Policy Priorities for Tackling State Fragility International Parliamentary Conference on Peacebuilding: Tackling State Fragility Monday 1 February 2010 James Putzel Crisis States Research Centre London School of Economics Photo: © J Putzel 2005

Defining State Fragility OECD (2007): A state is fragile when “state structures lack political will and/or capacity to provide the basic functions needed for poverty reduction, development and to safeguard the security and human rights of their populations” World Bank (2009): “low-income countries or territories with no Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (CPIA) score or a CPIA score of 3.2 or less”.

Assessing these definitions Recognition of “fragile states” was positive in that it allowed aid to be channelled to poorly performing states that need it most. Problematic aspects of these definitions: - equates fragility with poverty (what about Tanzania? Half the countries of SSA that have not experienced civil war.) - confuses resilience with development

Alternative indicators of state resilience 1)Ability of state to maintain basic security * protect population from physical violence including that which might come from the state itself 2)Ability of state to raise revenue * no rival is collecting significant taxation 3)Ability of state organisations to ensure that state institutions (rules and norms) take precedence over rival institutions * rival rules (religious, identity, region, etc) are subordinate to the state’s rules

Resilience ≠ Development Many states that achieve basic security, hegemony over taxation and basic legitimacy of state rules remain poor (Tanzania; Zambia; Malawi) The deals done to win security and stability may block the leap to more dynamic development Development itself may be a source of insecurity and instability

What determines the trajectory of a state? Political Organisation Resilience: political organisation is: - inclusive of elites: ensuring elite “buy in” to state rules - seen as legitimate in population: general acceptance (Tanzania or Zambia) Development: political organisation is: - organised around a developmental programme - capable of disciplined action vis a vis elites and social groups (Malaysia or Rwanda)

What role for Parliaments and their Members in Tackling Fragility? Shaping the way politics is organised - Not about eliminating patronage: all parliamentarians need to look after constituents Shaping the way the state is organised: - Not about attempting to implement the whole “good governance” agenda: standards of probity practiced in the OECD achieved at very high levels of per capita income

Shaping the way politics is organised Appeal to constituents as citizens rather than appealing to ethnicity, identity, language or religion (identity politics promotes fragility) Building alliances that protect minority rights even when privileging those previously excluded; (the demographics of democracy can promote fragility) Using position within government to build a disciplined political party based on a programme for development rather than organising behind personalities of the day. (the most resilient states have been organised through political parties)

Shaping the way the state is organised Parliaments need to build effective executive authority around key dimensions of government (cannot do “all good things” at once) therefore privileging: - Capacity to supervise security: military and police - Capacity to review and decide on budgets: scrutinise foreign aid - Capacity to contribute to economic planning: knowledge of basic productive sectors in the economy - Capacity to design implementable law;