Real governance beyond the 'failed state': Negotiating education in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Abstract

In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the state administration has retreated from much of the public domain. The specific case of the education sector – a domain traditionally reserved for the state – shows how public services continue to be provided, and how the Congolese state continues to survive and transform itself. Although no overall power governs the system – there is no overall regulatory authority – this does not mean that the education sector is ungoverned. The state survives as an administrative framework whose role in providing public services has been redefined rather than evaporated. This article describes the organization of the educational system as the direct result of an evolving negotiation process between state and non-state actors. It shows how this negotiated nature of statehood, and the power differentials between the various actors, involve constant renegotiation. Instead of producing uniform results within the education sector, this form of regulation depends on power configurations in particular localities at particular times.