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The rise of 'peaceocracy' in Africa
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Lynch, Gabrielle (2020) The rise of 'peaceocracy' in Africa. In: Cheeseman, Nic, (ed.) The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Politics. Oxford research encyclopedia of politics . New York: Oxford University Press . ISBN 9780190632359
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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013...
Abstract
The term “peaceocracy” refers to a situation in which an emphasis on peace is used to prioritize stability and order to the detriment of democracy. As such, the term can be used to refer to a short-lived or longer-term strategy whereby an emphasis on peace by an incumbent elite is used to close the political space through the delegitimization and suppression of activity that could arguably foster division or conflict. At the heart of peaceocracy lies an insistence that certain actions—including those that are generally regarded as constituting important political and civil rights, such as freedom of speech and association, freedom of the press, and freedom to engage in peaceful protest and strike action—can spill over into violence and foster division and must therefore be avoided to guard against disorder. Recent history suggests that incumbents can effectively establish a peaceocracy in contexts where many believe that widespread violence is an ever-present possibility; incumbents have, or are widely believed to have, helped to establish an existing peace; and the level of democracy is already low. In such contexts, a fragile peace helps to justify a prioritization of peace; the idea that incumbents have “brought peace” strengthens their self-portrait as the unrivaled guardians of the same; and semi-authoritarianism provides a context in which incumbents are motivated to use every means available to maintain power and are well placed—given, for example, their control over the media and civil society—to manipulate an emphasis on peace to suppress opposition activities. Key characteristics of peaceocracy include: an incumbent’s effective portrait of an existing peace as fragile and themselves as the unrivaled guardians of order and stability; a normative notion of citizenship that requires “good citizens” to actively protect peace and avoid activities that might foster division and conflict; and the use of these narratives of guardianship and disciplined citizenship to justify a range of repressive laws and actions. Peaceocracy is thus a strategy, rather than a discreet regime type, which incumbents can use in hybrid regimes as part of their “menu of manipulation,” and which can be said to be “successful” when counter-narratives are in fact marginalized and the political space is effectively squeezed.
Item Type: | Book Item | ||||||||
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Subjects: | J Political Science > JQ Political institutions (Asia, Africa, Australia, Pacific Area, etc.) | ||||||||
Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Politics and International Studies | ||||||||
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Africa -- Politics and government, National security -- Africa, Conflict management -- Africa, Regionalism -- Africa, Peace-building, Democracy, Federal government -- Africa , Central-local government relations -- Africa | ||||||||
Series Name: | Oxford research encyclopedia of politics | ||||||||
Publisher: | Oxford University Press | ||||||||
Place of Publication: | New York | ||||||||
ISBN: | 9780190632359 | ||||||||
Book Title: | The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Politics | ||||||||
Editor: | Cheeseman, Nic | ||||||||
Official Date: | 3 April 2020 | ||||||||
Dates: |
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DOI: | 10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.740 | ||||||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||||
Publication Status: | Published | ||||||||
Reuse Statement (publisher, data, author rights): | The rise of 'peaceocracy' in Africa by Lynch, G., The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Politics edited by Nic Cheeseman, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.740 reproduced by permission of Oxford University Press | ||||||||
Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access | ||||||||
Date of first compliant deposit: | 29 March 2019 | ||||||||
Date of first compliant Open Access: | 3 April 2022 | ||||||||
RIOXX Funder/Project Grant: |
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