The Conundrum of Policy Stability

The Case of Afghanistan’s Centralized Planning and Budgeting Policies

Bibliographic Data

ID22065773
AuthorsMohammad Qadam Shah (corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume10
Issue1
Pages159-183
Publication date2022-05-31
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAsian Journal of Peacebuilding (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2288-2693 • E-ISSN: 2288-2707
PublisherAsian Journal of Peacebuilding (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.18588/202204.00a239
OpenAlexW4281712483
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited17

This paper explores why Afghanistan’s centralized planning and budgeting policies, despite consistent failure to improve local participation and allocative efficiency, remained stable. Based on policy feedback theory, there are two explanations. First, policy actors, given their interests, often tend to keep the status quo unchanged; and second, policymaking processes play a facilitative role for policy actors. This paper explains how centralized policymaking processes enable policy actors to bypass specific constraints of institutional environment such as agenda setting, principalagent dynamics, information symmetry, and credible commitment to keep certain policies unchanged. With the recent collapse of Afghan state, the Taliban would most likely continue the centralized planning and budgeting policies given their past governance approach and their recent performance

Afghan · Allocative efficiency · Business · Corporate governance · Economics · Market economy · Microeconomics · Political science · Public economics · Status quo · Computer Science · International Development and Aid · Law · Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East · Politics and Society in Latin America · Public Administration · Finance

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