Belgium’s experiment: 590 days without government
In the current issue of Governance (25.2, April 2012), four distinguished Belgian academics discuss what happened when the country’s parties spent almost six hundred days after the June 2010 elections negotiating over a new government. “Surprisingly,” , say Carl Devos of Ghent University and and Dave Sinardet of the Free University of Brussels”life without a government has been pretty normal.” They explain why in their commentary (open access). Meanwhile Geert Bouckaert and Marleen Brans of the University of Leuven argue that the crisis was actually a period “when two types of transitional governments operated together: a caretaker one, which was disappearing, and a ‘constituent’ one, which was emerging.” Open access to their commentary.
New book on agencification in Europe
Governance board member Per Laegreid is co-editor, with Koen Verhoest, Sandra Van Thiel, and Geert Bouckaert of the new book Government Agencies: Practices and Lessons from Thirty Countries (Palgrave 2012). More information about the book. Allen Schick says that the book allows reformers to “innovate with eyes wide open, and with greater comprehension of the difference agencies make in managing public services.”
Baumgartner joins editorial board
Frank Baumgartner, Richard J. Richardson Distinguished Professor of Political Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, joins the editorial board of Governance this month. A highly regarded scholar on questions of agenda setting and policy framing, Baumgartner was recipient of the 2011 Samuel J. Eldersveld Award for Career Achievement from the APSA Section on Political Organizations and Parties.
Book reviews: Egypt, India, learning
In the current issue of Governance, Ariel Ahram of the University of Oklahoma reviews Elections and Distributive Politics in Mubarak’s Egypt by Lisa Blaydes. “It is difficult to pick up a book about Mubarak’s Egypt without wondering if history has surpassed it,” Ahram says. “That is not the case with this book. . . . Overall it makes a number of valuable contributions.” Open access to the review.
And Amita Singh of Jawaharlal Nehru University reviews two books: The Black Box of Governmental Learning by Raul Blindenbacher and Bidjan Nashat and Restoring Values: Keys to Integrity, Ethical Behaviour and Good Governance, edited by E. Sreedharan and Bharat Wakhlu. The first provides an important message about the importance of investment in learning tools for administrators, Singh says, while the second provides insight into India’s “crumbling body politic.” Open access to the review.
The double bind in economic policymaking
In psychiatry, a double bind is a dilemma that produces acute distress. In the current issue of Governance, John Zysman and Dan Breznitz argue that this is the situation of policymakers following the financial crisis: “They are called on at once to make the markets work more effectively, to unleash creative capitalism, and also to protect society against the consequences and disruptions of the market.” In the aftermath of the crisis, politics will become more volatile as policymakers seek new ways of managing this predicament. Open access to the article. Photo: John Zysman at Governance roundtable on financial crisis.
For developing countries: Post-crisis dissensus
In the current issue of Governance, Matt Andrews of Harvard Kennedy School considers how the financial crisis will shape the trajectory of public sector reform in developing countries. Before the crisis, many developing countries emulated reforms of richer states. But this pattern may likely be shaken by the crisis, Andrews suggests. The legitimacy of developed country policies is questioned, while new players such as China offer alternative models. Endogenous factors within developing countries will play a larger role in determining reform paths. Open access to the article. Photo: Matt Andrews at a Governance roundtable on the financial crisis, with Geoffrey Tootell, senior vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
New book: Irish governance in crisis
SOG member Niamh Hardiman of University College Dubin is editor of the new book Irish Governance in Crisis, published by Manchester University Press. Desmond King of the University of Oxford says that the book “provides an outstanding analysis of the political, economic and governance crisis engulfing the Irish polity since 2008.” Twelve scholars contribute to the volume. Learn more about the book here. SOG is the Structure and Organization of Government research committee of IPSA, the academic sponsor of Governance.