Editing Environmental determinism (section)

=== Geography and pre-colonial African state-building ===

==== The effects of climate and land abundance on the development of state systems ====
{{Main|States and Power in Africa}}

In his book ''[[States and Power in Africa]]'', political scientist [[Jeffrey Herbst]] argues that environmental conditions help explain why, in contrast to other parts of the world such as Europe, many pre-colonial societies in Africa did not develop into dense, settled, hierarchical societies with strong state control that competed with neighboring states for people and territory.<ref name="cul.columbia.edu">{{cite journal | last1=Robinson | first1=James | title=States and power in Africa: By Jeffrey I. Herbst: A review essay | journal=Journal of Economic Literature | date=June 2002 | volume=40 | issue=2 | pages=510–19 | doi=10.1257/002205102320161357}}</ref>

Herbst argues that the European state-building experience was highly idiosyncratic because it occurred under systemic geographic pressures that favored wars of conquest – namely, passable [[terrain]], land [[scarcity]], and [[population densities|high-population densities]].<ref name="auto">{{cite book | last1=Tilly | first1=Charles | title=Coercion, capital, and European states, A.D. 990–1992 | date=1990 | publisher=Blackwell | location=Cambridge, MA | page=63}}</ref> Faced with the constant threat of war, political elites sent administrators and armed forces from the urban centers into rural hinterlands to raise taxes, recruit soldiers, and fortify buffer zones. European states consequently developed strong institutions and capital-periphery linkages.<ref name="auto" />

By contrast, geographic and climatic factors in pre-colonial Africa made establishing absolute control over particular pieces of land prohibitively costly.<ref>{{cite book | last1=Herbst | first1=Jeffry | title=States and power in Africa | date=2000 | publisher=Princeton University Press | location=Princeton, NJ | isbn=978-0-691-01027-4 | page=41}}</ref> For example, because African farmers relied on rain-fed agriculture and consequently invested little in particular pieces of land, they could easily flee rulers rather than fight.<ref>{{cite book | last1=Herbst | first1=Jeffry | title=States and power in Africa | date=2000 | publisher=Princeton University Press | location=Princeton, NJ | isbn=978-0-691-01027-4 | page=38}}</ref>

Some early African empires, like the [[Ashanti Empire]], successfully projected power over large distances by building roads. The largest pre-colonial polities arose in the [[Sudanian Savanna]] belt of West Africa because the horses and camels could transport armies over the terrain. In other areas, no centralized political organizations existed above the village level.<ref>{{cite book | last1=Herbst | first1=Jeffry | title=States and power in Africa | date=2000 | publisher=Princeton University Press | location=Princeton, NJ | isbn=978-0-691-01027-4 | page=49}}</ref>

African states did not develop more responsive institutions under [[Colonisation of Africa|colonial rule]] or [[Decolonisation of Africa|post-independence]]. Colonial powers had little incentive to develop state institutions to protect their colonies against invasion, having divided up Africa at the [[Berlin Conference]]. The colonizers instead focused on exploiting natural resources and [[exploitation colonialism]].<ref name="cul.columbia.edu" />

==== The effect of disease environments ====
{{further|Tsetse fly#Societal impact}}

[[Marcella Alsan|Dr. Marcella Alsan]] argues the prevalence of the [[tsetse fly]] hampered early state formation in [[Africa]].<ref name="Alsan">{{cite journal | last=Alsan | first=Marcella | date=January 2015 | title=The effect of the Tsetse fly on African development | url=https://fsi.stanford.edu/publications/the_effect_of_the_tsetse_fly_on_african_development | journal=American Economic Review | volume=105 | pages=382–410 | doi=10.1257/aer.20130604}}</ref> Because the tsetse virus was lethal to cows and horses, communities afflicted by the insect could not rely on the agricultural benefits provided by [[livestock]]. African communities were prevented from stockpiling agricultural surplus, working the land, or eating meat. Because the disease environment hindered the formation of farming communities, early African societies resembled small [[hunter-gatherer]] groups and not centralized states.<ref name="Alsan" />

The relative availability of livestock animals enabled European societies to form centralized institutions, develop advanced technologies, and create an agricultural network.<ref>{{cite book | last1=Overton | first1=Mark | title=Agricultural revolution in England: The transformation of the agrarian economy 1500–1850 | url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780521568593 | url-access=registration | date=18 April 1996 | publisher=Cambridge University Press | pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780521568593/page/1 1]}}</ref> They could rely on their livestock to reduce the need for manual labor. Livestock also diminished the [[comparative advantage]] of owning [[slaves]]. African societies relied on the use of rival tribesman as slave labor where the fly was prevalent, which impeded long-term societal cooperation.<ref name="Alsan" />

Alsan argues that her findings support the view of [[Kenneth Sokoloff]] and [[Stanley Engerman]] that factor endowments shape state institutions.<ref name="Alsan" />