CIAO DATE: 04/04

The Role of Civil Society in Security Sector Governance in the South Caucasus

Abstract

Over the last ten years, there has been an increasing amount of interest in the issue of security sector reform, and, as a subset of this, a specific focus on the question of democratic governance over the security sector. It has been widely recognised that if security institutions are not fully under democratic civilian control, they can impede the development of the state in a number of ways. This may involve the squandering of scarce national resources because there is little civilian oversight over how they spend their money. It may be a matter of poorly trained and badly paid staff turning to corruption in order to supplement their income, with no mechanisms in place to stop them doing so. In extreme cases, the security sector may become so independent of external control that it starts to become a 'state within a state' or threatens to take over the state in order to better pursue its own objectives. Emphasis has thus been placed on ensuring that all the state institutions that are involved in the provision of security have clearly defined roles and remits within society, are professional and accountable, and that they are overseen by capable civilian administration and democratically-elected bodies.

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