Councils and Indirect Rule in British Africa
(Co-authored with: Leigh Gardner, Jennifer Kohler, Jack Paine & James A. Robinson)
Abstract: We examine how colonial rule reshaped African political institutions and how African agency directed these changes. Using new data on 450 British African polities, we show that local resistance and pressure led officials to reinstate councils based on precolonial models, revealing that indirect rule adapted to indigenous institutions rather than replacing them.
Jutta Bolt is a Professor of Global Economic History at the University of Groningen.
and 
by