Devolving the Monopoly on Violence: the Security Implications of the Transfer of State Functions to Traditional Institutions

对世界各地的许多人来说，“韦伯利亚国家”的承诺并未实现。他们生活在国家无法维持对暴力的垄断的环境中--因为正规的国家机构不存在、腐败，或者本身就是不安全的来源。尽管如此，关于“脆弱”环境的学术和政策辩论在很大程度上仍然是以国家为中心的，他们认为国家的缺席是暴力的根源，而国家的扩张是最有希望的补救措施。在一些最不安全的地区，国家和公民已转向其他解决办法：在索马里，以部族为基础的冲突管理系统承担了维持秩序的责任。鉴于阿富汗中部国家的软弱，传统的议会和部落民兵一直在农村地区提供安全保障。面对过度的犯罪暴力，墨西哥南部的社区利用他们的权利，用习惯的治理和安全提供制度取代正式的国家机构。这些受冲突影响的国家一直在努力建立安全，不是通过扩大国家机构，而是通过有选择地撤退。它们将司法和安全方面的核心职能移交给利用传统和当地习俗使之合法化的社区机构(以下简称：“传统机构”)。这一进程需要从根本上重新配置国家、传统机构和公民之间的三方关系。然而，到目前为止，我们对这一进程的后果缺乏明确的认识：国家职能的下放如何影响受习惯安排管辖的地区的公民安全？成功下放的条件、特点和机制是什么？我们的项目旨在为消除这些差距做出贡献。我们的定性和定量分析集中在墨西哥的案例上，利用一个独特的机会来调查正在进行的将国家职能下放给传统机构的过程。结构条件和法律规定的实质性时空变化使我们能够调查权力下放的背景和特点的作用。观察这一过程的展开，使我们能够追踪推动其影响的机制。我们的分析建立在与斯坦福大学和墨西哥四所“跨文化大学”的国际合作基础上。这些结果有望增进我们对不安全情况下不同机构配置的动态和影响的理解。此外，它们可以为主导的以国家为中心的范式之外的建设和平战略提供信息。

For many people around the globe, the promises of the ‘Weberian state’ have not materialized. They live in contexts in which the state is unable to uphold a monopoly on violence – because formal state institutions are absent, corrupt or a source of insecurity themselves. Nonetheless, academic and policy debates on “fragile” contexts remain largely state-centric, seeing the absence of the state as a source of violence and its expansion as the most promising remedy. In some of the most insecure areas, states and citizens have turned to alternative solutions: in Somalia, clan-based systems of conflict management have assumed responsibility for maintaining order. In the light of the weakness of the central Afghan state, traditional councils and tribal militias have been providing security in rural areas. Confronted with excessive criminal violence, communities in southern Mexico have made use of their right to replace formal state institutions with customary systems of governance and security provision. These conflict-affected states have been trying to establish security not through the expansion of state institutions but through their selective retreat. They devolve core functions in justice and security to communal institutions that draw on tradition and local customs for legitimation (in the following simply: “traditional institutions”). This process entails a fundamental reconfiguration of the tripartite relationships between the state, traditional institutions and citizens. Thus far, however, we lack a clear understanding of the consequences of this process: How does the devolution of state functions affect citizens’ security in areas governed by customary arrangements? What are the conditions, features and mechanisms of successful devolution? Our project aims to contribute to addressing these gaps. Our qualitative and quantitative analyses focus on the case of Mexico, leveraging a unique opportunity to investigate an ongoing process of devolution of state functions to traditional institutions. Substantive spatio-temporal variation in structural conditions and legal provisions allows us to investigate the role of contexts and features of devolution. Observing this process as it unfolds, allows us to trace the mechanisms driving its effects. Our analyses build on an international cooperation with Stanford University and four “Intercultural Universities” in Mexico. The results promise to advance our understanding of the dynamics and effects of varying institutional configurations in contexts of insecurity. Moreover, they can inform peacebuilding strategies beyond the dominant state-centred paradigm.