Abstract
Somaliland has recently developed an unexpected democracy after seceding from chaos-ridden Somalia, while turning its port of Berbera into a success story, competing successfully with the long established ones in the Horn of Africa. A simple game-theoretic model is used to explain why the home-grown bicameral democratic system that emerged in Somaliland is a key factor in controlling violence and providing the required security along the transport infrastructure linking Berbera to neighboring landlocked Ethiopia. The model shows that redistributing some of the fiscal resources levied on this trade is necessary for sustaining this efficient political equilibrium.
Keywords
peace; democracy; Somaliland;
JEL codes
- N77: Africa • Oceania
- O17: Formal and Informal Sectors • Shadow Economy • Institutional Arrangements
- O55: Africa
- P48: Political Economy • Legal Institutions • Property Rights • Natural Resources • Energy • Environment • Regional Studies
Replaces
Jean-Paul Azam, “The Birth of a Democracy: Homegrown Bicameralism in Somaliland”, TSE Working Paper, n. 13-406, May 2013.
Reference
Jean-Paul Azam, “The Birth of a Democracy: Homegrown Bicameralism in Somaliland”, Peace Economics, Peace Science and Public Policy, vol. 20, n. 2, April 2014, pp. 245–266.
Published in
Peace Economics, Peace Science and Public Policy, vol. 20, n. 2, April 2014, pp. 245–266