Afr.j. polit. sci. (1998), Vol. 3 No. 1,20-41Towards the Creation of an AfricanCivil-Military Relations TraditionRocky Williams*AbstractThis paper seeks first to underscore the limitations of Western models of civilcontrol which African countries employ to create stable civil-military relations.Second, it uses the recent experience of Southern African civil-military relationsto illustrate the extent to which effective civil control over the military has beensecured through a combination of objective and subjective mecahnisms. Andfinally, it suggests some revisions in the conceptual architecture of late moderncivil-military relations theory so as to ensure that discipline is more consistent withthe exigencies of the African political landscape.IntroductionThe influence of Western intellectual and political traditions over both the politicaland intellectual traditions of the developing countries of the periphery has beenwell chronicled by a range of scholars and political analysts alike. The economicdependence of African countries on their former colonial masters was replicatedin the introduction of various political, educational and intellectual systems thatwere markedly similar in both form and content to those of the departing Westerncolonisers. Both the armed forces of African countries and the patterns of civil-military relations which began to emerge during the post-colonial period mirroredthis close ascriptive relationship between coloniser and colonised. Although theethnic and racial composition of the armed forces of the newly independentcountries changed significantly in the first decade following independence, theirculture, traditions and corporate identity remained strongly influenced by thediscourses and ideological themes of the Western armed forces.The emerging patterns of post-independence civil-military relations were alsomarked, at the level of institutions and mechanisms, by a strong similarity between1027-0353 © 199a African Association of Political ScienceTowards the Creation of an African Civil-Military Relations Tradition 21the formal mechanisms and institutions of civil control found in the metropole andthose introduced in the newly independent countries. Virtually all African coun-tries possess, on paper at least, the battery of formal mechanisms via which, it isclaimed, civil control over the armed forces is ensured - although the form of thesemechanisms may vary depending on the country concerned and the politico-juridical system which they have inherited and subsequently adapted. Countriespossessing a stronger legislative tradition tend to emphasise the role of thelegislative mechanisms entrusted with the task of civil oversight - parliamentarycommittees, ombudsman systems and approval of the budget for example. Othercountries with a stronger executive culture may rely more extensively on theregulatory role of civil servants, finance ministries and presidential control toensure the subordination of the armed forces to civil control.An analysis of the political institutions of most African countries thereforereveals a range of formal mechanisms designed to ensure the maintenance of stablecivil-military relations. Typically these include constitutional provisions regulat-ing the functions of the armed forces, parliamentary defence committees, publicaccounts committees, audit and exchequer acts, internal audits and service regu-lations. In some countries, fully-fledged Ministries of Defence and MilitaryOmbudsman systems exist, whilst in others creative and varied forms of civilianoversight over the armed forces have been instituted.Notwithstanding this range of formal mechanisms, the reality underpinningAfrican civil-military relations (and indeed the civil-military relations of mostdeveloping countries) is the fact that in most countries the subordination of thearmed forces to civil control, when this has occurred, has been achieved by acomplex system of processes and interfaces of a non-institutional nature. Invirtually all these countries where the armed forces remain subordinate to the civilauthorities (regardless of whether the latter are democratically elected or not), realcontrol over the armed forces is wielded via a range of subjective interfaces andpartnerships of which the formal mechanisms are either a component or are,alternatively, merely the formal expression of these power relations.The aim of this article in relation to the above is threefold. Firstly, it seeks tooutline the limitations of the Western intellectual traditions in providing models ofcivil control which African countries can utilise in creating stable civil-militaryrelations. The importance of reconstructing the central concepts of modern civil-military relations theory and the manner in which they are applied to developingcountries has already been referred to in recent literature. A number of analystshave succinctly outlined the weaknesses of current modern civil-military relationstheory particularly its historically and culturally-bound nature (Schiff 1996 and1995: 17). Secondly, to concretise the theoretical observations proffered above,this article examines the recent tradition of Southern African civil-militaryrelations and illustrates the extent to which effective civil control over the activities22 Rocky Williamsofthearmedforceshasbeensecuredbyarobustcombinationofbothobjectiveandsubjecreforms of control. It highlights the centrality of subject, ve P-esses andpartnerships in ensuring stable African civil-military relations regardless of toeSeal culture of the country concerned. Finally, it suggests some revisions to theconceptual architecture and scaffolding of late modem civ.l-m.l.tary relat.onsZ" o as to ensure that this discipline is more consistent w.th the exigences oAfrican political processes. The creation of such a theoretical architecture ,s ofcourse, an ambitious project and will require time and ongomg research to developbut it does have very practical consequences. Any limitations or mcons.stencieswithin our civil-military relations theory can result in the introduction of modelsof civil-military relations entirely inappropriate to and ineffective w.thm Africancountries. It is for this reason that a rigorous and radical critique of many of the keyassumptions of modern civil-military relations theory is required.The Limitations of Formal Mechanisms of Civil Control:Key Features of the Western Civil-Military Relations
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