The Afghan Taliban have been steadily making inroads in Afghanistan since their removal from power in 2001 and this thesis will look at how their usage of the shadow government system and their penchant to provide justice to the local Afghan is legitimizing their presence and setting them up to take over power in 2014. Additionally, a comparison between the Taliban and Hezbollah will be conducted to determine if there are indeed indicators of the Afghan group transitioning to a political party, participating in the government, or a takeover of power. Hezbollah is used as an example of a successful transition to a political party. An understanding of what the Taliban may do post-2014 is important for the US and international community's military draw-down and subsequent withdrawal from the region.