Application to CIVPOL

For CIVPOL missions, the following streams can be identified: problems, consisting of rising to challenges to reach the dimensions outlined in chapter 1 of this work; solutions, which are produced by CIVPOL staff once the mission is on the ground; the mandate which provides the basic framework for action, but is a largely in-operational document providing the legal foundation of policy development and cooperation of each CIVPOL mission; and the context or political actions influencing the context, i.e. gathering political or financial support for the CIVPOL mission either by actions of the CIVPOL leadership or by the UN Secretariat from (key) member states of the UN or from other international organizations.

2.4.1. Problems and conditions

In the case of Civilian Police missions, the conditions in their policy field are not the same as in domestic politics. Politics of Civilian Police Missions are not the same as politics of national institutions embedded into a functioning political system with established rules of the game, and established key actors. Problems, for example, are abundant so that problem pressure is the predominant state for CIVPOL missions. According to Kingdon, problems float around, but may also fade away, if they are not framed as problems by conditions.⁶³ Conditions become defined as problems by three processes: indicators assess the magnitude of conditions (incidence, cost); a “focusing event” such as a crisis or a disaster draws attention to some conditions; or, officials learn through feedback of operating programs about the conditions in these programs (Kingdon 1984: 206). Conditions become defined as problems when they are perceived as having to be changed: they either violate important values, show low performance, or the conditions are classified into categories that define them as problems (Kingdon 1984: 207). For CIVPOL missions this means, that if, for example,. the constant obstruction of local officials to obey to international decisions on the application of human rights standards to detention procedures is named several times in a report sent to a superior level (feedback), or if an incident in a detention facility creates a focus on the conditions in this program (focusing event), these conditions become defined as problems and join the stream of problems floating through a CIVPOL mission.

2.4.2. Solutions

Organizations need to identify one feasible solution for a specific problem, as there are always several possibilities regarding how to resolve a problem. Moreover, for policy

63 E.g. if a problem is simply not addressed, or, although it is addressed, it might not be considered; if the conditions highlighting a problem change; if people might become accustomed to a condition or re-label a problem, other items emerge and push highly placed items aside (Kingdon 1984: 179, 207).

development, recombination, i.e. “the coupling of already-familiar elements”, is more important than “mutation (the appearance of wholly new forms)” (Kingdon 1984: 210). How do missions solve deficiencies not provided for in the mandate? How do missions “enforce or apply a policy” (Anderson 2003: 27)? Public policy literature mentions, that often the implementing agency, which here is the CIVPOL mission, must translate goals into an operational framework, and thereby take on not only a policy-implementing role, but also a policy-making role (Gerston 2004: 98-99; cf. for peace agreements Stedman 2002: 20). It is argued that observable changes in the structure, mandate, policies and cooperation patterns are solutions to perceived problems, both for political action (external, macro-level change) and practical action (internal, micro-level change and adaptation) mentioned above.

Solutions through which CIVPOL missions adapt to the challenges mentioned in chapter one can be 1) the adaptation or alteration of mission policies, 2) the adaptation or alteration of organizational structure of the mission, 3) the re-interpretation, extension, or alteration of the mandate, and the 4) the development or alteration of cooperation frameworks with other international actors.

According to Kingdon, the selection of policies is not a random process as the generation of policies. Criteria provide guidance in the way “out of chaos” (Kingdon 1984: 210). The criteria are, according to Kingdon: technical feasibility (according the resources and capacities of the CIVPOL mission), congruence with basic values (the mandate and UN legal foundations), and anticipation of future constraints (budget, public acceptability and receptivity of the local population).

The main components of the models mentioned above, problems and solutions, remain, thus, to be the main ingredients for our purposes. One of the basic streams for CIVPOL missions includes the responsibilities, duties, and power enshrined in the mandate. We consider the mandate as one of the “streams”.

2.4.3. Mandate

The UN Security Council, in most cases, gives the mandate to the Civilian Police mission, enclosed into a large catalogue of requirements and duties. It consists of the obligations of the conflict parties in the security sector, as well as the rights, tasks, and duties of the international presence, of which the CIVPOL mission is a part. Like in the case of UNMIBH, the mandate outlined the duties of the conflict parties, which were to uphold the rule of law, and initially restricted the mandate of UNMIBH to monitoring, human rights compliance, conducting human rights investigations, and reforming the judicial system.

Each problem or solution has to fit into the framework of the mandate. Many problems arise, but some cannot be tackled within the framework of the mandate and thus have to be disregarded by the CIVPOL mission. Or, solution alternatives to problems not provided for in the mandate, or other solutions generated by participants join the alternatives available from the mandate.

Staying close to March and Olsen’s model, one has to keep in mind that the stream run separately and come together only if solutions seem appropriate within the day-to-day operations of the missions or if political forces join them within favorable policy windows.

The mandate adds to both modes of change; smaller as well as large-scale changes have to remain within the framework of the mandate, and receive their main justification and input from the provisions in the mandate. One further possibility can be included: the mandate is reinterpreted and the stream altered by actors in the CIVPOL mission. This, however, is not possible without a context that is conducive to the reinterpretation.

2.4.4. Contexts

The fourth crucial stream in March and Olsen’s model consists of international contexts.

International contexts are limited to key member states of the UN and key participating international organizations on the ground (such as KFOR, OSCE and UNMIK for UNMIK Police in Kosovo). An international supportive context additional to the mandate is conducive to the development of single mission policies and programs. For example, the fact that in UNMIBH the first IPTF Commissioner Peter Fitzgerald was Irish, and that during his tenure the Irish government held the presidency of the European Union was conducive to create the UN Trust Fund for Police Assistance, which helped to equip local police forces in Bosnia-Herzegovina.⁶⁴ Support from other international organizations present in the respective area of responsibility also contributes to the achievement of even goals and programs of the mission. This component, however, is connected to the international context as the Headquarters of each organization determine the basic politics on the ground.

2.4.5. Linking the streams

As in the basic Garbage Can Model, only if the four streams come together, can decisions on reorganization and adaptation be reached. Problems have to be defined as problems, solutions chosen, the mandate applied, and the context supportive to the situation. The creation of choice opportunities and allocation of sufficient energy by participants can link the four streams to both the macro-level mode of change and micro-level changes. Micro-level

64 Author’s interview with Peter Fitzgerald, 16 September 2004.

changes require commitment by participants. Recalling the basic assumptions of the Garbage can model we find that the resolution of problems is only possible by resource commitment or the allocation of energy calculated by commitment of participants (Kingdon 1984: 185;

Cohen, March, and Olsen 1972/1990: 299). The resulting resource allocation can be seen as a function of the CIVPOL mission’s staff commitment to the mission’s goals.

For the second mode of change, policy entrepreneurs inside the CIVPOL leadership are required to create conducive contexts or the ability to identify emerging positive contexts for the mission’s purposes. The above-mentioned creation of the UNMIBH-administered UN Trust Fund would not have been possible without the international situation being conducive, but even less possible without the “entrepreneurial spirit” by Peter Fitzgerald. This includes the ability of CIVPOL leadership to acquire support from other international organizations – such as KFOR and OSCE in Kosovo – present in the respective area of responsibility, which also contributes to the achievement of goals and programs of the mission.

The joining of the four streams happens through attention allocation or political activities.

Peacekeeping in general and CIVPOL missions specifically do not attract governments or other international organizations to commitments on a continuous basis. For example, many governments often pledge large sums of money to the CIVPOL mission, but the final provision of political, financial or material support derives largely from constant lobbying by the CIVPOL mission itself or the UN Civilian Police Department in New York. In the end, what is needed is the ability of the CIVPOL mission to allocate attention and resources to the mission’s programs to reach the solution of problems within the mandate on the basis of favorable international contexts.