not on popular legitimacy but on the coercive force of the political authorities. Hence, there are few personal and group freedoms. It is also characterized by near absolute power in the executive branch and few, if any, legislative and judicial controls.

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authoritarian

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a belief by powerful groups and the broad citizenry that a state exercises rightful authority. In the contemporary world, a state is said to possess legitimacy when it enjoys consent of the governed, which usually involves democratic procedures and the attempt to achieve a satisfactory level of development and equitable distribution of resources.

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legitimacy

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a government's responsibility to its population, usually by periodic popular elections and by parliament's having the power to dismiss the government by passing a motion of no confidence. In a political system characterized by accountability, the major actions taken by government must be known and understood by the citizenry.

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accountability

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a state characterized by instabilities and uncertainties that may render it susceptible to collapse as a coherent entity.

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unfinished state

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literally "struggle." Although often used to mean armed struggle against unbelievers, it can also mean spiritual struggle for more self-improvement.

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jihad

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literally "headless" societies. A number of traditional Nigerian societies, such as the Igbo in the precolonial period, lacked executive rulership as we have come to conceive of it. Instead, the villages and clans were governed by committee or consensus.

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acephalous societies

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traditional Islamic ruler. The emir presides over an "emirate," or kingdom, in northern Nigeria.

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emir

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a term used to describe the British style of colonialism in Nigeria and India in which local traditional rulers and political structures were used to help support the colonial governing structure.

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indirect rule

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employed by the British colonial regime in Nigeria. A system in which "chiefs" were selected by the British to oversee certain legal matters and assist the colonial enterprise in governance and law enforcement in local areas.

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warrant chiefs

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an interventionist state acts vigorously to shape the performance of major sectors of the economy.

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interventionist

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an informal aspect of policymaking in which a powerful patron (for example, a traditional local boss, government agency, or dominant party) offers resources such as land, contracts, protection, or jobs in return for the support and services (such as labor or votes) of lower-status and less powerful clients; corruption, preferential treatment, and inequality are characteristic of clientelist politics.

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clientelism

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a government in which one or a few rulers has absolute power, thus, a dictatorship.

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autocracy

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above-market returns to a factor of production. Pursuit of economic rents (or "rent-seeking") is profit seeking that takes the form of nonproductive economic activity.

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rents

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pusuit of economic rents; is profit seeking that takes the form of nonproductive economic activity

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rent-seeking

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medium-term (generally three to five years) programs (which include both action plans and disbursement of funds) established by the World Bank intended to alter and reform the economic structures of highly indebted Third WOrld countries as a condition for recieving international loans. SAPs often involve the necessity for privatization, trade liberalization, and fiscal restraint.

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structural adjustment program (SAP)

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generally refers to the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the World Bank) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), but can also include other international lending institutions.

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international financial institutions (IFIs)

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an indicator of international flow of funds that shows the excess or deficit in total payments of all kinds between or among countries. Included in the calculation are exports and imports, grants, and international debt payments

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balance of payments

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the sale of state-owned enterprises to private companies or investors. Those who support the policy claim that private ownership is superior to government ownership because for-profit entities promote greater efficiency. Privatization is a common central component of structural adjustment programs to curtail the losses associated with these enterprises and generate state revenue when they are sold.

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privatization

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the right of a sovereign state or an ethnic or other group that shares cultural and historical ties to live together in a given territory and in a manner they desire. It is often the basis of the claim by a state of group for political independence and cultural autonomy

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self-determination

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the organization established in 1975 among the sixteen governments in West Africa. Its goals are to strengthen and broaden the economies in the region through the removal of trade barriers among its members (such as import quotas and domestic content laws), freedom of movement for citizens, and monetary cooperation.

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Economic Community of West African Studies (ECOWAS)

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state-owned, or at least state-controlled, corporations, created to undertake a broad range of activities, from control and marketing of agricultural production to provision of banking services, operation of airlines, and other transportation facilities and public utilities.

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para-statals

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Islamic law derived from the Qur'an and the examples set by the Prophet Muhammed.

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shari'a

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patterns fo political behavior that rest on the justicification that official state offices should be utilized for the personal benefit of officeholders as well as of their support group or clients. Thus, prebendal politics is sustained by the existence of patron-client networks.

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prebendalism

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refers to the space occupied by voluntary outside the state, for example, proffessional associations (lawyers, doctors, teachers), trade unions, student and women's groups, religious bodies, and other voluntary association groups. The term in similar to society, although civil society implies a degree of organization absent from the more inclusive term society.

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civil society

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a political system in which the state requires all members of a particular economic sector to join an officially designated interest group. Such interest groups thus obtain public status, and they participate in national policymaking. The result is that the state has greater control over the groups, and the groups have great control over their members.

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state corporatism

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a state of gevernance in which a single ruler treats the state as a personal property (patrimony). Appontments to public office are made on teh basis of unswerving loyalty to the ruler. In turn, state officials exercise wide authority in other domains, such as the economy, often for their personal benefit and that of the ruler, to the detriment of the general population.

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patrimonalism