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2. Public Perceptions of Palestinian Security Sector Governance
- Author:
- Arnold Luethold, Luigi de Martino, and Riccardo Bocco
- Publication Date:
- 10-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
- Abstract:
- The Graduate Institute for Development Studies (IUED) in Geneva and the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF) conducted in July 2005 a survey in order to measure public perceptions of Palestinian security sector governance. The survey involved 1,500 individuals living in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Government, and International Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Geneva, Middle East, Palestine, Jerusalem, and Gaza
3. Restoring Policing Systems in Conflict Torn Nations: Process, Problems, Prospects
- Author:
- Otwin Marenin
- Publication Date:
- 06-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
- Abstract:
- The goal of reconstructing policing systems which embody and embrace democratic norms has achieved an honoured place on the global security agenda. The need to secure minimal levels of security in transitional, developing, war-torn and post-conflict societies, and to keep local violence and conflicts from spilling over into regional arenas, has led to numerous efforts by international actors and donors to help local states and societies construct effective and fair public security systems. The paper examines efforts by the UN but also be regional organizations, NGOs, bilateral donors and domestic political and police actors to promote and structure reforms. Sufficient examples now exist to extract and suggest lessons on the process required to establish functioning and democratic policing systems. The paper will draw on existing academic literatures, reports by governments, international organizations and NGOs, and personal interactions with actors in this field to summarize what we know, and what we still lack information on, about how to plan for and implement the restoration of policing systems.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Security, Democratization, and Government
- Political Geography:
- United Nations
4. The New 'Double Challenge': Simultaneously Crafting Democratic Control and Efficacy Concerning Military, Police and Intelligence
- Author:
- Felipe Agüero
- Publication Date:
- 04-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
- Abstract:
- Military or security forces today are more likely to endanger democracy by lessening its quality and depth than by threatening its outright and swift overthrow. While the stability of new democracies is certainly not assured, the strongest concern lies with their ability to advance the rule of law and guarantee the basic liberties and needs of their citizens. In regard to the armed forces, the police, and intelligence agencies, new democracies are often poorly prepared to face up to a double challenge: developing firm institutions for the democratic control of those services, and turning them into effective tools for the protection and security of their citizens. The source of these difficulties is to be found not only in those services but also, and often primarily, in the inaction, complicit stance or active encouragement of non-democratic behavior by civilian actors in government or political society.
- Topic:
- Security, Arms Control and Proliferation, Democratization, Government, and Intelligence
5. Providing Security. The Division of Labour. Armed Forces, Gendarmerie, Police
- Author:
- Alain Faupin
- Publication Date:
- 02-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
- Abstract:
- This topic is quite uneasy as the security tasks of all three organizations, namely armed forces, police and gendarmerie, are either very different, or very intermingled. The only common point is the primacy of the civilian authority, a rule of good governance and of democracy scrupulously applied and overseen.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Security, Government, and Governance
- Political Geography:
- Europe
6. Watching the Watchdogs: The Role of the Media in Intelligence Oversight in Germany
- Author:
- Antje Fritz
- Publication Date:
- 04-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
- Abstract:
- Free media and unhampered and impartial journalism are crucial elements of any democracy. Journalists provide the information which a society needs to debate current policies, public issues, societal threats, the potential failings of its institutions as well as necessary reforms. In so doing, journalism fulfils a major democratic function, which includes, as a crucial responsibility, the duty to make issues transparent and therefore to help citizens to gain information about and exert oversight of the state's executive bodies (Ward 2004). But even if those pre-conditions are satisfied, some societal areas, especially those which concern security related issues, tend to resist efforts to provide transparency and public oversight. This is especially the case when intelligence services and intelligence related issues are involved.
- Topic:
- Security, Civil Society, Government, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Germany
7. Under Pressure. Falintil - Forças de Defesa de Timor Leste. Three Decades of Defence Force in Timor Leste: 1975-2004
- Author:
- Edward Rees
- Publication Date:
- 04-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
- Abstract:
- Timor Leste is faced with a major challenge in consolidating its nascent democracy, this being the overdue establishment of a national security framework supported by legislation. In conjunction, civilian oversight and management structures for the security sector are weak to non-existent in Timor Leste. This is most pronounced in the case of Timor Leste's defence force and police services, and especially so in those areas where their responsibilities overlap. A major obstacle to overcoming this challenge are political divisions that exist between those who identify themselves as being “veterans of the resistance” to Indonesia's occupation 1975-99. The role of veterans dominates the country's political equation from the villages to the capitol. These divisions are manifested in the ill-advised and ongoing creation of the state's security institutions. That the United Nations' security forces' withdrawal from Timor Leste will be complete in May 2004 underscores the pressing nature of this problem. The below paper will examine the development of the defence force with some allusion to the police services. I will view the development of defence forces from the inception of an indigenous armed force in 1975.
- Topic:
- Security, Government, Peace Studies, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Indonesia
8. Ukrainian Democratic Development and Euro-Atlantic Integration: A Natural Convergence, But A Difficult Path
- Author:
- James Green
- Publication Date:
- 03-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
- Abstract:
- For over a thousand years, Ukraine\'s national strength and independence has been linked to democratic self-governance. In the Kyiv Rus, popular assemblies called \'vetches\' elected representatives and provided popular input into governmental policy. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Cossack hetman and foremen were elected by the Cossack Radas, which also debated and approved government policies. Beginning in the 14th century and lasting until the early 19th century, many Ukrainian towns and cities – Lviv, Kyiv, Vinnitsa, Zhytomyr, Chernigiv, Glukhov, Lubny, Poltava – flourished under the political and economic self-government provided by Magdeburg Law, which offered liberation from feudal duties, the election of city authorities, and rule of law. This link continues to the present; the modern Ukrainian state was born out of the convergence of movements for national independence and democracy that brought down the Soviet Union. Although neither of these attributes is yet fully consolidated in the young Ukrainian state, the country\'s best hope for success lies in its democratic elements: a system, albeit imperfect, of electing government officials and legislators, elements within the judiciary willing to uphold human rights and the rule of law, journalists and editors willing to take risks to report the truth, non-governmental organizations that provide a means for citizens to mobilize in order to advance their common interests.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Security, and Government
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Ukraine, and Soviet Union
9. Democratic Control of Armed Forces in Military Interventions: A Challenge to Global Governance
- Author:
- Herbert Wulf
- Publication Date:
- 01-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
- Abstract:
- Since the end of the Cold War, numerous developments have significantly changed the position of the armed forces. Firstly among these developments is the fact that the vast majority of wars are no longer fought between states. Rather, today's wars and violent conflicts tend to have mostly inner societal causes (Kaldor 2001). Additionally, the observation of present day realities, especially in big urban centres of the world, shows that more people die from the day-to-day exertion of criminal violence than from warrelated causes. Inner-societal insecurity and violent conflict sometimes leads to the international community turning to military means to control and pacify the areas concerned.
- Topic:
- Security, Civil Society, Democratization, and Government
- Political Geography:
- United Nations
10. Civil Society, Democracy and the Law
- Author:
- Ian Leigh
- Publication Date:
- 01-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
- Abstract:
- This paper first discusses the meaning of civil society and, in particular, its strengths and limitations. The second section considers what civil society can add to the representative democratic process. In the remaining sections, I discuss how civil society interacts with the law in a democratic state. There are two distinct aspects to this. Firstly, there are the legal and constitutional pre-conditions that allow civil society to flourish. These include issues about group autonomy, freedom of the press and of protest, including the place of civil disobedience. Secondly, there are the specific ways in which civil society can use the legal process to further its ends.
- Topic:
- Security, Civil Society, Democratization, and Government
- Political Geography:
- Europe
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