The long and the short of policy pantomime in Afghanistan

Abstract

What roles do policies and policymaking play in the governance of the Afghan state? And what determines policy approval by cabinet? Based on the analysis of two subnational governance policies, this article concludes, first, that policy approval depends on the strength of political sponsorship, particularly personal relations with the president, and presidential political control, rather than the intrinsic merits of policy; and second, that policies and policymaking constitute pantomime-like behaviour designed to create an impression of developmental governance that conceals the realization of demand- and supply-side vested interests. Nevertheless, establishing the necessary (technical) conditions for good policy that can be utilized when sufficient (political) conditions are present is deemed worthwhile. And, although time is running out for constructive change in Afghanistan, to the extent that exposure of the incompetence, opportunism, hubris and mendacity of power makes policy pantomime and its tragic consequences less likely, so too are critiques like this.