This book examines the conceptual foundations of the participatory approach to local development, assesses the evidence of its efficacy, and draws key lessons for policy.
This book examines the conceptual foundations of the participatory approach to local development, assesses the evidence of its efficacy, and draws key lessons for policy.
This edited volume brings together the work of scholars from different disciplines including sociology, political science and anthropology, and analyses how global institutions are embedded in local contexts within development aid. It examines theoretical and empirical implications of the diffusion and anchoring of world polity institutions at the local and global levels. The volume furthers the understanding of the dynamics of norm negotiation and glocalization processes in culturally varied societies in an era of globalization. Themes and topics covered include: children and human rights, gender mainstreaming, multi-level actor partnerships, anti-corruption programming, local ownership, land rights and corporate social responsibility. Bringing together expert contributors, this comprehensive volume will be an invaluable resource for all scholars of localization and globalization studies, as well as those in the field of international relations.
Participatory governance has a long history in India and this book traces historical-intellectual trajectories of participatory governance and how older Western discourses have influenced Indian policymakers. While colonial rulers devolved power to accommodate dissenting voices, for independent India, participatory governance was a design for democratizing governance in its true sense. Participation also acted as a vehicle for localizing governance. The author draws on both Western and non-Western theoretical treatises and the book seeks to conceptualize localizing governance also as a contextual response. It also makes the argument that despite being located in different socio-economic and political milieu, thinkers converge to appreciate localizing governance as perhaps the only reliable means to democratize governance. The book aims to confirm this argument by reference to sets of evidence from the Indian experience of localizing governance. By attempting a genealogy of participatory governance in the West and in India, and an empirical study of participatory governance in India, the book sheds light on the exchange of ideas and concepts through space and time, thus adding to the growing body of literature in the social sciences on ‘conceptual flow’. It will be of interest to political scientists and historians, in particularly those studying South Asia.
This book centers around an intense debate among donors, policymakers, development practitioners, and academics on the efficacy of aid in eradicating poverty while promoting human development. It seeks to fill the gap in present literature by presenting stories of better spending through implementing Sustainable Development Goals and addressing Agenda 2030 via indigenization of global development goals with initiatives at local and national levels. The book adopts an innovative approach to dealing with aid effectiveness by highlighting the relevance of better spending, rather than excessive spending. It does so with real-life examples of interventions made in the Global South to realize the vision of "thinking globally and acting locally". These case studies speak to the significance of communities’ role in shouldering responsibility for planning, financing, operating, and maintaining local developmental initiatives. The examples also demonstrate how aid serves its purpose when used as an investment in communities and enterprising individuals, in order to realize the strategic impact of giving and build a local "receiving mechanism" for indigenizing and achieving global development goals. The book references cases of better spending by governments, philanthropists, and civil society organizations (CSOs) from across Asia, Africa, and Latin America on a range of issues and will, thus, be of interest to development practitioners, policymakers, donors, philanthropists, civil society organizations, and academics and students of international development studies.
The definitive reference on the most current economics of development and institutions The essential role that institutions play in understanding economic development has long been recognized across the social sciences, including in economics. Academic and policy interest in this subject has never been higher. The Handbook of Economic Development and Institutions is the first to bring together in one single volume the most cutting-edge work in this area by the best-known international economists. The volume’s editors, themselves leading scholars in the discipline, provide a comprehensive introduction, and the stellar contributors offer up-to-date analysis into institutional change and its interactions with the dynamics of economic development. This book focuses on three critical issues: the definitions of institutions in order to argue for a causal link to development, the complex interplay between formal and informal institutions, and the evolution and coevolution of institutions and their interactions with the political economy of development. Topics examined include the relationship between institutions and growth, educational systems, the role of the media, and the intersection between traditional systems of patronage and political institutions. Each chapter—covering the frontier research in its area and pointing to new areas of research—is the product of extensive workshopping on the part of the contributors. The definitive reference work on this topic, The Handbook of Economic Development and Institutions will be essential for academics, researchers, and professionals working in the field.
Recognizing that complexity calls for innovative, conceptual, and methodological solutions, Dealing with Complexity in Development Evaluation by Michael Bamberger, Jos Vaessen, and Estelle Raimondo offers practical guidance to policymakers, managers, and evaluation practitioners on how to design and implement complexity-responsive evaluations that can be undertaken in the real world of time, budget, data, and political constraints. Introductory chapters present comprehensive, non-technical overviews of the most common evaluation tools and methodologies, and additional content addresses more cutting-edge material. The book also includes six case study chapters to illustrate examples of various evaluation contexts from around the world.
In 2008, the weight of developing and emerging economies in the global economy tipped over the 50% mark for the first time. Since then, Perspectives on Global Development has been tracking the shift in global wealth and its impact on developing countries. How much longer can the dividends of ...
Why are carefully designed, sensible policies too often not adopted or implemented? When they are, why do they often fail to generate development outcomes such as security, growth, and equity? And why do some bad policies endure? World Development Report 2017: Governance and the Law addresses these fundamental questions, which are at the heart of development. Policy making and policy implementation do not occur in a vacuum. Rather, they take place in complex political and social settings, in which individuals and groups with unequal power interact within changing rules as they pursue conflicting interests. The process of these interactions is what this Report calls governance, and the space in which these interactions take place, the policy arena. The capacity of actors to commit and their willingness to cooperate and coordinate to achieve socially desirable goals are what matter for effectiveness. However, who bargains, who is excluded, and what barriers block entry to the policy arena determine the selection and implementation of policies and, consequently, their impact on development outcomes. Exclusion, capture, and clientelism are manifestations of power asymmetries that lead to failures to achieve security, growth, and equity. The distribution of power in society is partly determined by history. Yet, there is room for positive change. This Report reveals that governance can mitigate, even overcome, power asymmetries to bring about more effective policy interventions that achieve sustainable improvements in security, growth, and equity. This happens by shifting the incentives of those with power, reshaping their preferences in favor of good outcomes, and taking into account the interests of previously excluded participants. These changes can come about through bargains among elites and greater citizen engagement, as well as by international actors supporting rules that strengthen coalitions for reform.