How should the international community support state-building in fragile and conflict-affected situations? This book argues that state-building is an endogenous process rooted in state-society relations and the politics of the particular context. Critical aspects of state-building are: the political settlement; the capability and responsiveness of the state to fulfil its principal functions; social expectations of the state and civil society’s ability to articulate demands; and – at the nexus of these three dimensions – sources of legitimacy. Due to the complex and unpredictable nature of fragile situations, donors need to recognise the limitations of external support and adapt their methods and operational frameworks to allow for flexible engagement.
Fragile and conflict-affected states are those that have weak capacity to carry out the basic functions of governing their population and territory, and lack the ability to develop mutually constructive and reinforcing relations with society. State-building is an endogenous process, but often develops alongside and in a mutually supportive relationship with peace-building, with both processes supported by a range of external actors including the international development community. State-building is also a deeply political process, and understanding the context – especially what is perceived as legitimate in a specific context – is crucial if international support is to be useful.
State-building needs to be understood in the context of state-society relations; the evolution of a state’s relationship with society is at the heart of state-building. Three critical aspects of state-society relations particularly influence the resilience or fragility of states. These aspects exist within a larger regional and global policy environment and operate at multiple levels – national and sub-national – within the domestic polity. They are:
- The political settlement, which reflects the implicit or explicit agreement (principally among elites) on the ‘rules of the game’, power distribution and the political processes through which state and society are connected
- The capability and responsiveness of the state to effectively fulfil its principal functions and provide key services
- Broad social expectations and perceptions about what the state should do, what the terms of the state-society relationship should be, and the ability of society to articulate demands that are ‘heard’.
At the heart of the interaction between these three dimensions lies the matter of legitimacy, which provides the basis for rule by primarily non-coercive means. In fragile settings legitimacy may be a highly contested notion, with multiple and conflicting sources of legitimacy competing for space.
Understanding these state-building processes and the context in which they take place must be the starting point for any international engagement and support. The international community must be alert to the way their actions can strengthen or undermine constructive state-society engagement. Donors need to:
- Engage with a broad range of state and non-state partners and work at multiple levels of government.
- Recognise and actively manage tensions and trade-offs between: state-building objectives and other objectives of international actors; the endogenous process of state-building and a democratic agenda; and between short-term and longer-term objectives.
- Be aware of external factors and, as appropriate, link actions at the country level with international actions to tackle tax evasion, money laundering, the arms trade, illicit or irresponsible extraction of natural resources, corruption and terrorist financing, and international regulation of narcotics.
- Identify the underlying causes of violent conflict and fragility, as well as factors that can build peace.
- Look for opportunities to promote inclusive political settlements and political processes that strengthen state-society interaction and accountability at all levels.
- Prioritise support for state functions that are strategically important for state-building, while placing gender considerations among the core concerns. Key state functions are security and justice, revenue and expenditure management, economic development – especially job creation – and service delivery.
- Understand how aid modalities and other instruments impact the state-building process, and match these modalities to intervention objectives. This is likely to involve greater use of jointly managed and pooled funds and of sector-wide and programme-based approaches.
- Strengthen their own capacity to work on state-building in fragile situations, including through setting the right incentives for better collaboration, risk management, recruitment and procurement.
