Everything changes to remain the same? State and tax reform in South Sudan

South Sudan is in a unique combination of (post)-conflict reconstruction and
the birth of a new state in which old policies are re-activated and new policies
introduced. By looking at three case-studies of taxation and private sector regulation reforms, the paper will show how the overlapping and often contradictory regulatory frameworks of the state provide the setting for bricolage strategies by different actors. These actors, and particularly state officials, rely on a variety of institutional resources to implement, resist or remake certain regulatory measures.
Although the breadth of regulatory measures has increased exponentially,
the institutional corridor – the space in which bricolage is performed and on
which various actors can rely – remains narrow. This space is contingent on
wartime authority structures, and more particularly pre-existing Sudan’s
People Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA/M) power structures, as well as a
deep-rooted resistance to centralised control. Importantly, these regulatory
practices are not fixed: intense periods of rearrangement of the social order
or ‘open moments’ may provide a window of opportunity for regulatory reform.