What is the relationship between the media and democracy in fragile states? How do the media shape state-citizen relationships in fragile states? This report presents the findings of a research symposium jointly organised by IDS and the BBC World Service Trust. The symposium brought together academics and practitioners across disciplines to discuss the role of the media in ...» more
Library
This e-library contains more than 4500 external publications on governance, social development, conflict and humanitarian issues. It includes academic and grey literature selected for its basis in good quality research and coverage of a range of perspectives. Policy-oriented summaries of each document are provided, plus links to the full text.
Using Strategic Communication to Build Commitment to Reform
How can strategic communication help build commitment to reform? Strategic communication is a stakeholder- or client-centred approach to promoting changes in people's attitudes, knowledge and behaviour to achieve development objectives. This chapter from the World Bank book Building Commitment to Reform through Strategic Communication outlines a five-step process for designing ...» more
Speaking Out: Case Studies on How Poor People Influence Decision-Making
How can poor and marginalised people break through the material, organisational, systemic, and psychological barriers that prevent them from being heard by those in power? This book draws on Oxfam GB’s global programme of work on ‘the right to be heard’. Only strategies which address the many-layered nature of power and the specific power inequalities of a particular context ...» more
International Prosecutions and Domestic Politics: The Use of Truth Commissions as Compromise Justice in Serbia and Croatia
What are the effects of external pressures for international prosecutions on transitional justice in post-conflict states? This article from the International Studies Review explores the impact of the internationalisation of criminal justice on domestic transitional justice efforts. Domestic political elites may find themselves sandwiched between international pressure for ...» more
Options for Transitional Justice in Kenya: Autonomy and the Challenge of External Prescriptions
What are the options and challenges for transitional justice in Kenya? This article from the International Journal of Transitional Justice argues that despite a general consensus on the need to implement transitional justice measures to address past injustices and to further reconciliation in Kenya, there is little agreement on the form these measures should take. A coherent ...» more
Early Economic Recovery in Fragile States
How can economic activities contribute to stability as part of an integrated reconstruction strategy in fragile states? This report from the Clingendael Institute examines: (1) emergency employment for high-risk and vulnerable groups; (2) income generating activities, private sector development and micro- finance for communities; and (3) creating an enabling national ...» more
The Failure of State Building and the Promise of State Failure: Reinterpreting the Security-Development Nexus in Haiti
How can a relational perspective inform state building in fragile states? This Third World Quarterly article argues that mainstream approaches to resolving concerns of security and development through state building fail to consider the influence of historical and external factors such as transnational power relations. The case of Haiti illustrates how attempts to consolidate ...» more
Afghanistan’s Parliament in the Making: Gendered Understandings and Practices of Politics in a Transitional Country
How can a viable Afghan parliament be developed that will serve citizens' interests and promote peace and reconstruction? What are possible entry points for parliamentary institution-building, particularly regarding female parliamentarians (MPs)? This report from Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung and UNIFEM is based on extensive interviews with Afghan parliamentarians during 2007-2008. ...» more
The Legitimacy of the State in Fragile Situations
What is the nature of state legitimacy in fragile situations? How can legitimacy be fostered in such situations? This report was commissioned by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation and the French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs. It suggests that legitimacy concerns the very basis for how state and society are linked and by which the state’s authority is ...» more
Effective poverty reduction strategies in fragile and conflict-affected countries: lessons and suggestions
How can Poverty Reduction Strategies (PRSs) in fragile and conflict-affected countries be made effective? How can the World Bank and other international bodies assist this process? This World Bank working paper argues that well-designed PRSs offer the best hope for many countries to move from poverty and conflict to development and stability. Outsiders can promote effective ...» more
Topic Guide on Conflict
The impact of violent conflict on a country’s society, economy and political governance is devastating and encompassing. The effects can be tangible and visible, including killed and injured civilians, destroyed or derelict bridges and wells, and damaged or inadequate health care and education facilities. They can also be intangible, such as the collapse of state institutions, ...» more
World Bank Influence and Institutional Reform in Argentina
How has the World Bank influenced institutional reforms in Argentina? During the 1990s, the World Bank increasingly promoted the concept of governance reforms. This article from Development and Change looks at governance reforms in Argentina’s judicial sector. The World Bank’s approach to institutional reform has been donor-driven, overly technical and based on restricted forms ...» more
Debt Relief Effectiveness and Institution Building
What effects have recent debt-relief programmes had? Does debt relief promote institutional change? This article from the Development Policy Review provides new evidence on debt-relief programmes in Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPCs). It shows that debt relief is only weakly associated with subsequent improvements in economic performance and is correlated with increasing ...» more
Development Assistance, Institution-Building and Social Cohesion after Civil War: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Liberia
Can brief, foreign-funded efforts to build local institutions have a positive effect on governance, cooperation and well-being? This paper from the Center for Global Development reports on a project carried out by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in northern Liberia. This community-driven reconstruction (CDR) project attempted to build democratic, community-level ...» more
Armed Violence Reduction: Enabling Development
Integrated, comprehensive and inclusive armed violence reduction (AVR) programmes are an emerging and growing area of development practice. This paper, published by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, discusses the components of a multi-level AVR approach. Adopting integrated AVR programmes requires understanding of the multi-faceted, multi-level nature ...» more
How to Bring About Change in the Bangladesh Civil Service? Attempts to Change Mindsets, Behaviours and Practice
What is the way forward for civil service reform in Bangladesh? This article from Public Administration and Development looks at the role that the Bangladesh civil service might play in enabling pro-poor reform and growth. It explores how a senior leadership programme, such as Managing at the Top (MATT2), can create a critical mass of reform minded civil servants. Developing ...» more
Citizen Mobilisation in Nepal: Building on Nepal’s Tradition of Social Mobilisation to Make Local Governance more Inclusive and Accountable
How can citizen mobilisation be supported to make local governance more inclusive and accountable in Nepal? This report from the Local Governance and Community Development Programme (LGCDP) analyses social mobilisation in Nepal. Transformational mobilisation processes are needed to build peoples’ capacity to actively participate in their own governance. Lessons learned include ...» more
Pakistan State-Society Analysis
What is the impact of deep structures, formal and informal institutions, and current events on the nature of the state in Pakistan and its relations with society? This report from The Initiative for Peacebuilding analyses the causes of weak state-society relations in Pakistan and explores the complex power dynamics that underpin them. Despite the bleak picture that emerges, a ...» more
Accountability: The Core Concept and its Subtypes
The concept of accountability has become increasingly popular in diverse fields including development policy. This working paper from the Overseas Development Institute argues that new meanings and dimensions risk diluting its content and creating conceptual confusion - with significant implications for empirical analysis. A classic approach to concept formation is required, ...» more
Peacekeepers Among Poppies: Afghanistan, Illicit Economies and Intervention
What have been the effects of counter-narcotics policies in Afghanistan since 2001? Have eradication campaigns been successful? This article from the Journal of International Peacekeeping argues that aggressive opium poppy eradication programmes have been premature and counterproductive. They have not increased stability or undermined the counter-insurgency. The most important ...» more
