Of the limited recent literature that considers the political economy of sub-national (state and provincial) government, the case of Afghanistan is prominent. International support to sub-national governance in Afghanistan has been relatively well documented, with much of the literature emphasising that reform efforts have often neglected to account for the political economy of ...» more
Institutions & social norms
Social Movements and Poverty Reduction
There is limited research available on the role of social movements in development processes. It is widely acknowledged that establishing a causal relationship between social movements and any observed change in societies is problematic. In particular, attribution is difficult because there are usually multiple variables involved in any process of social change, including other ...» more
African Regional Governance Institutions
There are vast literatures on regional integration and the role of regional institutions in Africa, ranging from official documentation to academic commentary. There are fewer evaluations or assessments of the attempts by regional institutions to promote good governance in Africa.Notwithstanding, the following challenges are identified in the literature:lack of political will ...» more
Donor Support to Non-state Providers of Security and Justice
The following recommendations on on donor support to non-state providers of security and justice services in fragile and conflict-affected states are made in the literature: There is a need for a ‘pragmatic realism’ approach, meaning that in addition to supporting state institutions, donors proportion a significant percentage of assistance, in the short- to intermediate-term, ...» more
Lessons Learned on Cooperatives
Cooperatives can help overcome some of the barriers to poor people’s access to markets by generating economies of scale; opening up access to information through better market networks; pooling resources and improving individual bargaining power through collective action. They promote social as well as economic goals, have been used to educate local citizens about health ...» more
Increased religiosity among women in muslim majority countries
It has hitherto been assumed, at least by western development practitioners, that women's rights are best attained through secularist liberal interpretations of equality, of the sort reflected in conventions such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Yet what does increasing use of the veil and greater religious observances ...» more
Research on Tribal Governance in Yemen
From the information that is readily and publicly available it seems that a great deal of research on tribal structures in Yemen was undertaken in the 1980s, and primarily from an ethnographic perspective. The research for this query was able to find far less recent work, especially being undertaken at an organisational level. However, there do seem to be a number of individual ...» more
Policy Transfers and Learning
Actors involved in the policy transfer process can include governments officials, civil servants, pressure groups, policy entrepreneurs and experts, transnational corporations, international, regional and non-governmental organisations, think-thanks, and consultants. Approaches to policy transfer include ‘lesson-drawing’; ‘policy band-wagoning’; ‘emulation’; ‘harmonisation’; ...» more
Demand Driven Technical Assistance
The most common demand-driven technical assistance (TA) mechanism discussed in the literature is the Capacity Building Grant (CBG) or Capacity Building Fund (CBF) - a form of discretionary budget support which gives local authorities the flexibility to determine, finance, and manage training and technical assistance according to their needs. This assistance has thus far ...» more
Electoral Assistance Lessons
Since the 1990s, there has been a movement away from viewing elections and electoral assistance as one-off events, towards viewing them as an integral component of democratic transition and governance. Much of the literature notes that whilst electoral assistance has generally been successful in establishing and promoting the technical aspects of elections, such technical ...» more
The Hawala System
The Hawala system is an informal funds transfer system with a vast gobal reach, most prevalent in South Asia, the Middle East, and some parts of Africa. The increase in immigration levels in recent years, and consequently, migrant worker remittances to developing countries, has resulted in a resurgence of Hawala. Hawala systems remain popular because they provide financial ...» more
Migrants/Diaspora and Integration
Rising interest in the area of 'transnationalism and integration' has resulted in an increase in research studies in recent years. Most of these studies find that migrant/diaspora involvement in their home countries is not a threat to their integration in host countries. Rather transnationalism and integration can comfortably coexist. Further, some studies have found that ...» more
Governance in Tribal Environments
This query has been able to identify very few resources that focus specifically on governance systems within tribal societies. However there is a wider body of literature which discusses traditional structures of authority and leadership. Even this, however, focusses mainly on democratisation and decentralisation processes. These sources agree that in many countries, the ...» more
