Book Talk: Constitutional Law and the Politics of Ethnic Accommodation

Constitutional Law and the Politics of Ethnic Accommodation Institutional Design in Afghanistan explores why Afghanistan's legal and political institutions were unable to incorporate its diverse ethnic groups into the political process. Ethnic accommodation has become a central topic in the literature on institutional design and democratic consolidation. However, while some divided societies have been extensively studied, Afghanistan remains an understudied yet critically important case for testing and refining our theories of institutional design in democratizing, pluralistic societies. The study focuses on Afghanistan’s 2004 Constitution and examines key provisions related to electoral laws and political party laws, which together shape the country’s political institutions—specifically the presidential system, unitary government, electoral system, and party system. It argues that due to a fundamental incongruence in both design and outcomes, these political institutions ultimately failed to fully accommodate ethnic groups within the political process.

Join the NYU John Brademas Center for this hybrid event…