Beneath the political surface of Africa's authoritarian regimes, there were forces at work that sowed the political landscape with multitudinous opportunities for conflict. The economies of Africa's rural communities rendered them politically expansionary, and therefore generated competing claims for land. So long as political order reigned at the national level, and so long as the incumbent regimes could marshal the resources with which to purchase or to compel political restraint, the resultant conflicts could be contained. When states began to fail, however, local conflicts then acquired national significance. They offered opportunities to politicians seeking to consolidate political followings, and as national elites were drawn to parochial disputes, Africa's rural citizens, in search of political champions, flocked about them. When political order declined in late-century Africa, it therefore did so precipitously. Competition between local communities thus increased the costs of governing by authoritarian regimes and the pace with which they subsequently collapsed.

Rural Dynamics

To apprehend the forces at play, consider a family and its choice of where to settle. The family will naturally choose to farm the highest-quality land, where its efforts will result in the greatest return. Alternatively, by working such lands, it can secure sufficient food to feed itself at least effort. Now let another family arrive and the population increase. This family must choose between being the second family to settle on the highest-quality land or the first to settle on the land of the next-best quality.