http://www.gsdrc.org Academic and policy-relevant publications on governance and international development. en-uk Copyright © 2012 Governance and Social Development Resource Centre Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:00:11 GMT Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:00:11 GMT http://www.gsdrc.org/rss/open george@gsdrc.org george@gsdrc.org http://www.gsdrc.org/images/logos/logo_gsdrc.gif http://www.gsdrc.org 205 90 GSDRC logo Adrian Leftwich This paper suggests that working politically in a developmental context means directing attention and support to the agents of reform and development (leaders and organisations). This allows investment in the local processes that will resolve problems – such as problems of collective action – through the work of alliances and coalitions. Hence, it will drive the formation and consolidation of the locally appropriate, feasible and legitimate institutions that are most likely to advance development outcomes. http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4191&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4191&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed Institutional development Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT Katherine Casey, Rachel Glennerster and Edward Miguel 'Community driven development' (CDD) has become a popular donor strategy in seeking to improve local institutions in developing countries. This study evaluates a CDD project in Sierra Leone that combined block grants for local public goods with intensive training and requirements for minority inclusion designed to catalyse collective action and empowerment. The study finds positive short-term effects on local public goods provision and economic outcomes, but no sustained impacts on collective action, decision-making processes, or the involvement of marginalised groups in local affairs. It also indicates the value of a pre-analysis plan in avoiding distorted results. http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4182&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4182&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed Institutional development Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT Odd-Helge Fjeldstad Why have many anti-corruption reforms in customs in sub-Saharan Africa apparently not succeeded? This paper argues that the reforms have been too focused on formal institutions, and have paid too little attention to political economy issues and the role of informal institutions. Customs officers are often torn between compliance with abstract bureaucratic norms and the concrete expectations of their networks of social belonging. Accordingly, policy initiatives should focus more on reducing the possibility or attraction of favouritism versus acting in the public interest. This calls for anti-corruption efforts based on thorough political economy analysis. http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4181&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4181&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed Institutional development Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT Richard C. Crook and David Booth What kinds of governance arrangements are most effective in Africa in providing the public goods essential to sustained and inclusive development? Drawing on empirical research by the Africa Power and Politics Programme in Malawi, Niger and Ghana, this article challenges conventional perceptions of 'good governance'. It argues for 'practical hybrid' arrangements that combine authoritative coordination with an enabling environment for local problem-solving and a constructive use of culturally legitimate ways of working. A developmental form of neo-patrimonialism is more likely to provide the necessary institutional discipline than 'good governance' initiatives. http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4162&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4162&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed Institutional development Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT World Bank Some 1.5 billion people live in countries affected by repeated cycles of political and criminal violence. This report argues that breaking these cycles involves a) strengthening legitimate national institutions and governance to meet citizens' key needs; and b) alleviating international stresses that increase the risks of conflict (such as food price volatility and infiltration by trafficking networks). It is important to: refocus assistance on confidence building, citizen security, justice and jobs; reform the procedures of international agencies to accommodate swift, flexible, and longer-term action; respond at the regional level (such as by developing markets that integrate insecure areas and pooling resources for building capacity); and to renew cooperative efforts between lower, middle, and higher income countries. http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4160&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4160&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed Institutional development Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT David Booth How can a 'best fit' approach to governance improve development effectiveness? In its present form, 'good governance' is not evidence based. This brief highlights the need to build on the strengths of existing institutional arrangements when supporting governance reform in developing countries. It argues that governance assistance should be refocused on nurturing developmental leadership. http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4151&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4151&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed Institutional development Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT David Booth This article reviews research on institutions, governance and aid. Three constructive themes emerge: how and with what qualifications 'institutions rule'; the limitations of the instruments easily accessible to development assistance organisations; and the idea of context-sensitive facilitation of institutional change. Research indicates that both institutions and policy choices influence development outcomes. The nature of the 'right' institutions is context- and time period-specific, and institutional change is not self-generating. Aid needs to become more context-sensitive, more politically-informed, and less supply-driven. Donors should abandon formulaic 'best practice' interventions and think about how to build on institutions that already exist. Researchers should deliver more finely-tuned ideas about the building blocks, and the potential room for manoeuvre, in facilitating appropriate and feasible institutional innovations. http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4111&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4111&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed Institutional development Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT World Bank How can international actors more effectively support transitions out of violence and fragility? This chapter outlines trends in the international architecture that affect the ability to respond effectively in fragile and violence-prone settings. It argues that international agencies are geared to minimising domestic reputational and fiduciary risk – increasingly so – rather than supporting 'best-fit' institutional solutions that match political realities on the ground. The principle barrier to effectiveness is international agencies' dual accountability to domestic constituencies and citizens in recipient states. Development agencies also need to address critical gaps by focusing more on citizen security, criminal justice and job creation. http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4109&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4109&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed Institutional development Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT World Bank How can countries escape the vicious cycle of fragility and move towards a virtuous cycle of confidence building and institutional transformation? This chapter sets out a framework that involves: 1) restoring confidence; 2) early attention to the reform of institutions that provide citizen security, justice and jobs; 3) reform approaches that allow for flexibility and innovation; and 4) marshalling external support and resisting external stresses. This endogenous spiral of confidence building and institutional transformation should be continually expanded. It must also be adapted to context. Outsiders can help by reducing external stresses as well as providing support. http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4108&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4108&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed Institutional development Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT Alex de Waal How can international actors respond to the powerful trend towards intractable low-level conflicts that are part-criminal and part-political? This paper argues that it is important to understand the actual functioning of politics in complex countries (like Afghanistan, Congo and Sudan) that do not have a strong and autonomous state. Such countries must be studied as they really are, rather than as deficient examples of what they 'ought' to be. This involves examining the 'political marketplace' – political bargaining within patronage systems. Patronage systems can be inefficient and corrupt; they can also be inclusive, and a repository of trust and security. While promoting ways of avoiding unchecked corruption and criminalisation, international actors need to recognise the power of patronage to generate stability. http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4025&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4025&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed Institutional development Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT Yongfu Huang What is the interaction between financial development and democratisation in developing countries? This research examines whether institutional improvement (i.e. democratisation) stimulates financial development. Improved institutional quality is associated with increases in financial development – at least in the short run – especially for lower-income countries, ethnically divided countries and French legal origin countries. Democratic transitions are typically preceded by low financial development, but followed by a short-run boost in financial development and greater volatility of financial development. http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=3999&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=3999&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed Institutional development Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT Mark C. Casson, Marina Della Giusta and Uma S. Kambhampati How do formal and informal institutions influence each other and the process of development? This paper presents a critical review of the literature on institutional change and the role of institutions. Issues of equity, economic rules and regulations, caste, religion, social capital and elite groups impact on the dynamics of institutions. It is necessary to further analyse the ways in which informal institutions both shape formal institutions and change the interactions of agents in social organisations. http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=3997&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=3997&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed Institutional development Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT Nicola Jones et al. Do social institutions result in gender differences in the incidence of poverty? This paper finds that discriminatory family codes, son bias, limited resource entitlements, physical insecurity and restricted civil liberties play a role in chronic poverty, specifically that of young women. It is therefore important to: eliminate gender discrimination through legal provisions; support girls' participation in decision-making; invest in child- and gender-sensitive social protection; extend services to hard-to-reach girls; strengthen girls' resource access; and promote girls' control over their bodies. http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=3996&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=3996&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed Institutional development Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT Matthew Andrews, Jesse McConnell and Alison O. Wescott Development involves change but what does it take to get change done and what role does leadership play in effecting change? This paper examines literature on change in large organizations. Leadership is context-specific and about groups rather than individuals. Leaders are not those who possess a series of traits but those who provide a functional contribution which also helps build change space. Leadership interventions should focus on building functional groups, creating change space rather than creating leaders, and be context-specific. http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=3995&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=3995&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed Institutional development Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT Jim Woodhill How can institutional innovation be catalysed? This paper argues that societies' overall learning capacities need to be enhanced in ways that enable greater responsiveness and resilience to emerging risks. To change institutions, 'soft' capacities are needed: communication, trust-building, diplomacy, networking, making sense of messy social situations, political advocacy and leadership. Specifically, it is important to be able to navigate complexity, learn collaboratively, engage politically and to be self-reflective. http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=3994&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=3994&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed Institutional development Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT Ian Christoplos How do the capacities of and constraints experienced by local actors affect their engagement in climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction (CCA/DRR)? How can development actors improve their efforts to achieve local 'buy-in' to CCA/DRR? This policy brief finds that CCA//DRR implementation requires the creation of an enabling environment for changes in local institutions, markets, political relationships and public service. The design of CCA/DRR interventions should be linked to local priorities and local efforts to pursue market opportunities, and should avoid overburdening local actors. http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=3990&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=3990&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed Institutional development Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT Douglass C. North et al. Why do existing development approaches based on transfer of western social and political dynamics to non-western countries often fail? This paper proposes a conceptual model of developed countries, or open access orders (OAOs) and developing countries, or limited access orders (LAOs). OAOs organise themselves around competition and a government monopoly over violence. Since they do not have a secure state monopoly on violence, LAOs organise themselves to control violence among elite factions which divide the country’s economy among themselves. Development reforms will fail if they attempt to create OAOs in societies ill-prepared for such fundamental change in their social and political dynamics. http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=3989&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=3989&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed Institutional development Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT Alan Doig and Martin Tisne As aid donors consider revising their broad governance reform focus and move toward 'good enough governance', what attention might be paid to corruption in the revised approach? Using a series of country studies, this paper discusses the place of anti-corruption in recent post-war donor agendas, finding that it has often been diluted or downplayed. Addressing corruption should be promoted rather than relegated to lower status in any future reform agendas. Failure to address corruption in favour of what are considered more pressing reform issues will further institutionalise corruption and erode public confidence in governments. http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=3987&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=3987&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed Institutional development Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT Maria Brockhaus and Hermann Kambiré This chapter examines the opportunities and barriers for successful adaptation to climate change in decentralisation processes. Using a study of two municipalities in Burkina Faso, it stresses the importance of knowledge and institutional flexibility in overcoming resource dependency. The varying degrees of space generated by the decentralisation process in the two municipalities demonstrates the importance of individual understanding and decision-making in determining successful adaptation. http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=3986&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=3986&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed Institutional development Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT Arne Tostensen and Inge Amundsen What is being done to support legislatures and by whom? What can be learned from experience so far? This study discusses different models of legislatures and political and electoral systems, with particular emphasis on fragile states. It also presents an overview of specialist agencies in this field, and of trends of donor support. While there are relatively few systematic evaluations of the results of support to legislatures, lessons from the available literature include: understand political economy; adopt a long-term, comprehensive approach; and mobilise sufficient expertise. Contextualisation is essential, and this requires politically aware analysts who can monitor developments, produce in-depth political economy analyses and adjust interventions accordingly. http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=3983&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=3983&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed Institutional development Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT