1,720,989 research outputs found
The new political economy : positive economics and negative politics
Get PDFThis paper discusses the theory that less politics makes better economics. It argues that this perspective on politics misrepresents the dynamics of policymaking in developing countries and is seriously limited in its ability to explain how policy changes come about or how policies are chosen that lead to socially beneficial outcomes. The author indicates that most models of political economy are not relevant for developing countries and are therefore unable to explain policy changes or wise policy choices. In light of this, the paper recommends an alternative approach to political economy that does not treat politics as a negative factor in policy choice. It emphasizes understanding the preferences and perceptions of policy elites, the circumstances that surround the emergence of policy issues, the concerns of decision makers, and the factors that affect the implementation and sustainability of policy change. In such an alternative, politics consists of efforts at problem solving through bargaining and the use of political resources in the context of great uncertainty.Economic Theory&Research,ICT Policy and Strategies,Environmental Economics&Policies,National Governance,Politics and Government
Recommended from our members
Constructing, Deconstructing, and Reconstructing Career Civil Service Systems in Latin America
No full textPatronage-the discretionary allocation of public sector jobs-continues to be a dominant way government is staffed in most Latin American countries and it is proving resistant to the imprecations of public sector reformers. Despite the ubiquity of patronage systems, however, all major countries in Latin America have legislation establishing a formal civil service system. In fact, such reform initiatives are swept aside or significantly altered after they have been legislated. In this paper, public sector reform initiatives in Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, and Chile confirm that implementation is fraught with opportunities for distorting the intent of law and indicate a series of similar strategies used by the opponents of reform to offset the impact of new legislation. Taken together, such strategies have been remarkably successful in blocking the systematic implementation of civil service laws. Nevertheless, there is evidence that public sectors in each of the case study countries have made advances in the degree of stability, professionalism, and expertise in public offices, even in the absence of a Weberian civil service.Accepted Manuscrip
Recommended from our members
Sanctions, Benefits, and Rights: Three Faces of Accountability
No full textAs countries throughout the world democratize and decentralize, citizen participation in public life should increase. In this paper, I suggest that democratic participation in local government is enhanced when citizens can reply affirmatively to at least three questions about their ability to hold local officials accountable for their actions: Can citizens use the vote effectively to reward and punish the general or specific performance of local public officials and/or the parties they represent? Can citizens generate response to their collective needs from local governments? Can citizens be ensured of fair and equitable treatment from public agencies at local levels? The findings of a study of 30 randomly selected municipalities in Mexico indicate that, over the course of a decade and a half, voters were able to enforce alternation in power and the circulation of elites, but not necessarily to transmit unambiguous messages to public officials or parties about performance concerns. More definitively, citizens were able to build successfully on prior political experiences to extract benefits from local governments. At the same time, the ability to demand good performance of local government as a right of citizenship lagged behind other forms of accountability.Accepted Manuscrip
Recommended from our members
Social Policy in Development: Coherence and Cooperation in the Real World
No full textIdeas about social policy and its role in development have shifted over time, signaling the difficulty of finding clarity in approaches to social investment, poverty alleviation, and equity. In consequence, research and practice related to social policy and poverty alleviation have left a legacy of a very broad agenda of "things that need to be done," along with important unanswered questions about how to integrate social and economic development. While these legacies contribute to the difficulty of developing overarching solutions to problems of social development and poverty alleviation, they also suggest the fruitfulness of focusing more on the distinctions among countries in terms of their capacities, generating ideas about priorities and sequences, and working to reduce what is often an overwhelming social policy agenda. The development community needs to get much better at matching ideas to realities, at considering how policy priorities could be assessed in terms of contextually specific feasibility, and at generating contextually grounded processes for taking the next step. While these are less ambitious questions than are often asked, they hold some promise of bringing ideas into better touch with the real world.Accepted Manuscrip
Going Local: Decentralization, Democratization, and the Promise of Good Governance
No full textBuku ini menerangkan mengapa memimpin desentralisasi lebih baik dari pemerintahan lokal dalam beberapa kasus dan mengapa gagal dalam hal-hal lain
Getting Good Government : Capacity Building in The Public Sectors of Developing Countries
No full textxiii.504 hal.;21 c
- …
