Of Ballots and Boundaries

Abstract

This chapter gives a brief history of elections and governance processes in Afghanistan. Political participation in Afghanistan is largely a community process, with decision-making facilitated by and eventually evolving around the concept of loya jirgas, or tribal councils, from which the community is able to obtain a selection of political leaders. The loya jirgas and the smaller-scale ad hoc jirgas embody a sense of political legitimacy long ingrained within Afghan history. The jirgas are also indicative of the Afghans being no strangers to community involvement in selecting its leadership. Unfortunately, the international agencies in the years that follow would rarely acknowledge the local decision-making processes and instead establish new programs to “improve” governance as if they were building a democratic politics on an entirely blank slate.