Somalia: The Struggles in the Transient Phases in “Somali-Style” (and Other Hybrid) Models of Governance

This chapter explains the challenges and possibilities in Somalia’s attempts to redesign its “ungovernable” spaces. It is therefore a story about the journey of Somalia that explores its ethno-political and religious spaces, as well as a story about the resilience that has come to characterise political governance and the struggles for the consolidation of democracy. That said, this chapter begins with a discussion of the colonial and postcolonial struggles to adopt democratic governance and the ongoing search for stability (as a requisite condition for democratic governance) in Somalia. The discussion then turns to an examination of the various “Somali-style” and other governance models that were attempted in each regime’s search for political legitimacy. I identify the histories as well as patterns of political adaptation and resistance to the neoliberal peace project prescribed by the international community for each of these regimes. Thereafter, I examine the country’s use of indirect political representation as a tool for the promotion of democratic electoral participation in the aftermath of the political transitions. It concludes with a discussion of the roles that Somali civil society has played in the expansion of the governable political space in Somalia.