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Från optimism till pessimism: Hur konflikten i Afghanistan påverkat landets demokratiseringsprocess

Engström, Göran LU (2021) STVK02 20202
Department of Political Science
Abstract (Swedish)
The purpose of this study is to evaluate what impact the conflict in Afghanistan has had on the democratization process in the country. Almost twenty years have passed since the US-led invasion and the overthrow of the authoritarian Taliban regime in a response to the 9/11 attacks on American soil. The goal with the invasion was not only to catch Usama bin Ladin, but also to replace the religious hardliners that had been ruling Afghanistan since 1996 with a more western friendly government.
The first presidential election was held in October 2004. Over eight million voters turned up at the polling stations. The message was clear: the conservative ideas of the repressive Taliban regime were plunged back into history. Afghanistan was... (More)
The purpose of this study is to evaluate what impact the conflict in Afghanistan has had on the democratization process in the country. Almost twenty years have passed since the US-led invasion and the overthrow of the authoritarian Taliban regime in a response to the 9/11 attacks on American soil. The goal with the invasion was not only to catch Usama bin Ladin, but also to replace the religious hardliners that had been ruling Afghanistan since 1996 with a more western friendly government.
The first presidential election was held in October 2004. Over eight million voters turned up at the polling stations. The message was clear: the conservative ideas of the repressive Taliban regime were plunged back into history. Afghanistan was heading towards a new era – defined by democracy and peace. Or was it?
Since the election in 2004 another six elections have been held. With one rare exception, the voter turnout has decreased successively – seemingly in accordance with the increased level of conflict.
In addition to a quantitative comparison between the level of violence and election turnout, this study – in an qualitative approach of semi-structured interviews with Afghan voters – shows that the level of conflict has had a clear impact on election turnout, but is not the only explanation for the dwindling voter turnout. The qualitative part indicates that other crucial explanations are level of hope, belief in the future and confidence in politicians and the political system. (Less)
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author
Engström, Göran LU
supervisor
organization
course
STVK02 20202
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Afghanistan, konfliktnivå, demokratiseringsprocess, valdeltagande, taliban
language
Swedish
id
9033858
date added to LUP
2021-05-11 15:20:46
date last changed
2021-05-11 15:20:46
@misc{9033858,
  abstract     = {{The purpose of this study is to evaluate what impact the conflict in Afghanistan has had on the democratization process in the country. Almost twenty years have passed since the US-led invasion and the overthrow of the authoritarian Taliban regime in a response to the 9/11 attacks on American soil. The goal with the invasion was not only to catch Usama bin Ladin, but also to replace the religious hardliners that had been ruling Afghanistan since 1996 with a more western friendly government.
The first presidential election was held in October 2004. Over eight million voters turned up at the polling stations. The message was clear: the conservative ideas of the repressive Taliban regime were plunged back into history. Afghanistan was heading towards a new era – defined by democracy and peace. Or was it?
Since the election in 2004 another six elections have been held. With one rare exception, the voter turnout has decreased successively – seemingly in accordance with the increased level of conflict. 
In addition to a quantitative comparison between the level of violence and election turnout, this study – in an qualitative approach of semi-structured interviews with Afghan voters – shows that the level of conflict has had a clear impact on election turnout, but is not the only explanation for the dwindling voter turnout. The qualitative part indicates that other crucial explanations are level of hope, belief in the future and confidence in politicians and the political system.}},
  author       = {{Engström, Göran}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Från optimism till pessimism: Hur konflikten i Afghanistan påverkat landets demokratiseringsprocess}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}