ABSTRACT
This chapter demonstrates that Afghanistan has been greatly affected by the persistence of exclusive political and economic institutions, elite rivalry and fragmentation, unsustainable fiscal bases of successive regimes, a weak economy, the landlocked nature of the country and its complex social mosaic. Afghanistan has been in a condition of crisis for most of its history since the eighteenth century, experiencing internal political and social upheaval and foreign interventions and invasions. It is crucial to note that some of the causes of state fragility have their roots in Afghanistan’s modern history. Two decades of war have severely undermined different sources of political legitimacy in Afghanistan. Building of a modern form of legitimacy through elections post-2001 was a breakthrough in Afghanistan. People welcomed the idea of a transfer of power through ballots, not bullets. Despite the shortcomings of the system, elections were seen as the desired mechanism for building political legitimacy among the people.
