Exiting Somalia's Political Impasse

Abstract

This paper argues that Somalia's Weberian state apparatus and legal-rational bureaucratic model need revision. Given the country's clan -based societal organization and dominant agrarian and pastoral economy, an alternative form of government that includes clan leaders, businesspeople, and urban-based nongovernmental organizations works best for Somalia. In such a system, the central government is a moderator articulating and aggregating diverse demands instead of power monopolizing. The success of the Islamic Courts and alShabaab Movement in working with the local population in their areas of control suggests that an informal form of government is more suitable for Somalia's traditional society than a formal system based on the concept of anonymous citizenship that is alien to the local value system. The unpropitious legacy of colonialism, and the failure of its democracy during the 1960s, leading to civil strife, wars, foreign intervention, and state failure that continue to grip Somalia validate the paper's research approach.