Prebendalism

 ( Politics Of Nigeria ) 

Prebendalism refers to political systems in which elected officials and government workers feel they have a right to a share of government revenues, and they use them to benefit supporters, co-religionists and members of their ethnic group.

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Origins of the term The Catholic Encyclopedia defines a Prebendary as the "right of member of chapter to his share in the revenues of a cathedral". The Catholic Encyclopedia, http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12371a.htm

Max Weber used the term to describe India and China in the early Middle Ages in his 1915 book, The Religion of ChinaMax Weber, The Religion of China: Confucianism and Taoism (Free Press, 1951) and his 1916 book, The Religion of India.Max Weber, The Religion of India: The Sociology of Hinduism and Buddhism (Free Press, 1958), pp 70–71, as quoted by Immanuel Wallerstein in The Modern World-System I: Capitalist Agriculture and the Origins of the European World-Economy in the Sixteenth Century (University of California Press, 2011)

Alavi describes how state-derived rights over capital held by state officials in parts of India in the early 18th Century were held to be of a patron-client nature and thus volatile. They were thus converted where possible into hereditary entitlements.Seema Alavi, The 18th Century in India (New Delhi, 2002), p. 33

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In Nigeria Richard A. Joseph, director of The Program of African Studies at Northwestern University, is usually credited with first using the term to describe patron-clientelism or neopatrimonialism in Nigeria.Joseph, Richard A., Democracy and Prebendal Politics in Nigeria: The Rise and Fall of the Second Republic, Cambridge University Press, 1987 Since then the term has commonly been used in scholarly literature and textbooks.

Joseph wrote in 1996, "According to the theory of prebendalism, state offices are regarded as prebends that can be appropriated by officeholders, who use them to generate material benefits for themselves and their constituents and kin groups..."Joseph, Richard, "Nigeria: Inside the Dismal Tunnel," Current History, May 1996

As a result of that kind of patron–client or identity politics, Nigeria has regularly been one of the lowest ranked nations for political transparency by Transparency International in its Corruption Perceptions Index.Corruption Perceptions Index 2006,

Other uses include the corruption investigations into the activities of 31 out of 36 Nigerian governors,"Nigerian governors in graft probe" /ref> the frequent comments in the Nigerian press about the problems of corruption (for example, Victor E. Dike's article in the Daily Champion of Lagos, "Nigeria: Governance and Nigeria's Ailing Economy"Dike, Victor E., "Nigeria: Governance and Nigeria's Ailing Economy," Daily Champion (Lagos), http://allafrica.com/stories/200612130710.html) and the common defenses of prebendalism as necessary for justice and equality in government funding (for example Oliver O. Mbamara's editorial, "In Defense of Nigeria: Amidst the Feasting of Critics" at Africa Events).Mbamara, Oliver O., "In Defense of Nigeria: Amidst the Feasting of Critics," Africa Events, http://www.africanevents.com/Essay-InDefenseOfNigeria0606.htm

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See also

• Clientelism
• Neopatrimonialism
• Patronage in ancient Rome

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