Elections and the failure of democratisation: how voting has made Afghanistan less democratic from the ground up. Issue 6 (1st November 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Coburn, Noah
• Is Part Of: Conflict, security & development. Volume 16:Issue 6(2016)
• Page Start: 541
• Page End: 555
• Publication Date: 2016-11-01
• Subjects: Democratisation -- elections -- de-democratisation -- Afghan political economy -- patronage networks -- anthropology of democracy -- political anthropology -- local elders; Security, International -- Periodicals; Pacific settlement of international disputes -- Periodicals; Economic development -- Periodicals; World politics -- 1989- -- Periodicals; 322.5
• DOI: 10.1080/14678802.2016.1246139
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1467-8802

Abstract

Abstract: This article provides an ethnographic analysis of shifts in the political economy of one key district in Afghanistan, in order to analyse the links between elections and shifting constellations of power at the local level. Drawing on field research before and after the elections of 2009, 2010 and 2014, it suggests that elections have enabled a small group of the ruling elite to further solidify its grasp on local political and economic resources. The resources and opportunities generated by elections have been used by political elites in order to strengthen patronage networks and consolidate local hierarchies. This outcome, essentially the obverse of the proclaimed objectives of promoting democracy through electoral processes, raises questions about the assumed relationship between elections and democratisation.