The road to reforming and rebuilding the legitimacy of a state and its institutions is long and difficult. Elections, even when free and fair, are only a piece of the foundation upon which a state must re-establish trust with citizens and can start to rebuild public services, infrastructure, and its economy

Yam, Emilie

LSE Research Online

22/06/2017 Road to legitimacy: Takeaways from the Fragility Commission’s 2nd evidence session - IGChttp://www.theigc.org/blog/road-legitimacy-takeaways-fragility-commissions-2nd-evidence-session/ 1/4Authors Emilie YamPolicy CommunicationsManagerEvaluation andCommunications, IGCLondon HubPublished on: 20 Jun 2017Countries: InternationalResearch themes: FragilityCommission, State Road to legitimacy: Takeawaysfrom the Fragility Commission’s2nd evidence sessionThe road to reforming and rebuilding thelegitimacy of a state and its institutions is longand difﬁcult. Elections, even when free andfair, are only a piece of the foundation uponwhich a state must re-establish trust withcitizens and can start to rebuild publicservices, infrastructure, and its economy.“People don’t need ideas, they need bread.” This statementfrom Former South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhansummed up the central issue debated at the second evidencesession of the LSE-Oxford Commission on State Fragility,Growth and Development, held at Oxford’s Blavatnik School ofGovernment on 8 June 2017.Moderated by the Commission Chair and Former UK PrimeMinister David Cameron, the session on state legitimacyhighlighted the tension between ‘process legitimacy’ and‘performance legitimacy’, that is, what makes a state legitimate– its processes and institutions or its ability to deliver to itscitizens?The commission called on four witnesses, experts with diversebackgrounds in international organisations, government,academia, and first-hand experience of political transitions, toweigh in on this issue. This blog summarises some of thesession’s key takeaways.22/06/2017 Road to legitimacy: Takeaways from the Fragility Commission’s 2nd evidence session - IGChttp://www.theigc.org/blog/road-legitimacy-takeaways-fragility-commissions-2nd-evidence-session/ 2/4The Fragility Commission discusses building legitimategovernment during its second evidence session.Elections are not enoughThe witnesses agreed that the international community’semphasis on democratic elections to grant legitimacy to agovernment is misplaced. Especially in fragile situations,building legitimacy requires states to address much morepressing issues such as establishing physical security for citizens,delivering basic services, and generating job opportunities.Hedi Larbi, former Minister of Economic Infrastructure andEconomic Advisor to the Prime Minister of Tunisia, pointed tothe seemingly ‘legitimate’ transition in Tunisia as an example.In 2011, following a popular revolution that unleashed theArab Spring, democratic elections were held on time andaccording to an agreed roadmap, but the legitimacy gainedfrom the democratic process quickly disintegrated. The electedrepresentatives did not deliver what they promised in terms ofaddressing the population’s economic and social grievances.Source: Flickr | Amine GhrabiMr Larbi argued that trust between institutions and the peopleis fundamental, and building that trust should be prioritisedover all else. You cannot have trust without delivering servicesto the people, and you cannot have legitimacy without trust.During his time in the Tunisian transition government in 2014-15, Mr Larbi said they focused on two priorities in order tobuild trust: 1) building the institutional capacity to deliver asmany public services to Tunisians as they were capable of and2) communicating to the people about what the governmentwas delivering.The risk of ‘best practice’The witnesses also highlighted the danger of international ‘bestpractice’, a buzzword often used by the global community whenadvocating for policy solutions and processes that are widelyaccepted as effective across different contexts.Keith Biddle, the former inspector general of police for SierraLeone, said from his experiences in South Africa, Sierra Leone,22/06/2017 Road to legitimacy: Takeaways from the Fragility Commission’s 2nd evidence session - IGChttp://www.theigc.org/blog/road-legitimacy-takeaways-fragility-commissions-2nd-evidence-session/ 3/4Leone, said from his experiences in South Africa, Sierra Leone,and Somalia that adopting international best practices can oftenbe a curse rather than a blessing. He pointed to success ofcommunity-based policing in South Africa and Sierra Leone.The governments requested help and expertise from abroad, butused that advice to develop their own model for communitypolicing, led by the feedback they received from localcommunities. In contrast, Mr Biddle pointed to the DemocraticRepublic of Congo which failed to develop a coherent policingstrategy, because its government was being led in too manydifferent directions by too many international actors.Mr Biddle also pointed out that international best practice canoften be murky. For example, community-based policing couldbe considered a best practice for achieving security, but thepractice is defined in a multitude of ways, and advice will beentirely influenced by the organisation giving it.What to prioritise?In fragile and conflict situations, where government capacity isextremely limited, sequencing is a key consideration – whatchallenge should you tackle first? The witnesses agreed thatwhile policy priorities are very much dependent on thecircumstances, providing stability and security is often the firststep.For South Africans during the transition from the apartheidsystem to majority rule in 1994, an interim solution in the formof a constitution to set up for a democratic election was one ofthe first steps, said Mr Gordhan.In fragile states, however, a constitution does not usually fulfilthe role of contributing legitimacy, said Christina Murray,professor of human rights and constitutional law at theUniversity of Cape Town. Building a framework for governancemust be accompanied by providing security, addressingcorruption, and providing basic services such as access to water,healthcare, and education.While it is clear that constitutional arrangements are necessaryfor legitimacy, said Professor Murray, bad constitution makingcan lead to long-term, negative effects on the country’sdevelopment. A constitutional process, therefore, must bepreceded by having the right elements in place to make it asuccessful process – for example, political agreements betweenopposing (and sometimes warring) groups and ensuring new orexisting institutions are embraced by all actors.To build up legitimacy, reasonable compliance with thegovernment must also be developed, said Paul Collier, academicdirector of the commission and director of the InternationalGrowth Centre. Citizens need to be willing to pay taxes andobey basic laws that provide security. In fragile situations, anextended period of modest legitimacy that disciplines thegovernment to maintain constant trust with its citizens, ratherthan jumping into elections and making a constitution, could bemuch more beneficial for legitimacy in the long run, he argued.Next stepsMr Cameron closed the session by summarising the difficult22/06/2017 Road to legitimacy: Takeaways from the Fragility Commission’s 2nd evidence session - IGChttp://www.theigc.org/blog/road-legitimacy-takeaways-fragility-commissions-2nd-evidence-session/ 4/4Mr Cameron closed the session by summarising the difficultquestions regarding legitimacy that the commission will addressin its final report – among them, the tension between processand performance legitimacy and the sequencing issue.Additionally, it was clear that the academic evidence on statelegitimacy needs to be considered alongside the realities facedby countries in fragile and conflict situations and pastexperience.State legitimacy is one of five key dimensions of fragility thatthe commission is examining as part of its work to form policyrecommendations for national and international actors to bettersupport economic growth in countries facing fragility andconflict. The third evidence session will take place in July 2017. 

Road to legitimacy: takeaways from the fragility commission’s 2nd evidence session

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