“Democracy” in Afghanistan - the Afghanistan Research and ...

Deconstructing “Democracy” in Afghanistan
the sampling design initially determined and
were (in Nangarhar and Ghazni) close to the
provincial centres.
4. Trends in perceptions of democracy are
difficult to detect due to the fact that
people’s views on the subject are changeable.
This was clear in some cases when second
interviews were conducted with respondents
and different perspectives were related each
time. The analysis in this paper is presented as
an indication of some of the common themes
found to exist among diverse and differing
viewpoints.
5. The word “democracy” is itself problematic.
This is because for many, the English word
is more familiar than its Dari or Pashto
equivalent (mardum salari and woleswaqi).
As such, it carries connotations of the Soviet
regime in Afghanistan under the PDPA, or of
Western liberal culture. The research teams
were careful to acknowledge this difficulty
and thus used alternative ways of exploring
the issue— such as in talking about decisionmaking
in a village or the selection of leaders—
over the course of the interview. When at the
end of the interview questions about the word
“democracy” in particular were asked, the
English word was used first since it was more
familiar to most people (it tended to be more
educated respondents that referred to the
term by its Dari or Pashto equivalents). This
was followed by the Dari or Pashto term if
“democracy” in English was not understood.
6. Democracy is also often used as a word very
similar to or sometimes synonymous with
“freedom” or “azadi.” When respondents used
the word azadi, this was duly noted by the
research team.
3.2 Provincial contexts
Kabul Province
As the administrative centre of Afghanistan, Kabul
Province is unique in almost all respects. Kabul
City alone is thought to have between three and
five million inhabitants and is growing rapidly as
the urban centre of the country due to rural-urban
migration. The city is ethnically diverse, although
certain areas within it are dominated by particular
ethnic groups. Outlying rural districts in Kabul
Province, such as Qarabagh, Istalif, and Surobi, are
largely comprised of Tajik and Pashtun inhabitants.
As might be expected, Kabul has a comparatively
high literacy rate and is a centre for state and
private education at the primary, secondary and
tertiary levels. With 24-hour electricity now
installed in most central areas of the city, a large
number of Kabul residents have access to TV and
radio along with print media. Security is relatively
good in the city; while insurgent attacks may disrupt
daily life from time to time, in general people
carry out their day-to-day business unhindered by
security concerns. Good security has also resulted
in a disproportionately visible international
presence compared to the rest of the country,
though international military forces have become
less prominent since security for the city itself was
handed over to the Afghan National Security Forces
(ANSF).
Data from interviews in Kabul strongly reflect
these provincial characteristics. Although a mixed
demographic was selected for the sampling design,
all perspectives given were educated and reflected
a clear awareness of the political activities of
candidates, for example, in the run up to the
presidential and PC elections. Interviewees included
members of political parties, whose central offices
were based in Kabul, and other activists in the
nongovernmental organisation (NGO) and advocacy
sector. The city is also home to a number of
Afghans who have spent significant time abroad.
This accounts again for high levels of education
and also an awareness of how governments in other
countries function and provide services for their
citizens. It also contributes to the city’s political
diversity, which encompasses a spectrum of
different political and religious views from liberal
to staunchly conservative.
Powerholders in Kabul City are plentiful and range
from influential wakil-i-gozars (heads of small
urban areas) to religious elders and mullahs, and
commanders and party leaders. The Mayor of Kabul
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