Election-related conflict or violence can occur at any stage of the electoral process – from pre-election registration, candidate nomination and campaigning to election day balloting to post-election results. Although election-related conflict is an under-researched area, there is a small body of literature that addresses its potential causes and methods of prevention and ...» more
Governance
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
Poverty Reduction Actors in the MENA Region
Development actors in the MENA region have been the subject of scholarly attention for some years. This report prioritises literature from 2000 onwards. Much of the recent literature seems to focus on the role of Islamic organisations. Many analysts highlight the large number of these that are already operational in many countries of the region, mostly providing services to ...» 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
Women in Business in the Pacific Islands
There is a dearth of data and statistics on women’s economic activity in the Pacific Islands. Part of the problem is that women’s economic activity has predominantly been in the informal sector or within households, and has thus been either poorly remunerated or not at all. Much of the literature stresses the need for gender-disaggregated data to allow policy-makers to factor ...» more
Social Assessment in Disaster Reconstruction
A ‘social assessment’ has broadly two functions: to assess the social impact of the disaster itself; and to analyse and manage the social consequences of reconstruction interventions. There seems to be relatively little material on the latter in post-disaster contexts. This query therefore focuses on the two related components of such an assessment.The first is meaningful ...» more
Mapping Research Programmes on Conflict and Social Cohesion
This query aimed to map long-term research programmes on the links between conflict, state fragility and social cohesion. However, there appear to be few programmes which link the three together. Most of the current work being undertaken centres either on the link between conflict and state fragility; or between conflict and social cohesion. This query focuses on the latter. ...» more
Multi-donor Funding for Elections in Fragile States
Basket funds have to date often been administered by UNDP, as was the case in Congo, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Togo. The main activities they have supported have been: technical assistance to the Electoral Management Body (EMB), voter registration, voter education, election monitoring, and support for civil society. Basket funds usually operate with a two-tiered ...» more
Long-term Economic Planning
There are no empirical studies on the relationship between planning and economic growth. Country growth diagnostics focus on the substance of economic policy. They rarely discuss the policymaking process, let alone the timeframe over which economies are planned, as a factor in determining the success or failure of economic reforms. Botswana, Ireland and South Korea are among ...» more
Carbon Trading and Local Governance
Although current schemes do not particularly cater to their inclusion, it is possible for local government and local communities to participate in and benefit from carbon markets. This can be done through the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), which provides for carbon offset projects in developing countries. Local authorities can register and own CDM ...» more
Political Party Financing
The methods of party financing used in Africa are primarily individual donations (membership fees and fundraising); private sector donations (corporate contributions); public funding (cash subsidies, in-kind or indirect assistance); and foreign donations (foreign governments, diaspora communities).There are advantages and disadvantages to each. In general, it is considered ...» more
Community Participation in Disaster Rehabilitation and Recovery
Much of the literature on participation in emergencies focuses on the role of community engagement in disaster preparedness. However, the literature that does address participatory approaches in disaster-affected contexts highlights the advantages, which include better analysis, effective programming and implementation, and increased accountability. In addition, such ...» more
Information Campaigns and Migration
Information campaigns aim to provide would-be migrants with information about the potential risks associated with illegal migration in order to raise their awareness and ultimately (although not always explicitly) deter them from migrating through irregular channels. These campaigns have largely, but not exclusively, taken place within the framework of counter-trafficking ...» more
Organised Crime and Development
Key findngs: Given the nature of organised crime, it is difficult to monitor and accurately measure its prevalence and economic impact. Some of the literature notes that while levels of organised crime have increased in some regions/countries and decreased in others, its global scale remains roughly the same. However, some experts claim that organised crime is on the increase ...» more
Constitutions and minorities
Whilst there is a large body of literature that focuses generally on participation in constitution-making processes and handling diversity of opinion, no resources were found that exclusively discussed effective inclusion of minority groups. However, practical recommendations for promoting the inclusion of minority groups include the following:Create an independent commission ...» more
Social exclusion in Bangladesh
A large portion of the existing research on social exclusion in Bangladesh focuses on women (this is dealt with in a separate GSDRC Helpdesk Research Report on ‘Gender Inequality in Bangladesh’). Much of the remaining research focuses on ethnic minorities (indigenous peoples), who are concentrated in rural areas and variably excluded from social, political, and economic arenas. ...» more
Equatorial Guinea and São Tomé and Principe
The two small island countries of Equatorial Guinea (EG) and São Tomé and Principe (STP) have experienced several governance problems over the years, recently compounded by the discovery of oil and the prospect of oil revenues. Fears of the ‘resource curse’ and the potential for conflict have resulted in a series of reforms projects.There is little documentation available on ...» more
Communist Government in Kerala, India
This query discusses the experiences of the Communist Party of India, Marxist (CPM) in India – specifically in the states of Kerala and West Bengal.It is widely argued that almost continuous communist rule in Kerala since 1957 has produced both order and some success in alleviating poverty, despite facing some considerable challenges to its government. The CPM has used its ...» more
Child-centred Research and Advocacy
Since the 1970’s there has been a shift from projects that focus ‘on’ children, through to projects that operate ‘with’ children in the 1990s, to the current focus on research and advocacy projects ‘by’ children. The following key findings are reiterated across several of the resources: Adults tend to be highly sceptical and suspicious of child -centred projects Power ...» 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
