Potential Political System of Afghanistan - Term Paper Example

An Alternative System for Afghan Politics and Culture Afghanistan has remained under political and economic instability for a very long time, which can be traced to the numerous wars, uprisings, and insurgencies that plagued the country. The governance in the country was also in shambles, creating a non-sustainable economy greatly relying on donors and provision of economic aids (Katzman, 2014). While it is true that efforts in creating a much more democratic Afghanistan has created some noticeable results such as the success of the presidential elections, these results do not give any guarantees to a continuous and sustainable democracy due to deep-seated and traditional mindsets regarding leadership, alliances, and other values that the Afghan people hold on strongly (Shahrani, 2011). As such, it is important to understand fully the status and nature of Afghan political climate and culture before imposing new or improved political systems that will be more acceptable and in-tune with the local population’s beliefs and interests. Afghan Political Development Afghanistan as a country has always been composed of various ethnic communities living in separation with each other due to geographic landmarks (e.g. landforms, mountains) and their individual ideologies and beliefs in their own factions, only having Islam as a main religion and their common links with one another (Katzman, 2014).These differences and spatial separations created natural rifts between and among communities or tribes by claiming that each one of them has the divine right to rule, causing them to become divided which in effect prevents full assimilation of all groups into democratic governance by a centralized government (Shahrani, 2011). However, despite the idea that Afghanistan has never experienced any form of democracy during pre-modern and modern eras, it is surprising to note that amidst various political struggles the country was actually under a successful democratic reign during the 1960’s up to the early 1970’ under a parliamentary system ruled by a constitutional monarch. This political setup was made possible by the government providing support to the informal power structures that have existed within the long history of the country. These power structures have hierarchies that include respected figureheads at various levels of the society: from ethnic, regional, district, village and clan levels of authority, and have provided peace and stability within the widely-varying groups of communities in Afghanistan (Katzman, 2014). However, upon the instigation of various coups since the late 1970’s, there has been a continuous political unrest within the Afghan government and several uprisings and threats from insurgents taking over communities and villages, leading to the weakening of these power structures and the government losing control over a large area of the nation and causing militant governments to gain power, such as the Taliban. The fall of the Taliban Government in 2001 created expectations that Afghan politics will improve and lean towards the attainment of some aspects of the millennium development goals such as gender-sensitivity, increased economic stability, and democratic relations within the different tribes in the country (European Commission, 2008). However, more than a decade after interventions and aids were provided to bring the Afghan government back to its feet, the observed pace for development still seems slow-paced. Indeed there were presidential elections and the creation of a more democratic constitution, but there are still numerous threats to national security, and whether it is through threats posed by insurgents or through the narcotics trade these are still strong deterrents to the full realization of democracy within Afghanistan (European Commission, 2008). Afghan Political Culture Power struggle issues have always been a prevailing problem in the course of creating a centralized Afghan government. Concerns are usually related to leadership successions in the government, how the longer-existing power-structures affect political loyalty of the villages or communities to the government, and the strong influence of faction leaders in recruiting new members to overthrow the current government (Katzman, 2014). Because of the lack of full awareness of external parties in the political system that have long-prevailed in Afghanistan, most efforts in pushing for a democratic government is not expected to provide and long-term positive results, and the constant instabilities caused by these continuous power struggles will continually prevent economic growth and stability among the Afghan people. The current political system that prevails in Afghanistan has always been rooted to the people’s beliefs in leadership, attitudes, ideals, and sentiments relative to the common religious affiliations of the people. In addition, there has been stronger support for local political factions in comparison with supports for the government, thus power and influence become more localized rather than radiating from only one major source (Katzman, 2014). As such, due to these beliefs some people may not be very-well receptive with outside influences that more or less clash with the local population’s beliefs, whether these outside influences are fellow Afghans from differing factions or from international organizations or countries (Shahrani, 2011). These create further tensions between communities and ethnic groups, for example the clashes between the majority ethnic group such as the Pashtuns against another large ethnic group such as the Tajiks, and the rise of the minority group Hazaras against both large ethnic groups by overcoming the stigma of being the lowest level in the social order and advancing their group through education and undertaking skilled professions (Katzman, 2014). Due to the highly-stratified and differentiated groups existing within Afghanistan, it will take a considerable amount of effort just to integrate a democratic political system with a centralized government, and that due to the wide differences it will be much more efficient and agreeable with local beliefs to establish a parliamentary democratic system with proportional representation that allows the former power structures to regain existence and enforcing these small states to cooperate peacefully with one another, to reduce issues on power struggles and leadership. Proposed Alternative Political System Based on Afghanistan political histories of having localized political structures and power delegations, it seems much more practical to allow parliamentary democratic governance with proportional representation. This is because this kind of government allows different ethnicities and groups to exercise their rights through popular voting, and seeing that there have always been issues with asserting one ethnicity or group’s dominance over the others such as exercising a highly-centralized government with hegemony, it seems better to allow different ethnicities to exercise control within their own domain rather than putting all political power on only one person or group (Katzman, 2014). Also, this kind of political system has been in effect in Afghanistan prior to the invasion of Russia and the British Monarchy, thus it suits the old beliefs and ideals of the different ethnicities in the country. In addition, because of proportional representation and the selection of parliamentary members by voting there will be lesser instances of total hegemony (i.e. of major ethnic groups such as the Pashtun, of people who have strong ties due to patriarchal descent)in the ruling parties due to the presence of other ethnicities in the legislative and governance processes, and that there will be less disgruntling among smaller ethnic groups since they can be better represented using this method and they can contribute their ideas in the most democratic way possible (Shahrani, 2011). Lastly, the implementation of parliamentary governance in Afghanistan can become a lasting legacy of the unification or at the very least the cooperation of different ethnicities to future generations because of the dwindling support and awareness of the youth in recognizing that old and divisive systems of leadership prevents peace as well as the improvement of both economic and political stability in the country, causing them to prolong and even allow the proliferation of the old customs that the elders have continually monopolized (Larson & Coburn, 2014).This in turn will allow the youth to look over their own ethnicities and instead become much more open about accepting other groups not because of political influence but because of similarities in ideals and beliefs. As such, while it will be impractical to simply delegate total control or power to one entity since this goes against the traditional way of thinking within Afghan tribes or ethnicities, allowing them to exercise their influences democratically with the support of the people will be a giant first step in initiating the stability and improvement of Afghanistan government and country. References Katzman, K. (2014). Afghanistan: Politics, elections, and government performance. Washington: Congressional Research Service. Larson, A., & Coburn, N. (2014). Youth mobilization and political constraints in Afghanistan. Washington: United States Institute of Peace. European Commission. (2007). Country strategy paper: Islamic republic of Afghanistan. European Commission. Shahrani, M. N. (2011). Approaching study of political culture in Afghanistan with Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) & Social-Ecological Systems (SES) Frameworks. Bloomington: Indiana University. Read More