ABSTRACT
In African studies, there has been a tendency for scholars to reject the idea that formal institutions, which were equated with the (formal) ‘Western’ modern state, are of any relevance at all. Many scholars perceived African politics to be dominated by informal institutions or at least by informal behaviour (Chabal and Daloz 1999; Hydén 2006: 98), despite the fact that in most African states formal institutions matter to some degree. However, recent research on African politics indicates that crucial formal institutions become increasingly institutionalized (Solt 2001; Posner and Young 2007; Lindberg 2006). Hence, the coexistence of formal institutions with informal institutions and informal behaviour is becoming an increasingly pertinent area of research (see Olivier de Sardan, this volume).
