Between April and July 1994, as forces of the Rwandan Patriotic Front swept through the country and put an end to a government-led slaughter of an estimated 800,000 people, one of the challenges was to create a government presence and provide basic services in the war-torn country.  In order to govern during the crisis, several of the RPF's civilian leaders conducted a daring experiment.  When they captured territory in the chaotic aftermath of the genocide, these leaders, who were active in approximately one-third of the country, adapted the RPF's own structure as a form of emergency government, organizing the population to elect representatives and form executive committees.  These committees helped allocate scarce resources for basic services, organized their constituencies to perform basic tasks such as burials and farming, and gave RPF leaders a reliable source of local information.  Several RPF leaders said the committees were the only means they knew of restoring order in a dire situation.  Although the long-term results of the effort are difficult to gauge, the case offers insights for reformers engaged in provincial reconstruction or the extension of services in insecure areas.

David Hausman drafted this case study on the basis of interviews conducted in Kigali, Rwanda, in May and June 2010. 

Associated Interview(s):  Fred Mufulukye, Charles Munyaneza, Protais Musoni, Leonard Rugwabiza, Tito Rutaremara

Nitish Kumar was elected chief minister of Bihar, India's poorest state, in December 2005, when the state's government was weighed down by two decades of institutional decline, widespread lawlessness and a society deeply divided by caste and religion.  To win the election and to implement his reform agenda, he engineered a grand bargain whereby almost every distinct social group had a share in state-sponsored development.  This paved the way for more fundamental reforms in law and order, administration and infrastructure.  Although Bihar's more intractable issues remained in 2009, the state had begun turning the corner.  Two separate memos, "Clearing the Jungle Raj" and "Reviving the Administration," describe Kumar's efforts to improve law and order and administration in Bihar, respectively. 

Rohan Mukherjee drafted this case study on the basis of interviews conducted in Patna, Bihar, in July 2009. Two separate case studies, "Reviving the Administration" and "Clearing the Jungle Raj," describe Kumar's efforts to improve administration and reduce criminal activity, respectively. 

Associated Interview(s):  Chirashree Das Gupta