State-Building During and After Conflict : Explaining the Roles of Security Sector Reform and Rule of Law on Legitimacy in Two Provinces of Uruzgan and Zabul, Afghanistan

Abstract: The concept of state-building has become a dominant approach to rebuild weak and fragile states and transform their institutions into more legitimate ones. However, in the context of state-building, legitimacy has often been treated as an exogenous phenomenon, ignoring the perspective of the local population. This approach has often led to the creation of western-type institutions, but without much understanding of how the local people would perceive them. This thesis investigates how state-building activities in the forms of Security Sector Reform (SSR) and rule of law enhance legitimacy among the local population. The study argues that when state-building activities are carried out in a more robust fashion and given enough time, the results can positively affect legitimacy. In order to test the theoretical argument, linking SSR and rule of law to legitimacy, the study conducts a structured, focused comparison of two provinces of Afghanistan: Uruzgan and Zabul, where state-building activities took place between 2008 and 2012. The study’s findings support the hypothesis. Levels of legitimacy in Uruzgan were enhanced because there were more robust activities aimed at improving security sector reform and rule of law. On the contrary, Zabul experienced loss in the levels legitimacy because state-building activities were much weaker.