-
Building Democracy After Conflict: “Stateness” First
- Journal of Democracy
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Volume 16, Number 1, January 2005
- pp. 84-88
- 10.1353/jod.2005.0006
- Article
- Additional Information
- Purchase/rental options available:
Abstract:
Rebuilding political orders after conflict faces two conundrums. The first is that externally-provided governance can undermine the long-term ability of societies to develop their own self-sustaining indigenous political institutions. This was a problem faced by both the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq and the High Representative in Bosnia. The second conundrum is the often contradictory dictates of state-building and democracy promotion: the first seeks to build power, the second to limit it. There is ultimately no optimal way of solving either problem, though recent experience suggests that small-footprint approaches emphasizing local ownership and early transition to local control will work best.