Loss of central authority leads to widespread societal chaos

Evidence

As in Somaliland, the absence of formal modern institutions of government in the region led to an enhancement of the duties and power of local lineage elders (collectively known as isimadda), especially those presiding over a diya-paying group and directly concerned with the administration of customary law. As elsewhere in Somalia and Somaliland, the de facto power of these roles has also inevitably implied a strengthening in the importance people attach to clanship. In articulating clan identity today, as Helander records, it is usual to refer first to lower-level genealogies and segments, a procedure captured in the phrase ‘we have gone to the bottom’ (hoos baan u tegneey). With such grassroots leadership so heavily engaged in trying to cope with contemporary problems, the need for stronger, higher-level coordination has led to a strengthening of the supreme clan leaders (the isimadda), chaired by the highest traditional authority, Abdullahi Boqor Muse, ‘King Kong’, who played a prominent role in S.S.D.F. congresses. This has promoted a new trend for smaller lineages to create their own isin to represent them at higher clan levels, leading to a proliferation of ‘traditional’ leaders. — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 666 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim
• XREF: connects to: Traditional societies and structures can collapse under external pressures; Traditional social structures and orders can disintegrate over time; Societal collapse is characterized by the downfall of government and the rise of violence — Societal collapse (+11 more)

Related

• Collapse of state institutions strengthened lineage elders and clan identity (similarity 0.88)
• Failed states push societies toward familism and alternative control organizations (similarity 0.87)
• Weak formal institutions strengthened Somali lineage elders and clanship (similarity 0.85)
• Transferring civil servants on clan grounds only strengthens tribalism (similarity 0.80)
• Pastoral Somali governance is democratic almost to the point of anarchy (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Power as damage threat cannot explain power’s order-creating function in complex societies. #corroborates (0.82)
• Traditional societies and structures can collapse under external pressures #qualifies (0.75)
• Collapse of state institutions strengthened lineage elders and clan identity #exemplifies (0.75) — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 666
• Institutional power persists even in egalitarian settings that believe they disavowed it #complicates (0.60)