Neopatrimonialism in Africa

Neopatrimonialism is a conceptual framework frequently used to analyse state politics. This paper reviews objectivist and positivist literature to ascertain the relevance of neopatrimonialism in analysing African state politics. It defines neopatrimonialism following the Weberian model, as the coexistence of a legal-rational domination and a patrimonial domination over the state. The paper reviews neopatrimonialism through the evolution of the African state since colonisation. It uses the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) dataset to assess the prevalence of neopatrimonialism across the world and within Africa. It assesses two propositions to conclude that there can be a “developmental neopatrimonialism” if its practices are regulated but that, inversely, “predatory neopatrimonialism” hinders development. Additionally, the detrimental effect of neopatrimonialism on democracy is ambiguous and democratisation can promote or hinder neopatrimonialism. The paper concludes that neopatrimonialism is a useful research concept if it is specific and able to account for the diversity of practices.