Transformers: America’s Founding Fathers laid solid foundation

This perplexing disparity is just one example used by professors Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson in Why Nations Fail to argue that inclusive institutions promote prosperity, while extractive institutions stymie it. This year, their efforts earned them the Nobel Prize in Economics—yet critics argue that the accolade is unnecessary since the ideas seem obvious.

Obvious or not, there is something that makes the US tick and Mexico sick. Since 1776, the US has evolved into one of the most influential and prosperous nations in history. For 150 years, the US has sustained a 2 percent average year-on-year growth in GDP. Today, despite the decades of perceived waning of its power, the US still commands a quarter of global GDP.

Consider this: Russia’s entire economy is comparable only to Texas’s, and China still trails the US by nearly $10 trillion. Wherever you stand about the US’s local and foreign policies, the US takes some beating.

How did this patchwork nation of immigrants reach these heights? This is where Acemoglu and Robinson come in. Some might attribute America’s rise to geography, climate, and cultural differences. Some argue that slavery played a significant role.

Yet, many countries had enslaved populations, and some, like Brazil, had even more slaves than the US, but their outcomes differ drastically. It comes down to the visionary establishment of the inclusive institutions, the work forged by America’s seven founding fathers, the authors of the document that is the US’s Declaration of Independence and the American Constitution.

‘We hold these truths to be self-evident,’ the opening statement of the American declaration of independence states, ‘that all men are created equal, and they are imbued with certain inalienable rights.’

These words, while familiar now, were revolutionary at the time. The phrase “self-evident” suggests that human equality needs no proof.

This dismissed the entrenched notions of social hierarchy based on birth, race, or class, laying the groundwork for a society that rewards merit over privilege. By attributing these rights to a “Creator,” the Founders declared that these rights transcend human law, granting them a moral authority that endures.

These principles form the cornerstone of the inclusive society that the founders envisioned. Men like George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson, the American founding fathers, embodied the transformative leadership in their time, they were also united by a vision that government should serve the people, not dominate them.

Unlike other revolutionaries who seized power for themselves, they designed a government that, at its best, is self-regulating. Their vision was so effective that today, if a leader refuses to concede an election, the country’s institutions simply move on. This capacity for stability and resilience, even in turbulent times, speaks to the robustness of the framework the founders built.

I wish we had the space to review the qualities that made the founding fathers stand out. We would have shown that they were men of great intellectual standing – we can’t overemphasise the value of excellence.

We would have shown that they were highly principled – the American Revolution arose from the fact that the Americans rejected regressive laws, such as taxation without representation, and were willing to fight for their rights. We would have shown that they were visionary – they made pronouncements which were ahead of their time.

They were pragmatic – this allowed them to find common ground and build a system together despite differing backgrounds and opinions. The founding fathers weren’t perfect, but they left a legacy that keep on influencing the world today.

I think the achievements of the American Founding Fathers eclipse those of other transformative leaders in history. Their work laid the foundation for a nation that has upheld freedom and growth for almost 250 years.

Unlike empires that crumbled, the Founders crafted institutions built to last, founded on the idea that government should work for the people and be held accountable by them. This enduring impact, proven over centuries, is the very essence of what we call transformative leadership.

As we reflect on these great men, one cannot help but ponder the state of leadership in Africa. History is open to us.

Why, then, do we fail to learn from it? How can governance remain so short-sighted, so self-serving? Why do we continue to settle for transactional leadership that puts individual gain above collective progress?

The Founders didn’t have today’s privileges, yet they came together to put their country first. How is it that we seem so resistant to prioritising the public good?

We have the advantage of hindsight, yet we look on—like a chimpanzee gazing out into space—without fully comprehending the significance of what we see. While others rise on the foundation of enduring values, Africa often struggles with institutions weakened by corruption. If outsiders take advantage of our weaknesses, we can hardly claim surprise.