Archive for March 2011
Book reviews: China in Africa; Welfare systems in Latin America; management reform in Napoleonic countries
In the current issue of Governance (January 2011), Brian Levy of the World Bank reviews The Dragon’s Gift: The Real Story of China in Africa by Deborah Brautigam — a “superb book” about China’s distinctive approach to engagement with African governments. Open access to the review. Alex Segura-Ubriego‘s Political Economy of the Welfare State is “the first comprehensive and systematic effort to advance our knowledge of Latin American welfare systems,” according to Barbara Zarate of the University of Oxford. Open access to the review. And Riccardo Mussari of University of Siena reviews Public Management Reform and Modernization by Edoardo Ongaro. Ongaro’s book “fills a significant gap” by assessing management reforms in the Napoleonic countries of of central and southern Europe. Open access to the review.
Call for Papers: SOG Workshop on the Future of the Regulatory State
CALL FOR PAPERS – SOG WORKSHOP
The Future of the Regulatory State: Adaptation, Transformation, Or Demise?
Oslo, 15/6 September 2011
One of the most widely made claims over the past three decades has been that we are living in the age of the regulatory state. However, events such as the financial crisis have pointed to potential weaknesses in the ‘orthodoxies’ that underpinned the ideas of the regulatory state. This workshop therefore intends to discuss the future of the regulatory state. We are interested in papers that explore themes, such as
- the limits of regulatory regimes
- the limits of market-based problem-solving
- the limits of national regulatory capacity
More details about the workshop can be found here: http://www.executivepolitics.org/Executive_Politics/workshop.html Please submit paper proposals (max 250 words) by 20 May to Nick.Sitter and Martin Lodge.
SOG is the Structure and Organization of Government research committee of the International Political Science Association. It is the sponsoring organization of Governance.
African Governance Institute shares Delapalme commentary
The African Governance Institute is sharing the January 2011 commentary by Nathalie Delapalme in its current newsletter. Read the AGI Newsletter. AGI was created in 2003 with the endorsement of the African Union and is a center of excellence responsible for conducting cutting-edge research on all forms of governance, and contributing to the advancement of developmental governance in Africa. Nathalie Delapalme is Director of Research and Policy at the Mo Ibrahim Foundation. Her January commentary argued for better data on governance reform.
Legislative Budget Offices: Making them work in developing countries
Development agencies have promoted the establishment of non-partisan legislative budget offices as a way of building the oversight capacity of legislatures in developing countries. In a research note in the current issue of Governance, Jeffrey Straussman and Ari Renoni describe attempts to establish such offices in Jordan, Kenya, Morocco and Afghanistan. Straussman and Renoni describe the two main challenges that must be overcome for these offices to work effectively, and key steps that can be followed to improve the likelihood of success. Open access to the research note
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“Pioneers” in transnational security: Police Liaison Officers
Over the last decade, many people have worried about the capacity of state-based security forces to respond effectively to “non-statist, transnational” terrorist threats. In the current issue of Governance, Ersel Aydinli and Hasan Yön describe one way in which governments have responded: by relying on Police Liaison Officers for coordination between governments and with international organizations. This is evidence of the “transnationalization of security,” Aydinli and Yön argue, “an attempt to support innovative strategies for the governance of new transnational challenges.” Open access to the article.
