Institution-building, not nation-building: a structural-functional model

By building on the essential tenets of Parsonian structural-functionalism, this article focuses on structure, process, and norms as critical to the development of enduring institutions. The contemporary orientation to nation-building that tends to focus on the structural and administrative elements of state reconstruction, especially in post-conflict situations, should be re-evaluated in favor of a more grass-roots, sociologically driven and institutionally based approach. The concept of institutions utilized here is derived from both macro (social organization) and micro (individual) levels of analysis on how a series of actions, practices, and differentiated roles are able to sustain a level of functional and organic equilibrium over time. While equilibrium suggests a type of 'stable state', it helps to reinforce the argument that effective institutions (including individual behaviors, norms and values) can provide the structural foundation needed for successful nation-building initiatives. Hence in that order, there should be a redirection of effort on institution-building rather than nation-building.