PUBL.- Democracy's Dilemma: The Challenges to State Legitimacy in Afghanistan

Distrib. by: Central-Eurasia-L - Announcement List for Central Eurasian Studies

PUBL.- Democracy's Dilemma: The Challenges to State Legitimacy in Afghanistan

Posted by: David Shams <davidshams@live.com>

Democracy's Dilemma: The Challenges to State Legitimacy in Afghanistan
David Shams

Description

In Democracy's Dilemma, David Shams argues that Warlords'
participation in Afghanistan's democracy has undermined the legitimacy
of the state. Human rights violations, drug trade and institutional
corruption constitute the perimeters of a triangle set by warlords
within which the state falls short of the moral authority necessary to
assert legitimacy. The dilemma that the state faces is this: On one
hand, in order to survive it has to compromise with and appease the
warlords; on the other, it struggles to eradicate drugs and uproot
corruption. To achieve these objectives, the state has adopted
paradoxical policies and taken contradictory measures simultaneously.
This in turn, has resulted in ineffectual governance and the weakness
of its status as a legitimate body in the eyes of the public.

Available at the major online bookstores.

_______________________________________________
Central-Eurasia-L mailing list
Central-Eurasia-L@lists.fas.harvard.edu
http://lists.fas.harvard.edu/mailman/listinfo/central-eurasia-l