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Informal Federalism: Self-Governance and Power Sharing in Afghanistan

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  • Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili

Abstract

Although the 2004 Constitution of Afghanistan establishes a highly centralized political system, this article suggests Afghanistan is an informal federation in which customary organizations comprise a legitimate level of government capable of providing many public goods and services at the village level. Despite the absence of formal village government, governance in practice involves extensive power sharing between district government officials and customary representatives appointed by villagers themselves. The effectiveness of such self-governing customary arrangements is anticipated by the work of Elinor Ostrom, while the finding that day-to-day relations between levels of government are based in local norms rather than parchment institutions of the state demonstrate the continued insight of Vincent Ostrom into intergovernmental relations.

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  • Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili, 2014. "Informal Federalism: Self-Governance and Power Sharing in Afghanistan," Publius: The Journal of Federalism, CSF Associates Inc., vol. 44(2), pages 324-343.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:publus:v:44:y:2014:i:2:p:324-343.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/publius/pju004
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Jennifer Murtazashvili & Ilia Murtazashvili, 2020. "Wealth-destroying states," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 182(3), pages 353-371, March.
    2. Michael Buehler, 2014. "Warlords, Strongman Governors, and the State in Afghanistan, by Dipali Mukhopadhyay," Publius: The Journal of Federalism, CSF Associates Inc., vol. 44(4), pages 1-15.
    3. Ilia Murtazashvili & Jennifer Murtazashvili, 2015. "Anarchy, self-governance, and legal titling," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 162(3), pages 287-305, March.
    4. Jochem, Torsten & Murtazashvili, Ilia & Murtazashvili, Jennifer, 2016. "Establishing Local Government in Fragile States: Experimental Evidence from Afghanistan," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 293-310.
    5. Ilia Murtazashvili & Jennifer Murtazashvili, 2019. "The political economy of legal titling," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 32(3), pages 251-268, September.
    6. Brast, Benjamin, 2017. "Liberal Statebuilding Interventions and the Monopoly on Violence," SocArXiv yqk9v, Center for Open Science.
    7. Tariq Basir & Ilia Murtazashvili & Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili, 2024. "Institutional stickiness and Afghanistan’s unending revolution," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 200(3), pages 403-422, September.
    8. Ilia Murtazashvili & Jennifer Murtazashvili, 2016. "When does the emergence of a stationary bandit lead to property insecurity?," Rationality and Society, , vol. 28(3), pages 335-360, August.

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