The Potential of Nudging Civic Participation in Post-Conflict Environment

Abstract

The conflict-affected tribal areas previously known as Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) were merged with the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) in 2018. To acknowledge the need for innovative approaches to rebuilding state-society relations whilst mainstreaming the merged districts; this research proposes the idea of behavioral change and ‘nudging’ to enhance civic participation and engagement with state institutions. The theoretical underpinnings of nudging approach as proposed by Thaler and Sunstein posit the idea of influencing individual behavior and self-consciously attempt to move people in the direction of better choices for the individual and society. While, behavioral science and nudges have been extensively integrated with various public policy domains, research regarding behavioral change in conflict-affected and post-conflict society is inadequate and requires further exploration. For this, qualitative research has been carried out through semi-structured interviews of experts in the field of peace and conflict studies and behavioral science. The factors affecting the applicability of nudges are outlined as lack of political consciousness about the state systems and access to courts and official records which has affected individuals’ propensity to engage with the state institutions. With that, the challenge faced in provision of security and creating state infrastructure are recognized as pre-requisites for nudging civic participation. These findings integrated with lessons from behavioral science in other postconflict

contexts have been leveraged to outline how nudges can be operationalized to increase civic participation and adherence to government processes through operational transparency. For this, mediums of outreach in the context of ex-FATA have been explored whilst outlining innovative methods of research in post-conflict settings and ethical considerations therein.