Generally associated with
neopatrimonial states, where there is a framework of formal law and administration but the state is informally captured by patronage networks. The distribution of the spoils of office takes precedence over the formal functions of the state, severely limiting the ability of public officials to make policies in the general interest. While
neopatrimonialism may be considered the norm where a modern state is constructed in a preindustrial
context, however, the African variants often result in bigmanism in the form of a strongly presidentialist political system.[1]
Examples
Africa
Mobutu Sese Seko – President of
Zaire from 1965 to 1997. He remained in office for 31½ years. While in office, he formed a regime in Zaire that attempted to purge the country of all colonial cultural influence and entered wars to challenge the rise of
communism in other African countries. His mismanagement of his country's economy, and personal enrichment from its financial and natural resources, makes his name synonymous with
kleptocracy in Africa.
Saddam Hussein – President of
Iraq from 1979 to 2003. As president, Saddam maintained power during the
Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988) and the first
Persian Gulf War (1991). During these conflicts, Saddam repressed several movements, particularly
Shi'a and
Kurdish movements seeking to overthrow the government or gain independence, respectively. Whereas some
Arabs looked upon him as a hero for his aggressive stance against foreign intervention and for his support for the
Palestinians, many Arabs and western leaders vilified him for murdering scores of
Kurdish people of the north and his
invasion of Kuwait. Saddam was deposed by the U.S. and its allies during the
2003 invasion of Iraq.
Southeast Asia and Oceania
Suharto –
President ofIndonesia from 1967 to 1998. The legacy of Suharto's 32-year rule is debated both in Indonesia and abroad. Under his "
New Order" administration, Suharto constructed a strong, centralized and military-dominated government. An ability to maintain stability over a sprawling and diverse Indonesia and an avowedly anti-Communist stance won him the economic and diplomatic support of the West during the
Cold War. For most of his presidency, Indonesia experienced significant economic growth and industrialization. Against the backdrop of Cold War international relations, Suharto's "New Order"
invasion of East Timor, and the subsequent 24-year occupation, resulted in an estimated minimum of 102,800 deaths. A detailed statistical report prepared for the
Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in East Timor. By the 1990s, the New Order's
authoritarianism and widespread corruption—estimates of government funds misappropriated by the Suharto family range from US$1.5 billion and US$35 billion was a source of much discontent, and was referred as one of the world's most corrupt leaders. Suharto tops corruption rankings. In the years since his presidency, attempts to try him on charges of corruption and genocide failed because of his poor health.
Michael Somare – Four-time
Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea (1975–1980; 1982–1985; 2002–2010; 2011). Both Somare's rule and the predominant politics of Papua New Guinea have been described as examples of "Big Man Politics".[3]
Europe
Nicolae Ceauşescu was the
General Secretary of the
Romanian Communist Party from 1965 until 1989, President of the Council of State from 1967 and
President of Romania from 1974 until 1989. His rule was marked in the first decade by an open policy towards
Western Europe and the
United States of America, which deviated from that of the other
Warsaw Pact states during the
Cold War. He continued a trend first established by his predecessor, Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, who had tactfully coaxed the Khrushchev regime to withdraw troops from Romania in 1958.[4] Ceauşescu's second decade was characterized by an increasingly erratic
personality cult, extreme nationalism and a deterioration in foreign relations with Western powers and also with the
Soviet Union. Ceauşescu's government was overthrown in December 1989, and he was shot following a televised two-hour session by a military court.[5]
^Booth, David; Cammack, Diana; Harrigan, Jane; Kanyongolo, Edge; Mataure, Mike and Ngwira, Naomi (2006) Drivers of Change and Development in Malawi. Working Paper No. 261. London : Overseas Development Institute. Source:
http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/download/1318.pdfArchived 2011-06-14 at the
Wayback Machine