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The state:
rising from below?
René
Lefort, director of the UNESCO Courier.
Grassroots
organizations might be filling in for failed states, but for the rule of law to take
effect, government and communities have to work hand-in-hand
At the beginning of
the 20th century, less than a tenth of the world’s population lived in countries
that were independent. Today, the United Nations counts 189 member states and nearly
all human beings live under the rule of a sovereign state recognized by the international
community. But does this make these states legitimate in the eyes of their citizens
and do they fulfill what is expected of them?
In 46 of the 144 countries and territories covered in the latest Amnesty International
annual report, armed groups are killing civilians, torturing people and seizing hostages.
The state is not fulfilling its main responsibility, namely keeping a monopoly on
the use of legitimate force.
Human rights violations, crime and purely predatory behaviour prevail: many states
are instruments with which a minority robs the people, instead of returning tax money
in the form of services. Clearly, in these cases, the state is a thief –nothing more,
nothing less. In others, rule of law might exist, but it goes unenforced because
states lack the means to carry out their most basic mission.
Faced with such a vacuum or coercive context, citizens can respond by falling back
on their “social capital”–namely their desire to pull out of the situation by setting
up grassroots organizations. A group of people starts a process of material improvement,
focused on combating poverty. They also spark a revival of identity, since they take
charge of their lives in accordance with their traditions and knowledge. Last, they
set in motion a political process through the flourishing of local participatory
democracy.
So is this gradual expansion of local power and autonomy the real way to build –this
time from the bottom-up–a new kind of state in tune with people’s needs and expectations?
One that is inevitably different from the model “imported” from rich countries?
Community self-government has two obstacles that only the intervention of the state,
however absent or unsympathetic it is, can overcome. First, a neighbourhood must
be developed in accordance with the infrastructure and regulations controlled by
public authorities so that it fits in with what is happening in adjoining areas.
Second, inevitable conflicts between the various local parties involved can be democratically
resolved only within broader institutions that the state can provide.
To build strong and legitimate states where none exist, two approaches must work
together: one from the “bottom-up”–making use of social capital that often lies untapped–and
the other from the “top down,” in the form of a state that fulfils its responsibilities. |
