The Factors of the Fall of the Republic Government and Political Crisis in Afghanistan: A Survey of Public Attitudes

Abstract

Afghanistan, a nation marked by longitudinal internal conflict and a field of rivalry among global and regional powers for many decades, grapples with a deeply intricate and multifaceted political predicament. This complexity arises from a duality of issues: the pervasive intra-ethnic and intra-group tensions within Afghanistan and the intricate interplay of neighbouring states, regional dynamics, and global interests that have transformed the country into a quagmire of conflict and terrorism. This research adopts a quantitative, applied research approach utilizing questionnaires as its primary data collection method. Its core objective is to systematically investigate and unearth the underlying causes contributing to the collapse of the Afghan republic. The research reveals that ethnic politics have dominated Afghanistan, exerting substantial, irreparable damage upon the democratic framework. This dominance manifests through ethnic-centric political manoeuvres that undermine the democratic system’s foundations. The downfall of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan can be attributed to a multitude of factors, including widespread administrative and financial corruption, the managerial inadequacies of top-tier officials, the monopolization of power, ethnocentrism and discriminatory practices, political dependency on foreign nations, the self-interest and ambitions of political leaders, the dearth of rule of law, economic reliance on foreign entities, a conspicuous absence of merit-based governance, a crisis of political legitimacy, and the inefficacy of the judiciary. Ultimately, the republic’s governance disintegrated when President Ashraf Ghani fled Afghanistan, facilitating the scaling of the Taliban to power.