This can be addressed by changing our frame of reference away from working towards a set-piece ideal of government , asking instead what it is that the governed want their government to do , how that government will go about doing it , and what it needs in order to make that possible . Thus intervention works backwards from the intended end-state ( a better peace and security , for example ) building or supporting whatever is necessary to achieve that state . Thus , the nature and character of governance is designed as fit-to-purpose , based on the input of the population . This is an opportunity to model the workings and benefits of good governance within the design of R & S , thus reinforcing the message . In this way , we can ask what it is that government should look like given the conditions found on the ground , rather than attempting to build a one-size-fits-all solution that ’ s unlikely to fit local needs and conditions .
Interveners must understand that there is a long list of reasons why the kind of communication and understanding between governments and the governed that characterizes established democracies may not exist in fragile and conflict-affected environments . We cannot assume that populations or government officials will know or believe that they can or should interact with one another . In many parts of the world , the rights , roles and responsibilities contained within conceptions of kinship and customary law supersede those contained within the concept of a citizen . Multiple competing sources of authority and legitimacy may exist .
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