BY WOSSENSEGED ASSEFA
The skeletal system is one of the most important systems in our body. Basic biology tells us that it is a very rigid structure of bones which provides support for our muscles, skin and it also protects our vital organs. Without the skeletal system, we would be unable to do anything, because our nerves, blood flow, lungs, organs would be blocked, squeezed and damaged.
It is the basic foundation upon which the rest of the body stands strong and functional. In a similar fashion, countries have skeletons upon which its other organs depend on to be fully functional and healthy. These skeletons are known as institutions.
As to various documents, the concept of institution commonly applies to both informal institutions such as customs, or behavior patterns important to a society, and to particular formal institutions created by entities such as the government and public services.
In this regard, institutions are the skeletal system of a country. They are better defined as the relationship between the people of a nation and the rules and procedures that govern them.
For the past few days, rumors had been spreading declaring that the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Dr. Abiy Ahmed was terribly ill. These rumors were fueled by the supposed disappearance of the Prime Minister from public eyes.
This created panic among the population and people worried that the country might be on the brink of a major crisis. These are all symptoms of a country with weak institutions that are built around personalities.
In developed countries, we don’t see this kind of havoc being created over the supposed death of a leader. Now obviously it would come as a surprise if any leader died but it wouldn’t create a sense of impending doom like the one, we saw happening in this country.
This is because there are strong institutions in place and these institutions create the framework for the country to survive and thrive under different leaders. Since the institutions are independent, they can sustain the weight of different organs of a country.
In contrast, in our country’s history, we see a repetition of institutions built around single figures and political parties. The famous emperor Haile Selassie I reigned starting from 1930, however, the once honored emperor was deposed by a popular demand which led the Derg to come to power in 1975. The country didn’t have strong institutions therefore the existing institutions changed their shapes and reformed into the image the communist Derg had drawn.
The oppressive communist government fell from its high seats in 1991 when the EPRDF took over power. Again the existing institutions and newly formed ones were built around this party. The law of changing institutions upside down seems to be highly prevalent in our political culture.
When the current government came to power, the reform had shown signs of hope. However, people anticipated a lot of institutional reform. Though there are tangible signs of progress since then, besides the transfer of power, the reform process is not progressing as per expectations.
True, despite the hurdles, the current government has undertaken a promising job on few major institutions like the Ethiopian Military and The National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS). Yet, if the current government was to do the people of Ethiopia a favor, it would be by creating strong independent institutions in each and every sector that would serve as backbones to the existence of the country.
In the political sphere, the 2011 World Development Report makes a strong case for the link between weak institutions and conflict, showing that ineffective governments are more likely to experience extreme violence.
A weak institution is an institution in decline. It’s an institution that’s incapable of performing its duties and tasks properly. It is unstable and non-durable, degrading and in a conflict like a relationship with the society.
In developed countries, we see established rules and institutions that project legitimacy; therefore the people generally accept the decisions made by these institutions even if it is against their personal interest. Whenever institutions are unfair, the system breaks down.
In our country, most institutions have been personalized. A culture of using corruption and bribery to get to higher places in these institutions is prevalent.
This has made institutions that were established for the people, build a negative image creating a feeling of distrust among the masses, and as stated earlier when institutions are unfair, the system breaks down. This would lead to riots by people who feel that these institutions have been unfair to them, and hence political instability.
Apart from the political and social importance of strong institutions, there is an additional economic advantage. The secret behind the most successful nations in the world is that they have managed to build strong institutions over a long period of time.
According to a study done by Rodrik, Subramanian and Trebbiin in 2002, institutional determinants have been found to be the largest factor in determining the economic growth of a country. Institutions that are strong and conducive to economic development reduce the costs of economic activity.
They lower transaction costs by providing common legal frameworks (e.g. contracts and contract enforcement, commercial norms and rules), and they encourage trust by providing policing and justice systems for the cohesion to common laws and regulations.
Protection of property rights, effective law enforcement, and efficient bureaucracies, together with a broad range of norms and civic morals or in other words, strong institutions are found to be strongly correlated to better economic performance over time.
The common approach to building institutions in developing countries is to copy rules and regulations from developed countries and hope that would suffice. This, however, is a major flaw in the development of strong institutions in developing countries.
Uganda is a great example. The government adopted a range of reforms over the last decade. However, this cookie-cutter approach has been very limited. For example, in its anti-corruption campaign, the government has successfully changed its laws to combat corruption, leading to a score of 98 out of 100 for its legal framework from Global Integrity in 2011.
However, corruption continues to be widespread, with Uganda ranking 142nd out of 175 on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index (where number one is the least corrupt).
When in the process of establishing strong institutions, governments should be careful not to copy directly what is in western countries since the specific context is different from country to country. Local context should be taken into account and institutions should be built around those contexts.
Strong institutions lead to stable political, social and economic atmosphere in a country. A country with strong institutions has poverty reduced at a faster rate than those with weak institutions.
Strong institutions are the framework for economic and political stability over a long period of time. Again, if this government is to do the people of Ethiopia a favor it would be to build strong institutions that will set the right set of rules for the game.
Building strong and effective institutions is painstaking work, but the benefits outweigh the pain of building them. The base of a pyramid is the part of the pyramid that takes the largest amount of space however without the pyramid’s base there is no stability.
Anything built without a firm base is doomed to failure after a short while. Institutions are this base upon which the rest of the country, the building, can be built. If we don’t have strong institutions, we have a weak base and from the general laws of physics, we know weak bases will always lead to collapsed buildings.
The Ethiopian Herald February 5/2013
