Progress and Pitfalls of “Peace-Building”

in Afghanistan continues.....

Perceptions of State Institutions

Assessment of state-building project to date has disproportionately

involved elite actors, perceptions, and concerns. Apart from insightful

journalistic accounts and partial surveys, there has been little systematic

analysis of how ordinary citizens perceive the state.

To what extent ordinary citizens trust formal state institutions such as the Afghan National Army(ANA), Afghan National Police (ANP), Parliament,

Provincial Councils (PCs) and the judicial system? Which of these bodies

do they approach to address, judge, and resolve their concerns, needs and

conflicts?

Or do ordinary Afghans continue to seek assistance from traditional social authorities or from de facto centres of power, such as local militia leaders, elders of the local Shura, or tribal council? To what extent do ordinary citizens believe that formal state institutions function in an impartial and effective manner and represent their interests? In short, what is the ‘view from below’ of the peace-building project.

To analyse the local perception of state in Afghanistan one has to examine the levels of trust in various formal institutions of the state vis-à-vis traditional social authorities. Three major findings emerge from an  nalysis. First, levels of trust in the army and police are relatively high, despite their widely reported failing

To be continued...