Reconciling Indigenous and State Governance – A Silver Bullet for Development?

Indigenous or so-called traditional authorities play an important role in many countries of the world. They shape the everyday life of the people and also fulfill a number of political, economic, and cultural responsibilities, particularly at the local level. Indigenous authorities often act on levels that are below, beside, and beyond the formal state, constituting a second dimension of governance. It is argued in this paper, that indigenous governance and state governance have to be reconciled in order to bring about sustainable development. One form of reconciliation is legal recognition of indigenous governance, as for example in a country’s constitution. This paper theorizes that formal recognition of indigenous governance leads to better development outcomes by increasing institutional complementarity, by augmenting voice and accountability, and by mitigating uncertainty. These theoretical claims are tested against novel data on the constitutional recognition of indigenous governance in all UN countries.