Connecting with Kabul : the importance of the Wolesi Jirga election and local political networks in Afghanistan / by Noah Coburn.

Cover title.

May 2010.

Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit—at head of title.

Includes bibliographical references.

Summary: This paper argues in particular that the international community needs to pay more attention to the upcoming parliamentary election—not only for the precedents it will set in attempts to promote representational governance in Afghanistan, but, more pressingly, because of the ability of parliamentary elections to stimulate local political debate and reshape local political networks across Afghanistan in a meaningful manner. It suggest several broad measures that the Afghan government and the international community should take to better concentrate their efforts to support more active, local and democratic political debates—(p. 2).

Contents: 1. Introduction—2. Perceptions of parliament and parliamentarians—3. How the local political landscape shapes views about MPs—4. Why the parliamentary election matters for local communities—5. What this means for the 2010 election—6. Conclusion.