State Building, Political Progress, and Human Security in Afghanistan

151 Pages·2008·8.56 MB·English

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AFGHANISTAN
P.O.Box 175
House No.55,Street 1 STATE BUILDING, POLITICAL PROGRESS,
Jawzjan Wat,Shahr-e-Naw
Kabul,Afghanistan AND HUMAN SECURITY IN AFGHANISTAN
www.asiafoundation.org
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STATE BUILDING,POLITICAL PROGRESS,AND HUMAN SECURITY IN AFGHANISTAN: N Reflections on a Survey of the Afghan People
IS
Reflections on a Survey of the Afghan People is the companion volume to T
A
N
The Asia Foundation’s recently released public-opinion survey, “Afghanistan in 2006:
A Survey of the Afghan People.” The papers in this volume analyze survey data on the
opinions and perceptions of Afghans toward democratic governance and values, civic
engagement and trust in institutions,development progress,and political and social change
as interpeted by social scientists familiar with the region. The contributors comment
on trends,patterns,and variations owing to Afghan geography,ethnicity,and other factors,
and assess comparatively Afghanistan’s situation vis-à-vis other countries in the region.
By combining analysis of quantitative survey data with broader contextual interpretations,
the papers together anchor a holistic appraisal of change in the underlying sociopolitical
realities and history of Afghanistan.
AF Analytical Volume 02-07.qxp 2/13/2007 10:41 AM Page 2
About The Asia Foundation
The Asia Foundation is a non-profit, non-governmental organization committed
to the development of a peaceful, prosperous, just, and open Asia-Pacific region.
The Foundation supports programs in Asia that help improve governance, law,
and civil society; women's empowerment; economic reform and development;
and international relations. Drawing on more than 50 years of experience in Asia,
the Foundation collaborates with private and public partners to support leader-
ship and institutional development, exchanges, and policy research.
With a network of 17 offices throughout Asia, an office in Washington, D.C.,
and its headquarters in San Francisco, the Foundation addresses these issues on
both a country and regional level. In 2006, the Foundation provided more than
$53 million in program support and distributed 920,000 books and educational
materials valued at $30 million throughout Asia.
For more information, visit The Asia Foundation’s website at
www.asiafoundation.org
STATE BUILDING, POLITICAL PROGRESS,
AND HUMAN SECURITY IN AFGHANISTAN
Reflections on a Survey of the Afghan People
State Building, Political Progress, and Human Security in Afghanistan: Reflections
on a Survey of the Afghan People is the companion volume to The Asia Foundation's recently
released public-opinionsurvey titled Afghanistan in 2006: A Survey of the Afghan People.The papers
in this volume analyze survey data on the opinions and perceptions of Afghans towards
government, public policy, democracy, and political and social change as interpreted by social
scientists familiar with the region.The contributors comment on trends,patterns,and variations
owing to Afghan geography,ethnicity,and other factors,and assess comparatively Afghanistan's
situation vis-à-vis other countries in the region.By combining analysis of quantitative survey data
with broader contextual interpretations,the papers together anchor a holistic appraisal of change
in the underlying sociopolitical realities and history of Afghanistan.
©2007,The Asia Foundation
The Asia Foundation is a non-profit, non-governmental organization committed to the
development of a peaceful, prosperous, just, and open Asia-Pacific region. The Foundation
supports programs in Asia that help improve governance, law, and civil society; women's
empowerment;economic reform and development;and international relations.Drawing on more
than 50 years of experience in Asia,the Foundation collaborates with private and public partners
to support leadership and institutional development,exchanges,and policy research.
With a network of 17 offices throughout Asia,an office in Washington,D.C.,and its headquarters
in San Francisco, the Foundation addresses these issues on both country and regional levels. In
2006,the Foundation provided more than $53 million in program support and distributed 920,000
books and educational materials valued at $30 million throughout Asia.
For more information,visit The Asia Foundation's website at
www.asiafoundation.org
Project Design,Direction,and Editorial Management
George Varughese
The Asia Foundation
Kabul,Afghanistan
Report Design and Printing
Nancy Kelly
The Asia Foundation
San Francisco,USA
AINA
Kabul,Afghanistan
This publication was made possible by support provided by the U.S. Agency for International
Development (Award No.306-A-00-03-00504-00).The opinions expressed herein are those of the
authors and do not reflect the views of the U.S.Agency for International Development or of The
Asia Foundation.
Contents
Acknowledgements 1
Contributors 3
Chapter 1 Reflections on a Survey of the Afghan People:An Introduction 5
George Varughese
Chapter 2 Afghans and Democracy 13
Russell J.Dalton
Chapter 3 Local Perceptions of the State of Afghanistan 29
Sanjay Ruparelia
Chapter 4 Elections in Afghanistan:Progress Towards Democracy 47
Sanjay Kumar
Chapter 5 Human Security in Afghanistan through the Eyes of Afghans 63
Center for Conflict and Peace Studies
Chapter 6 Changes in the Status of Women in Afghanistan 77
Sanjay Kumar & Praveen Rai
Appendix 1 Target Demographics 99
Appendix 2 Survey Methodology 103
Appendix 3 Survey Questionnaire 107
1
Acknowledgements
This publication was commissioned,developed,and managed by The Asia
Foundation's Afghanistan office.The critical support of program officers Najibullah
Amin and Sunil Pillai in managing the day-to-day activities of the publication project is
gratefully acknowledged.
Comments among the five authors and with an anonymous editor were supplemented
by thoughtful feedback from Jon Summers,Meloney Lindberg,Jane Williams-Grube,
Najibullah Amin,Fazel Rabi Haqbeen,and Sunil Pillai.Manuscript reviews by Hari
Sharma and Hemant Ojha were useful in putting the final touches to drafts.Nancy
Kelly and Katherine Brown in The Asia Foundation's San Francisco office provided
valuable design assistance and support.These colleagues are also gratefully
acknowledged.
Financial support for this publication came from a cooperative agreement with the
Afghanistan office of the U.S.Agency for International Development (Award No.306-
A-00-03-00504-00) that seeks to encourage capacity-building of policy-relevant data
collection and analysis.We are grateful to Eric Kite,Bruce Etling,Jene Thomas,and
Mohamed Zahar for their encouragement of this publication and of the survey
volume that preceded it in 2006.
George Varughese
The Asia Foundation
Afghanistan
Spring 2007

3
Contributors
CAPS,the Centre for Conflict and Peace Studies is an independent research centre
based in Kabul,Afghanistan.It conducts research that is intended to inform policy-
makers.One of the first think-tanks in post-Taliban Afghanistan,it undertakes
research,training,and knowledge exchanges on conflict,the people and cultures,and
violent groups in the region.
Russell J.Daltonis Professor of Political Science and former director of the Center
for the Study of Democracy at the University of California,Irvine.Dalton's research
focuses on the role of the citizen in the democratic process.His recent publications
include The Good Citizen(2007), Democratic Challenges, Democratic Choices (2004),Citizen
Politics (2006);he is co-editor of the Oxford Handbook of Political Behavior (2007),and
Citizens, Democracy and Markets around the Pacific Rim (2006).
Sanjay Kumaris a Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies
(CSDS),Delhi.His area of research is electoral politics and he specialises in survey
research.He was the India coordinator of the project 'State of Democracy in South
Asia'.He is a core team member of the Asian Barometer Survey group led by Prof.
Takashi Inoguchi of Cho University,Japan.
Praveen Raiis Project Manager with Lokniti,a Research Programme of the Centre
for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS),Delhi.He has authored the book
Women in Press- Still Invisible,and has contributed articles in newspaper and research
journals.He has worked on various research projects,both at Lokniti and earlier with
other organisations.
Sanjay Rupareliais Assistant Professor of Political Science at the New School for
Social Research in New York City.Much of his present research examines
transformations in contemporary Indian democracy:economic liberalization,militant
Hindu nationalism,and the rise of lower-caste,communist,and regional parties in
India's federal democracy. In particular,it focuses on the origins,difficulties,and
prospects of power-sharing,which also informs his more recent work on Afghanistan.
George Varughese is The Asia Foundation's Deputy Country Representative for
Afghanistan,responsible for governance-related program development,research,and
management.His publications include,among others,"The Contested Role of
Heterogeneity in Collective Action:Some Evidence from Community Forestry in
Nepal," World DevelopmentVol.29,no.5,Elsevier Science Ltd.(May 2001),and
"Population and Forest Dynamics in the Hills of Nepal:Institutional Remedies by
Rural Communities" in People and Forests: Communities, Institutions, and the Governance of
Forests (2000),Cambridge:MIT Press.