Somali elite political culture : conceptions, structures, and historical evolution

Abstract EN

Somalia celebrated the 60th anniversary of its independence in 2020 while still striving to recover from the state collapse and protracted civil war.

Over 60 years' continuous failure to build the Somali state indicates a general trend and recurring phenomenon of the elite political culture.

This paper explores what has made the Somali government fail repeatedly and impede its recovery.

Its premise is that the ruling elite political culture is responsible for that.

Thus, the paper conceptualizes the basic terminologies of elite political culture and explains Somalia's elite formation and structures.

Moreover, it traces the historical development of the elite political culture and how the blended elite culture of Somali tradition, Italian political culture, and military dictatorship contributed to its collapse.

This culture developed to the worse as a considerable obstacle for state recovery.

Finally, the paper recommends that recovering the Somali state depends on breaking the vicious cycle of state failure by transforming the ruling elite political culture and reforming state institutions.