Fragile states / Working Paper
The democratisation of a dependent state: the case of Afghanistan
14/01/2008 By Astri Suhrke
The US-led intervention in Afghanistan in late 2001 brought in its wake a formal democratisation process. A new constitution was promulgated, providing for an elected president and parliament along familiar Western lines. In one sense, but often overlooked, this was also a recreation of the past. Afghanistan has had six constitutions between 1923 and 1990, and most provided for national assemblies and elections in one form or other.
John D. McHugh/AFP/Getty Image
Yet the degree of foreign involvement in the last reform process was unprecedented. The heavy foreign hand contradicted the promise of national autonomy, representation and fair process held out by the democratisation agenda. By implicitly devaluing the institutions it sought to promote, the democratisation process has also had potentially counterproductive effects.
Moreover, while promoting democratisation, Western governments simultaneously created a state so dependent on external support that it deprived the critical institution of liberal democracy – the legislature – of its meaning. The logical response of the national assembly has been to mostly engage in politics with symbolic or nuisance value.
This Working Papper focuses on three areas of political reform: the structuring of the interim administration, the promulgation of a new constitution, and the establishment of the legislature.
This Working Paper is co-published by the Chr. Michelsen Institute and FRIDE.
Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI) is an independent centre for research on international development and policy. CMI was founded in 1930, and is located in Bergen, Norway. CMI conducts both applied and theoretical research, and has a multidisciplinary profile anchored in four thematic research groups: Rights, Democracy and Development; Peace, Conflict and the State; Poverty Reduction; Public Sector Reform. The geographical focus is Sub-Saharan Africa, Southern and Central Asia, the Middle East and Latin America.
This is a preprint of an article submitted for consideration in the DEMOCRATIZATION 2008 [copyright Taylor & Francis];
DEMOCRATIZATION is available online at: http://journalsonline.tandf.co.uk/
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Publishing groups
Afghanistan and Pakistan: a region in crisisKeywords
Afghanistan Conflict Democracy Democracy promotion Middle East Security Terrorism War on terrorRelated publications
- Afghanistan and the crisis in Pakistan
- The challenges of democratisation and political reform in the Middle East: between autocracy, islamism and liberalism
- Towards a regional strategy in Afghanistan
Bio author: Astri Suhrke
Astri Suhrke is a political scientist (Ph.D.) and Senior Research Fellow at the Chr. Michelsen Institute in Bergen, Norway. Thematically her work has focused on the social, political and humanitarian consequences of violent conflict, and strategies of response. Currently, she is working on strategies of post-war reconstruction and, more widely, peacebuilding, with particular reference to Afghanistan and East Timor. She is leading a multi-year project funded by the Research Council of Norway on violence in the post-conflict State.
