Graduation Year

2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Ph.D.

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Degree Granting Department

School of Interdisciplinary Global Studies

Major Professor

Steven C. Roach, Ph.D.

Committee Member

David Jacobson, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Jonseok Woo, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Zacharias Pieri, Ph.D.

Keywords

democracy, legitimation process, Legitimacy, security, Afghanistan, state-building

Abstract

This dissertation tackles a central puzzle regarding the recurring legitimacy crises of the Afghan state: why, despite decades of investment and efforts by state and non-state actors, has Afghanistan struggled to build enduring legitimacy? It argues that the concept of performance legitimacy is crucial in fragile states such as Afghanistan, as it focuses on citizen’s expectations and the state's ability to deliver public services and secure support from its population. By contrasting performance legitimacy with traditional theories, such as social contract and Weberian approaches, this work deepens the understanding of how legitimacy through the needs and expectations of ordinary citizens is formed in fragile settings. Focusing on post-2001 Afghanistan as a case study, this dissertation critiques Western-led state-building efforts, which prioritized the “wrong” forms of legitimation, leading to an unstable and weak state formation. The analysis highlights the critical challenges of local governance, corruption, and service provision that hindered state-building and public trust in the government. For its part, Western nations, instead of stabilizing the state, inadvertently undermined it by failing to monitor elections effectively and focused too much on security instead of effective state-building processes that could embody democratic values and principles. Their efforts thus faced significant setbacks, ultimately exposing the fragility of the central government and revealing the illusory nature of its legitimacy and performative actions. I conclude that efforts to establish a centralized Afghan state in the post-2001 period exacerbated ineffective governance and further alienated local authorities, who were sidelined from political and administrative affairs. This detachment, ultimately, contributed to poor governance, rising insurgency, and state failure, leading to the collapse of the democratic republic in 2021. Finally, this work offers important insights for scholars and policymakers in state-building, emphasizing the limits of misplaced legitimization and the need for stable and legitimate governance in fragile contexts.

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