An exploration of the limitations of bureaucratic organizations in implementing contemporary peacebuilding

Abstract

This article seeks to unpack the implications of contemporary peacebuilding for technocratic, bureaucratic organizational forms. It argues that if the contemporary peacebuilding literature is taken as given, fundamental alterations are required in predominately Western peacebuilding systems-specifically in the structure and function of bureaucratic organizations that typically fund, manage and execute peacebuilding interventions. The analysis proceeds by matching five 'peacebuilding principles' derived from contemporary literature, with an organizational framework that highlights key structural and functional aspects of bureaucracies, thus allowing organizational deficiencies to be identified. The article argues that current peacebuilding scholarship would benefit from theoretically guided organizational research on the various organizations and systems involved in peacebuilding implementation. It concludes that peacebuilding scholars can be informed by the significant body of knowledge in the fields of public administration and policy, which bring a rich history of studying implementation situations that parallel in many ways complex peacebuilding interventions.

Civil society in a divided society: Linking legitimacy and ethnicness of civil society organizations in Bosnia-Herzegovina

“…Indeed, earlier research suggests that CSOs possessing what we call high donor legitimacy – access to support due to compliance with donors’ norms and standards – often accompanies low local legitimacy, meaning support and confidence by local constituents and societies ( Grødeland, 2006 ; Pickering, 2006 ; Verkoren and Van Leeuwen, 2014 ). International organizations engaged in peacebuilding have been encouraged to incorporate local understandings of legitimacy throughout their operations ( Williams and Mengistu, 2015 ). However, there is little research attempting to analyse local legitimacy and how it develops.…”