Challenging Good Local Governance Experiences from Afghanistan Conrad Schetter

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Challenging Good Local Governance Experiences
from AfghanistanConrad Schetter

• Bonn, 4 October 2007

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Good Governance versus Governance

• Good Governance
• getting politics right
• from top down to bottom up
• guided by the paradigm of liberal democracy

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Good Governance versus Governance

• Governance
• refers to the formation and stewardship of the
  formal and informal rules that regulate the
  public realm, the arena in which states as well
  as economic and social actors interact to make
  decisions (Goran Hyden 2002)
• academic perspective on mechanisms and rules,
  which generate policy outcomes

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ZEF projects on Governance

• All large ZEF-projects on natural resources
  include a governance dimension (GLOWA Khorezm
  etc.)
• Further projects
• Good Governance and the Law-making Process for
  Economic Reforms in Morocco, Egypt and Jordan
  (Noha al-Mikawy)
• Alternative Institutions for Natural Resource
  Management in Developing Countries (Stefanie
  Engel)
• The Impact of Liberalization cum Decentralization
  Economies on Russias Agro-food Sector (Peter
  Wehrheim)

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ZEF projects on Governance

• ZEF-Governance Research interlinked with research
  on
• knowledge
• cultural diversity
• decentralization

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Good Local Governance in Fragile States

• Why important?
• on the local level people are facing decision
  making process on a daily basis
• lack of state structures on the local level
• lack of contact persons for development agencies

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Good Local Governance in Fragile States

• Good Local Governance aims
• to empower local communities
• to introduce liberal democratic principles

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Research Area
Kunduz
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Good Local Governance in Afghanistan

• Projects quick and visible
• increasing the acceptance and physical security
  of IOs/NGOs
• Intervening in existing power structures
• manifestation of power structures
• de-legitimacy of democratic principles
• or destabilization of the local social order

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Good Local Governance in Afghanistan

• Undercover State Building via Good Local
  Governance
• identifying, shaping and territorializing of
  village communities
• IOs/NGOs Agencies of modernity
• IOs/NGOs are symbolizing the enforcement of a new
  order and the restructuring of power

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Conclusion

• Good Governance is caught between two normative
  dilemmas
• a) Encouraging ownership of the people
• b) Introducing modern standards

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Conclusion

• Role of research at ZEF
• Generating knowledge about the policy and the
  implementation of good governance approaches
• Generating knowledge about local institutions and
  actors

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Viele Dank für Ihre Aufmerksamkeit
Thank you for your attention
More information available www.zef/amudarya.0.de