A home-made crisis: The connection between the failure of good governance, mismanagement and the Maoist insurgency in Nepal

MA-Thesis / Master von Daniela Hinze

Abstract:

Nepal – a country which is located between its powerful neighbours India and China – is one of the poorest countries in the world. Nepal has never enjoyed much press coverage, that is, until February 2005, when the king Gyanendra dissolved the Nepali government and announced the ‘state of emergency’, which allowed him to rule the country exclusively. The international community regarded this decision as non-democratic and called on the king to restore universal human rights which were suspended according to the declaration of the state of emergency.

The king issued an official statement cited the ongoing, ‘radicalised Maoist insurgency’ and the ‘inability of the government to curb the movement’ as main reasons for his takeover. Nevertheless, high officials in the country and foreign observers question this pretence.

During the conduction of my field research in Nepal, I considered a combination of multiple causes as main reasons for the protracted Nepalese conflict. The main conflict parties, the political elite including the monarch, and the Maoist movement – have strong negative perceptions of each other. The perception that Maoists are undertaking terrorist attacks to come into power because they want to disturb the peace of a stabile regime should be regarded as misguided. Even if personal ambitions have to be considered, interviewees mentioned several times that the Maoists are responding to grievances within the Nepalese society and that the political elite could not provide the basic needs for its population. This assumption can be supported by the published ’40-Point Demands’ of the Maoists, which includes the demands of political rights, liberties, economic and social security. It becomes apparent that those asserted claims call for social responsibility, equality and justice. Furthermore, this poses the question, of whether the Maoist insurgency is a form of ‘indicator’ or ‘warning signal’ of the political, economic and social situation in Nepal.

In particular, it implies the fundamental question, how a state should operate and what kind of responsibilities the state has. The concept of ‘good governance’ is regarded as a contemporary means and guarantor for an effective state. In every respect, good governance presupposes accountability, honesty or transparency of a state with all its institutions, but besides the structural characteristics the concept disregards the actions that will be undertaken by the state. These should be based on the demands of the society. Many political systems, such as social democracy, attribute enormous importance to concepts such as social responsibility, equality and justice. Due to the limited scope of this dissertation and without the intention of creating a thesis of the ‘ultimate political system’, these concepts shall be briefly discussed in Chapter 1. Nonetheless, the limitations of this paper also prevent an endless theoretical discussion about ideologies. Taking for example socialism with its different streams, such as Marxism, Revisionism or Social Democracy, the whole can not be analysed, but the core principles of socialism shall be mentioned in the first chapter. Furthermore, limitations allow just the analysis of the internal dimension of governance without looking at the global aspect.

This research aims to find an explanation for the current situation in Nepal and is therefore policy-oriented.

This dissertation will analyse the connection between a possible failure of ‘good governance’ or mismanagement in Nepal and the Maoist insurgency. Could mismanagement of the country over the years and the resulting grievances be a cause for an insurgency?

The topic of this dissertation is highly controversial due to the fact that terms, such as ‘good governance’ are hard to define specifically. It is more a question of perspective and the background of various authors which is decisive for the individual approach to the topic. An individual from a developing country will possibly declare different indicators as essential for the presence of ‘good governance’ than an individual from a developed country. Additionally, the question has to be raised what has to be considered as ‘good’. Who has the right to constitute a standard of ‘good governance’? Is it really necessary to find a definition which is suitable for ‘good governance’?

Consequently, the first chapter of this dissertation will aim rather a presentation of the current discussion about ‘good governance’ than to identify the ultimate and unquestionable definition. Is it really possible to identify clear criteria which could be used in principle for analysing if a state provides necessary basic needs for its citizens to maintain a certain standard of living? It is clear, that a one-size-fits-all recipe for an effective state can not be found. It is also beyond the scope of this dissertation to address every aspect of this complex set of issues, especially, the connection of various issues with ‘good governance’ - such as globalisation, democracy, human security, development etc. – will always challenge different perspectives or approaches. Nevertheless, at the end of the first chapter I reserve my right as the author of this dissertation to summarize important criteria of ‘good governance’ from my point of view and criticise the concept, to provide a basis for the following chapters.

The second chapter will analyse theoretically a possible connection between the failure of good governance or mismanagement and the rebellion of citizens. The third chapter will then give empirical evidence of mismanagement in Nepal. Specifically, the role that single actors within the state have played regarding the mismanagement and the failure of good governance will be examined. I will not assign blame to a specific party, but instead will aim to present an overall picture of the situation. Chapter four will provide information about the motives and the course of actions of the Maoist movement.

Because the research in this specific field is not well developed, I used secondary literature from various branches of studies, such as development studies, theories of states, sociology and security studies. Most of the empirical material originated from more than 15 qualitative interviews in Nepal, primary documents, various articles in professional journals from Nepal and India as well as from specific research institutes and international organisations, such as World Bank, UNDP and Freedom House.

Table of Contents:

Table of Contents:

Text Sample:

Chapter 2., Why do they rebel?:

‘The palace is not safe, if the cottage is not happy’.

According to R. Mack and R. Snyder, ‘[c]onflict is for the most part a rubber concept, being stretched and molded for the purposes at hand.’ But no other topic is considered to be more complex and controversial than intrastate conflicts, political unrest and the possibility that this unrest could lead to a rebellion against a political regime. In particular, no state is ‘immune’ against demonstrations, riots, coups d’état or revolutions. But the most decisive question was raised by Ted Gurr – ‘Why men rebel?’ Furthermore, what provoked people to join a group in order to change an existing regime?

Intrastate conflicts can emerge because of political, economic, social or cultural reasons. Mostly, multiple factors or incidences contribute to the outbreak of a crisis or intense conflict. Regarding the topic of this paper, it is intended to focus on factors, such as inequality, poverty or exclusion from the decision-making process, which could be a cause for an insurgency.

The research in the field conflict prevention assumes that good governance and an effective management of resources could prevent outbreaks of intrastate conflicts by settling disputes through political channels with the help of legitimate institutions and accepted procedures. ‘Within states, common governance can be a preventor of conflict, especially when it is linked to a sense of political community and provision of public goods’.

Particularly, Edward Azar regards failure of domestic governance, declining or stagnating development and the denial of human needs as sources of protracted social conflicts. The regulation of social, political and economic interactions should be undertaken by the state, which should ideally be able to satisfy human needs by a fair and just mode of governance. Only with disregard of the communal and identity cleavages, communal harmony and social stability can be advantaged. ‘States which experiences protracted social conflict tend to be characterized by incompetent, parochial, fragile and authoritarian governments that fail to satisfy basic human needs’.

The discussion about the concept of ‘social capital’ has to be introduced while examining violent conflicts. According to Putnam, social capital implies ‘the features of social organizations, such as networks, norms, and trust that facilitate coordination and cooperation for mutual benefit’. States or communities, which are characterised by economic development and effective governments, are widely supported by ‘networks of civil engagement’. The identifying criteria of a strong society with a well functioning communication network and an effective social organisation are solidarity, integrity, participation and trust. Coleman and Uphoff broadened the definition by including the horizontal and vertical dimension of social capital. Horizontal relations comprise the networks of equals or near equals, while vertical associations are characterised by hierarchy and an unequal distribution of power. A network, which would guarantee participation or an inclusion of all members of the society, would provide a basis for social cohesion. Thus latent conflict could be prevented by creating social bonds which help to bridge social divisions and make tensions or polarisation impossible. ‘Weak social cohesion increases the risk of social disorganisation, fragmentation, and exclusion and the potential of violent conflict.’ However, Narayan stresses not to neglect the effectiveness of the state by focusing exclusively on civic engagement and inclusion.

The debate about the effectiveness of states refers to the controversial categorisation of states regarding their performance. Ineffectiveness could lead to a failing or failed, collapsing or collapsed state. Even if it is not clearly defined what a failed or collapsed state constitutes, Robert R. Rotberg set criteria according to how a state could be classified as strong, weak or failed. As he points out, the Human Development Index Rank, GNI per capita, Illiteracy Rate or Life expectancy could be indicators for assigning states to a weak or strong system. The economic or democratic system has to be analysed in order to evaluate a possible weakness of a state. It is the view of Rotberg that ‘strong states offer high levels of security from political and criminal violence, ensure political freedom and civil liberties, and create environment conducive to the growth of economic opportunity.’ The rule of law and an independent judicial system is provided. In addition, basic needs will be fulfilled, which include besides food and shelter also a developed infrastructure, free educational system and health care system. Weak or ineffective states are characterised by the fulfilment of expectations in some areas and poor performance in others, while those tendency of weakness could lead to a failure.

Human Security and the fulfilment of human needs in order to prevent conflicts is a central argument of various research projects, which will be the basis for the following examination. Caroline Thomas assumes a correlation between ‘the level of entitlement to human security and the propensity of conflict’ which occurs mostly in intrastate warfare.

The socialisation process teaches individuals to seek for things that bring satisfaction and to avoid those which could lead to suffering. The most obvious needs, which can not be disregarded, are individual or communal physical survival and well-being. Even though needs differ from nation to nation or social levels, basic needs are essential and must be fulfilled for everyone. Abraham Maslow provides a list of needs in his book Towards a Psychology of Being, which itemised physical needs, such as food and shelter, as well as relationship needs.