The idea that Afghanistan was on its way to democracy or republic
has faded away. It has become obvious that Karzai is focusing on maintaining
power for him and his corrupt clique, not much unlike Putin.
A democracy without democrats or republic without republicans.

A piece of paper with letters on it is only as powerful as much power the
people lend to it. Its powerful if people obey the letters, and just a piece of
cellulose if not. To call it "constitution" doesn't change this and never did,
nowhere.

So what they're having in Afghanistan and Russia as well as many other
countries is the system that's competing with democracies: No matter what
it's officially like, in reality it's a patronage-based system.
Students of history recall such systems from the ancient Roman Republic;
powerful patrician patriarchs were heading an extended familia including
many ordinary citizen, who gave followership (especially politically) in
exchange for protection. The patriarch was their lawyer, lobbyist and
sometimes also their bank.
It wasn't very different in Germanic tribes, where leaders formed group of
people following them and getting advantages (such as spoils of war) in return.

ISAF and other Westerners were working a lot along multiple fictions in
Afghanistan. One being the fiction of a republic. The people knew there was
none, and it was all about patronage. The people in power extracted wealth
(for the time being mostly from the naive foreigners and drugs) and this
wealth did to some degree trickle down in exchange for followership. The
way to government services was followership, not going to court or waiting
for government turning competent AND altruistic.

The foreigners were not meant to provide a patronage parallel to the
government, for they were supposed to support the government, to stabilise
it. This kept them from gaining followership they wanted; even if only
followership for their cause. They could buy some followership temporarily,
but they're astonishingly incompetent in followership politics. They can tell
you a lot about elections and parties which are mere tools of the patronage
systems, but have no clue about patronage.
Maybe ISAF lacked enough South Italians and Greeks.
(excerpt; the rest is of no use here)