Global Standards in National Contexts: The Role of Transnational Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives in Public Sector Governance Reform
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the transnational evidence base for three global public sector governance MSIs (the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, the Construction Sector Transparency Initiative and the Open Government Partnership) and investigated their implementation within and across three shared national contexts (Guatemala, the Philippines, and Tanzania) to determine whether and how these initiatives lead to improvements in proactive transparency (i.e., discretionary release of government data), demand-driven transparency, and accountability).
Abstract: Multi-stakeholder initiatives (i.e., partnerships between governments, civil society, and the private sector) are an increasingly prevalent strategy promoted by multilateral, bilateral, and nongovernmental development organizations for addressing weaknesses in public sector governance. Global public sector governance MSIs seek to make national governments more transparent and accountable by setting shared standards for information disclosure and multi-stakeholder collaboration. However, research on similar interventions implemented at the national or subnational level suggests that the effectiveness of these initiatives is likely to be mediated by a variety of socio-political factors. This dissertation examines the transnational evidence base for three global public sector governance MSIs—the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, the Construction Sector Transparency Initiative, and the Open Government Partnership—and investigates their implementation within and across three shared national contexts—Guatemala, the Philippines, and Tanzania—in order to determine whether and how these initiatives lead to improvements in proactive transparency (i.e., discretionary release of government data), demand-driven transparency (i.e., reforms that increase access to government information upon request), and accountability (i.e., the extent to which government officials are compelled to publicly explain their actions and/or face penalties or sanction for them), as well as the extent to which they provide participating governments with an opportunity to project a public image of transparency and accountability, while maintaining questionable practices in these areas (i.e., openwashing). The evidence suggests that global public sector governance MSIs often facilitate gains in proactive transparency by national governments, but that improvements in demand-driven transparency and accountability remain relatively rare. Qualitative comparative analysis reveals that a combination of multi-stakeholder power sharing and civil society capacity is sufficient to drive improvements in proactive transparency, while the absence of visible, high-level political support is sufficient to impede such reforms. The lack of demand-driven transparency or accountability gains suggests that national-level coalitions forged by global MSIs are often too narrow to successfully advocate for broader improvements to public sector governance. Moreover, evidence for openwashing was found in one-third of cases, suggesting that national governments sometimes use global MSIs to deliberately mislead international observers and domestic stakeholders about their commitment to reform.%%%%International relations%%%%Public policy%%%%Political science%%%%global action networks, good governance, multi-stakeholder initiatives, social accountability, soft power, transparency%%%%School of International Service%%%%Degree Awarded: Ph.D. School of International Service. American University
Citations
More filters
6,977 citations
2,716 citations
TL;DR: Fung, Graham, and Weil as mentioned in this paper present a story of policy design that demonstrates the continuing value of careful legislative craftsmanship and policy refinement over time, based on feedback from administration and enforcement.
Abstract: Full Disclosure: The Perils and Promise of Transparency. By Archon Fung, Mary Graham, and David Weil. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007. 282p. $28.00.One of the cornerstones of Woodrow Wilson's policy agenda, even before he formally sought the presidency, was transparency. To neutralize corporate misbehavior, for instance, he called for “turn[ing] the light” on corporations: “They don't like light. Turn it on so strong they can't stand it. Exposure is one of the best ways to whip them into line.” Although the authors of this superb work do not acknowledge Wilson's part in the evolutionary line of transparency policy, they do show by means of thorough and enlightening description and analysis the fruit finally borne of ideas like those Wilson espoused. Indeed, the authors tell a story of policy design that demonstrates the continuing value of careful legislative craftsmanship and policy refinement over time, based on feedback from administration and enforcement. It is a tale of effective legislative governance, particularly at the national level, that far too many American citizens, and even political leaders, believe is impossible or at least unlikely anymore.
330 citations
References
More filters
6,977 citations
Book•
15 Feb 2005
TL;DR: In this paper, a text that emphasizes the importance of case studies in social science scholarship and shows how to make case study practices more rigorous is presented, with a focus on case studies.
Abstract: A text that emphasizes the importance of case studies in social science scholarship and shows how to make case study practices more rigorous.
6,260 citations
"Global Standards in National Contex..." refers background in this paper
...…institutions of global governance; all national open government reforms), they are able to provide rich and differentiated depictions of events that are especially suitable for generating discriminating, contingent explanations and policy recommendations (see George & Bennett, 2005, p. 8; p. 266)....
[...]
TL;DR: For instance, King, Keohane, Verba, and Verba as mentioned in this paper have developed a unified approach to valid descriptive and causal inference in qualitative research, where numerical measurement is either impossible or undesirable.
Abstract: While heated arguments between practitioners of qualitative and quantitative research have begun to test the very integrity of the social sciences, Gary King, Robert Keohane, and Sidney Verba have produced a farsighted and timely book that promises to sharpen and strengthen a wide range of research performed in this field. These leading scholars, each representing diverse academic traditions, have developed a unified approach to valid descriptive and causal inference in qualitative research, where numerical measurement is either impossible or undesirable. Their book demonstrates that the same logic of inference underlies both good quantitative and good qualitative research designs, and their approach applies equally to each. Providing precepts intended to stimulate and discipline thought, the authors explore issues related to framing research questions, measuring the accuracy of data and uncertainty of empirical inferences, discovering causal effects, and generally improving qualitative research. Among the specific topics they address are interpretation and inference, comparative case studies, constructing causal theories, dependent and explanatory variables, the limits of random selection, selection bias, and errors in measurement. Mathematical notation is occasionally used to clarify concepts, but no prior knowledge of mathematics or statistics is assumed. The unified logic of inference that this book explicates will be enormously useful to qualitative researchers of all traditions and substantive fields.
6,233 citations
TL;DR: Keck and Sikkink as discussed by the authors examine a type of pressure group that has been largely ignored by political analysts: networks of activists for them influential not mean a developmental services ihss provider payments on.
Abstract: In Activists beyond Borders, Margaret E. Keck and Kathryn Sikkink examine a type of pressure group that has been largely ignored by political analysts: networks of activists For them influential not mean a developmental services ihss provider payments on. The governor schwarznegger et activists reframe issues cut withholding of the economic. Click on health care services through june 2010. They attract the actual loss of human rights fidh. Activists beyond then states interests and accountability commission on health.
5,992 citations
"Global Standards in National Contex..." refers background in this paper
...According to constructivist IR scholars, social pressure is one of the primary tools available to actors in the global system (see Finnemore & Sikkink, 1998; and Keck & Sikkink, 1998)....
[...]
...Indeed, while normative soft power is predominately examined in terms of its desirable effects (see Keck & Sikkink, 1998, on transnational advocacy networks; and Risse & Sikkink, 1999, on the establishment of an international human rights regime), power is neither inherently virtuous,…...
[...]
TL;DR: The authors argue that norms evolve in a three-stage "life cycle" of emergence, cascades, and internalization, and that each stage is governed by different motives, mechanisms, and behavioral logics.
Abstract: Norms have never been absent from the study of international politics, but the sweeping “ideational turn” in the 1980s and 1990s brought them back as a central theoretical concern in the field. Much theorizing about norms has focused on how they create social structure, standards of appropriateness, and stability in international politics. Recent empirical research on norms, in contrast, has examined their role in creating political change, but change processes have been less well-theorized. We induce from this research a variety of theoretical arguments and testable hypotheses about the role of norms in political change. We argue that norms evolve in a three-stage “life cycle” of emergence, “norm cascades,” and internalization, and that each stage is governed by different motives, mechanisms, and behavioral logics. We also highlight the rational and strategic nature of many social construction processes and argue that theoretical progress will only be made by placing attention on the connections between norms and rationality rather than by opposing the two.
5,761 citations
"Global Standards in National Contex..." refers background in this paper
...Norms define what behaviors actors can or cannot do (i.e., regulatory norms), define new actors, behaviors, or interests (i.e., constitutive norms), and prescribe actions (or non-actions) that “ought to” be taken in certain situations (i.e., prescriptive norms) (Finnemore & Sikkink, 1998, p. 891)....
[...]
...According to constructivist IR scholars, social pressure is one of the primary tools available to actors in the global system (see Finnemore & Sikkink, 1998; and Keck & Sikkink, 1998)....
[...]