Examining Ethnic Accommodation and Coalition-Building Under Alternative Forms of Government in Afghanistan

Dr. Mohammad Bashir Mobashir has completed and published research on Examining Ethnic Accommodation and Coalition-Building Under Alternative Forms of Government in Afghanistan.

In post-conflict states like Afghanistan, facilitating ethnic accommodation
through encouraging inclusive institutions and policies are among the first concerns of constitutional designers. While some constitutional choices successfully address these concerns, others wholly or partially fail. The Afghan Constitution tells a story partly of success and partly of failure. Its success story highlights the formation of cross-ethnic electoral coalitions and the practices of relatively inclusive political distributions. Its failure underlines the less inclusive policies of the government and the inability of electoral coalitions to institutionalize.

Many scholars and politicians link the failures to the presidential system and advocate for adopting a parliamentary or semi-presidential constitution. Others highlight the advantages of the presidential system and argue against any constitutional change. This article engages the literature by examining both the current system and the alternatives. However, it goes beyond the conventional discourse to examine the optimality of adapting the current presidential system as well.

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