Showing papers on "Legitimacy published in 2000"

Political Trust and Trustworthiness

Abstract: After addressing the meaning of “trust” and “trustworthiness,” we review survey-based research on citizens' judgments of trust in governments and politicians, and historical and comparative case study research on political trust and government trustworthiness. We first provide an overview of research in these two traditions, and then take up four topics in more detail: (a) political trust and political participation; (b) political trust, public opinion, and the vote; (c) political trust, trustworthy government, and citizen compliance; and (d) political trust, social trust, and cooperation. We conclude with a discussion of fruitful directions for future research.

Legitimacy Building in the Evolution of Small-Firm Multilateral Networks: A Comparative Study of Success and Demise:

Abstract: This article reports a longitudinal examination and comparison of two multilateral networks of small and medium-sized firms in the U.S. wood-products manufacturing industry. The research focused on...

Punishment, Communication, and Community

Abstract: The question "What can justify criminal punishment ?" becomes especially insistent at times, like our own, of penal crisis, when serious doubts are raised not only about the justice or efficacy of particular modes of punishment, but about the very legitimacy of the whole penal system. Recent theorizing about punishment offers a variety of answers to that question-answers that try to make plausible sense of the idea that punishment is justified as being deserved for past crimes; answers that try to identify some beneficial consequences in terms of which punishment might be justified; as well as abolitionist answers telling us that we should seek to abolish, rather than to justify, criminal punishment. This book begins with a critical survey of recent trends in penal theory, but goes on to develop an original account (based on Duff's earlier Trials and Punishments) of criminal punishment as a mode of moral communication, aimed at inducing repentance, reform, and reconciliation through reparation-an account that undercuts the traditional controversies between consequentialist and retributivist penal theories, and that shows how abolitionist concerns can properly be met by a system of communicative punishments. In developing this account, Duff articulates the "liberal communitarian" conception of political society (and of the role of the criminal law) on which it depends; he discusses the meaning and role of different modes of punishment, showing how they can constitute appropriate modes of moral communication between political community and its citizens; and he identifies the essential preconditions for the justice of punishment as thus conceived-preconditions whose non-satisfaction makes our own system of criminal punishment morally problematic. Punishment, Communication, and Community offers no easy answers, but provides a rich and ambitious ideal of what criminal punishment could be-an ideal of what criminal punishment cold be-and ideal that challenges existing penal theories as well as our existing penal theories as well as our existing penal practices.

Understanding the Domestic Impact of International Norms: A Research Agenda

Abstract: Scholarship on international norms has recently begun to explore how domestic-level structures and processes affect compliance. This literature has identified the domestic legitimacy of an international norm as an important variable in accounting for the effects of norms on state behavior. But scholars have devoted insufficient attention to measuring the legitimacy or salience of international norms in the domestic arena and to identifying the pathways that lead to domestic salience. We offer insights that could lead to more systematic studies of the domestic impact of international norms. First, we propose a framework to measure the domestic salience of an international norm. Second, we identify four pathways by which an international norm can enter the national arena and one factor that conditions its impact on domestic political processes. The paper concludes by suggesting directions for future empirical research.

Democratic Governance Beyond the Nation-State:: The EU and Other International Institutions

Abstract: International institutions not only increase system effectiveness or output legitimacy, but are also a normatively plausible response to the problems for democracy that are caused by globalization. In this way, international institutions also increase input legitimacy. It is therefore a false approach to pin down the problem of democracy beyond the nation-state as a choice between `effective problem-solving through international institutions' and `democratic political processes'. At the same time, it is indisputable that the actual functioning of these international institutions does not meet democratic standards. By correctly pointing to the deficits of current international institutions, sceptics too quickly conclude that most deficits in the working of international institutions cannot be remedied. The sceptical argument is founded on two more or less explicit background hypotheses that can be empirically challenged. The first background hypothesis states that a demos cannot exist at the transnational ...

Managerial Strategies of Domination. Power in Soft Bureaucracies

Abstract: This paper discusses the emergence and reinforcement of organizational political regimes based on domination and centralization in French organizations Domination and power are old concepts in organizational sociology, but the confrontation of two well-known approaches to politics in organizations, that of Weber and that of Crozier, suggests that an `archaic' notion such as domination is still very useful for understanding how business leaders `govern' organizations todayBased on empirical studies, the paper proposes that organizations should be seen as `soft bureaucracies', in which centralization and entrepreneurial forms of governance are combined Thus, choosing a Weberian point of view, this paper simultaneously describes organizations as `structures of domination' and as `structures of legitimacy' It defends the idea that, in spite of the success of the network form utopia, the re-emergence of bureaucracies is a sign that organizations are more and more politically centralized and governed

International Socialization in the New Europe: Rational Action in an Institutional Environment

Abstract: The international relations of the `new Europe' are shaped by a process of international socialization in which the Western community transmits its constitutive liberal norms to Central and Eastern Europe. This process neither fits rationalist assumptions about international politics in a technical environment nor sociological theories of action. Rather, international socialization in the new Europe is best explained as a process of rational action in a normatively institutionalized international environment. Under these conditions, rational state behaviour is constrained by value-based norms of legitimate statehood and proper conduct. Selfish political actors conform to these norms in order to reap the benefits of international legitimacy, but as instrumental actors they also calculate whether these benefits are worth the costs of conformity and how they can be reaped efficiently. An empirical analysis of the behaviour of the Western socialization agencies and the CEE countries supports this perspective ...

THE LOGIC OF CLIENTELISM IN ARGENTINA: An Ethnographic Account*

Abstract: Based on ethnographic fieldwork in a shantytown in the outskirts of Buenos Aires, this article studies the workings of Peronist "political clientelism" among the urban poor. It analyzes the web of relations that some slum-dwellers establish with local political brokers to obtain medicine, food, and solutions to other everyday concerns. The article also explores the main functions of the "problem-solving networks," which are resource control and information hoard- ing, and pays particular attention to an underexplored dimension of the opera- tion of clientelism: clients' own views on the network.

Temporary Work: The Gendered Rise of a Precarious Employment Relationship

Abstract: In these 278 pages, Leah F. Vosko describes and analyses the political economy of temporary work in Canada and its remarkable growth over the past three decades as part of the increasing non-standardization of labour processes to achieve flexible and just-in-time production and service delivery. What is particularly valuable in this study is the intertwining of a feminist analysis of this process as the protagonists in this story overwhelmingly emerge as women, although it is acknowledged that there is growing gender parity in some industries marked by a "race to the bottom."In order to lay bare the inner workings of contemporary work relationships, Vosko has chosen to conduct a detailed case study of the temporary help industry (THI) in the twentieth century, beginning from 1897, when the first legislation on private employment agencies was adopted, to 1997 when the ILO abandoned its traditional support of the standard employment relationship (SER) and its bias against labour market intermediaries. This revealed its apparent tolerance for temporary employment relationships (TER) thus creating the appropriate context within which various types of non-standard labour processes, including temporary work relationships, could proliferate.At a theoretical level, the author argues that with the preponderance of temporary employment relationships (TER), workers more and more become like "commodities." Of course, from a Marxist perspective, all labour power is commodified under capitalism. However, the slogan "labour is not a commodity" endorsed by the ILO had provided a discursive space for several decades to promote workers' rights and to regulate temporary employment agencies nationally and internationally. With the granting of legitimacy to such agencies in 1997, the illusory nature of such slogans, the classed nature of organizations such as the ILO and states/governments and the fragility of workers' rights became crystal clear. The discursive shift announced the acceptance by states and some labour organizations of the need to not hinder, if not encourage, the expansion of what has come to be known as "precarious employment."The book furthers feminist research, in particular extending the concept of feminization of the labour market, ironically in an industry which has a growing number of men working in it. Vosko argues that despite the latter trend, the varieties of jobs available for temporary workers are clearly gendered in terms of the division of labour, i.e., who gets to do what kind of job, the kinds of the salary and working conditions each has and the overall feminized character of all temporary work relationships which is based on the old image of the "Kelly Girl." She demonstrates that there is also a racialized division of labour as immigrant women and men and women of colour are also concentrated at the lower end. However, she does not elaborate on whether this represents a racialization of temporary work relationships to the same extent as she develops the feminization thesis. The racialization thesis could be further developed since she presents the material to argue that viewpoint. …

An Introduction to African Politics

Abstract: The third edition of An Introduction to African Politics continues to be the ideal textbook for those new to the study of this fascinating continent. It gets to the heart of the politics of this part of the world, tackling questions such as: How is modern Africa still influenced by its colonial past? How do strong ethnic identities on the continent affect government? Why has the military been so influential? Why do African states have such difficulty managing their economies? How does African democracy differ from democracy in the West? The result is a textbook that identifies the essential features of African politics, allowing students to grasp the recurring political patterns that have dominated this continent since independence. Features and benefits of the third edition: Thematically organised, with individual chapters exploring issues such as colonialism, ethnicity, nationalism, religion, social class, ideology, legitimacy, authority, sovereignty and democracy. Identifies key recurrent themes such as the competitive relationships between the African state, its civil society and external interests. Contains useful boxed case studies at the end of each chapter, including: Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, Botswana, Cote d’Ivoire, Uganda, Somalia, Ghana, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zimbabwe. Each chapter concludes with key terms and definitions, as well as questions and advice on further reading. Illustrated throughout with images of important political figures, and key moments in African history. Important terms and concepts are explained in a clear and accessible manner and supported by contemporary examples. This expanded, fully revised and updated edition remains the ideal gateway for students seeking to make sense of the dynamic and diverse political systems that are a feature of this fascinating part of the world.

Incentives and disincentives for violence

Abstract: Those who wish to facilitate peace will be well advised to understand the nature of war. Yet the label war is one that often conceals as much as it reveals. We think we know what a war is, but this in itself is a source of difficulty: Throwing a label at the problem of conflict may further obscure its origins and functions; and the label, moreover, may be very useful for those who wish to promote certain kinds of violence. The idea of war can confer a kind of legitimacy upon certain types of violence, given the widespread belief that certain kinds of war are just and legitimate. This chapter attempts to throw some light on the nature of contemporary warfare by looking closely at some of its functions—notably, the economic functions, which are often partially obscured. The chapter challenges two common notions: that war is a contest between two sides, with each trying to win; and that war represents only a breakdown or collapse rather than the creation of an alternative system of profit, power, and protection. A number of economic functions of warfare are outlined, and attention is given to the interaction of political and economic agendas.

State Legitimacy and Development in Africa

Abstract: It is typically taken for granted that African economies perform poorly, but there are a small but significant number of success stories on the continent. This study explores what accounts for Africa's average stagnation, and for the wide regional variations in developmental fortunes.

Spatial Planning in the Network Society-Rethinking the Principles of Planning in the Netherlands

Abstract: The Dutch planning system rejoices a very positive reputation in the international academic planning literature. Yet both the conceptual orientation and the institutional practices of Dutch planning are eroded. New institutional practices have emerged that effectively form a 'shadow structure' to the official planning system, eroding both its effectiveness and legitimacy. The article suggests that this instititutional development is to be understood against the background of larger processes of social change to which the system has so far not responded: the coming 'network society'. In light of this analysis it is suggested that Dutch planning could enhance both its effectiveness and legitimacy by reconsidering some of the basic features of the planning system.

Medical Autonomy and the UK State 1975 to 2025

Abstract: Medical autonomy in the United Kingdom has declined over the last twenty-five years, whether considered at the micro level (such as control over treatment and work patterns), the meso level (in terms of corporatist relations with the state) or the macro level (in terms of the `biomedical model'). After a period in the early 1990s when the National Health Service displayed a mix of Fordist and post-Fordist controls, the emphasis has swung sharply towards the former, suggesting the continued explanatory value of theories which focus on the state's need both to contain welfare expenditure and to maximise the political legitimacy derived from it. The analysis of this relatively narrow area of sociology has implications for the study of much broader questions about the capacity and legitimacy of the state in the twenty-first century.

Discourse Coalitions and the Australian Climate Change Policy Network

Abstract: Ever since the agreement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, climate change has become the most prominent global environmental issue on domestic political agendas. The author examines how a policy-network approach can contribute to the analysis of domestic climate change responses. Consideration is given to the role of advocacy coalitions and discourse coalitions within policy networks. It is argued that the discourse-coalition approach offers a useful explanation of the processes of coalition formation, interaction, and policy learning. Although it cannot alone explain the outcomes of the policy process, its emphasis on the dynamics of meaning, legitimacy, and knowledge as an essential part of policymaking can usefully be incorporated into an analysis of policy networks.

Audacious Reforms: Institutional Invention and Democracy in Latin America

Abstract: Audacious Reforms examines the creation of new political institutions in three Latin American countries: direct elections for governors and mayors in Venezuela, radical municipalization in Bolivia, and direct election of the mayor of Buenos Aires in Argentina. Diverging from the usual incremental processes of political change, these cases marked a significant departure from traditional centralized governments. Such "audacious reforms," explains Merilee S. Grindle, reinvent the ways in which public problems are manifested and resolved, the ways in which political actors calculate the costs and benefits of their activities, and the ways in which social groups relate to the political process. Grindle considers three central questions: Why would rational politicians choose to give up power? What accounts for the selection of some institutions rather than others? And how does the introduction of new institutions alter the nature of political actions? The case studies of Venezuela, Bolivia, and Argentina demonstrate that institutional invention must be understood from theoretical perspectives that stretch beyond immediate concerns about electoral gains and political support building. Broader theoretical perspectives on the definition of nation and state, the nature of political contests, the legitimacy of political systems, and the role of elites all must be considered. While past conflicts are not erased by reforms, in the new order there is often greater potential for more responsible, accountable, and democratic government.

Changes in the Westphalian Order: Territory, Public Authority, and Sovereignty

Abstract: nature of the concepts. All concepts are abstract. Indeed, the root of the word means to draw out or away from what Harry Eckstein called "the relentless particularity of experience." Concepts attempt to draw together elements of concrete experience that can be grouped in a fruitful way, so as to improve our understanding. Thus, the point is not to avoid abstraction, but to build fruitful concepts. Again, no one will disagree with so anodyne a statement. The challenge is to pitch concepts at the right level so as to connect both upward (towards general theory) and downward (towards the empirical data). The mix of concepts associated with the Westphalian order (sovereignty, authority, autonomy, control, territoriality) have fallen down on the latter criterion, that is, on the connection between abstract concepts and empirical observations. Dichotomous nature of concepts. Concepts such as sovereignty and territoriality have been treated as if they could take on two possible values-present or absent, sovereign or not sovereign, territorial or nonterritorial organization. While some concepts are inherently dichotomous, many so treated are at bottom continuous. Even types of political systems, such as presidential and parliamentary, can be conceptualized as having more or less of these properties measured on some underlying continuum (Shugart and Carey 1992:2-3). Defining our concepts in either/or terms has caused us to labor needlessly about whether certain states are sovereign or not, whether emerging international unions such as the European Union (EU) possess sovereignty or not, and if they do, whether such sovereignty is shared with the constituent nation states. Dichotomous conceptions of sovereignty have also prevented us from conceptualizing "sovereignty bargains" (Litfin 1997). Disputes over sovereignty and who possesses it are bound up with the notion that sovereignty is the ultimate right to decide. Sovereignty in this sense implies a hierarchy of both 4 Changes in the Westphalian Order 5 norms and power. Many institutions within (and outside) society may possess both competencies and normative support, but when they are in conflict with one another-when "the chips are down" as the saying goes-the important question is who has final authority? Since the ideas of normative conflict and hierarchy of norms are central to much legal reasoning, lawyers tend to adopt this view of sovereignty as located in final authority. Since the law is about adjudication among competing norms, lawyers are supremely well placed to shed light on sovereignty so defined. Yet the idea of sovereignty as the ultimate right to decide has seriously retarded progress. Dichotomous conceptions of sovereignty do not allow much observable variation, cannot be untangled from other important concepts, and are not easily assimilated into the language of political exchange (compromising sovereignty, sovereignty bargains) and sovereignty practices. Almost all of the concepts related to the Westphalian model-territory, control over borders, authority, autonomy, legitimacy, and sovereignty-can be thought of in continuous terms. While phrases such as "more or less sovereign" may sound odd, I suggest they do so because of the ingrained notion that sovereignty is the ultimate right to decide. While this point is straightforward, it is not uncontroversial, and finding areas of agreement with respect to definitions is an important first step. The aggregation of concepts. Concepts such as territoriality, sovereignty, and authority obviously exist at a very high level of aggregation. To some extent, this is unavoidable. We are dealing with macroconcepts that often cannot be factored down into more specific, microlevel representations. Anarchy is a structural characteristic of the international system, not a characteristic of states. States are not anarchic, yet placed in relation to one another they form an anarchy. And individual states are not bipolar or multipolar but the system as a whole may be. Information about components is used to construct systemic properties (how could it be otherwise?), but once assembled in relation to one another, the system takes on meanings of its own. Composition counts. The placement of elements makes a difference. Waltz (1979) has gone to great pains to establish the independence of thirdimage (systemic) theory. If Waltz is correct-and I think he is on this pointsystemic theory cannot be reduced to its components. A theory of the market is different from, and not reducible to, a theory of firms, just as a theory of international relations is separate from a theory of foreign policy.4 Lest I sound as if I am defending what I want to criticize, I note that the aggregation issue takes two forms. The first, discussed briefly above, concerns 4This is a separate question from whether systemic theory by itself is underdetermined and therefore requires a theory of foreign policy as a complement.

Labor Organization and Electoral Participation in Industrial Democracies

Abstract: The literature on the determinants of electoral participation has paid little attention to the role of labor organization. Adopting the familiar heuristic of costs and benefits, we argue that aggregate rates of turnout will be affected strongly by the strength of the labor movement. This hypothesis is tested using cross-sectional and pooled time series data for nineteen industrial democracies and the fifty American states. The results indicate that the greater the share of workers represented by unions, the greater is the turnout. Further analysis indicates that a portion of this effect occurs indirectly through labor's ability to move the ideological position of parties appealing to lowerand middlestatus citizens farther to the left. The implications for the study of electoral politics, democratic theory, and public policy are discussed. he theoretical importance of electoral participation to democratic politics is well understood. The rate of voter participation has been considered a metric by which to judge the legitimacy of democratic institutions (e.g., Piven and Cloward, 1988), an influence on party vote shares (e.g., Nagel and McNulty, 1996), and a determinant of public policies (e.g., Hicks and Misra, 1993; for a review, see Lijphart 1997). Given the salience of turnout, it is not surprising that scholars have devoted considerable attention to the subject. Yet the literature suffers from a general failure to consider that industrial democracies are also capitalist democracies in which political competition is shaped partially by social class. The capacity of the working class, broadly construed, to compete-and thus its incentive to participate-is widely agreed to be a function of the extent to which it is organized. As Przeworski puts it, "workers can process their claims only collectively and indirectly through organizations . . . principally trade unions" (1985, 11) and, potentially, the political parties beholden to them. As we demonstrate below, labor organization is one of the principal determinants of cross-national and domestic rates of electoral participation.

Non-state actors and authority in the global system

Abstract: Introduction: globalisation and non-state actors Richard A. Higgott, Geoffrey R. D. Underhill and Andreas Bieler Part I. Theoretical considerations: the changing nature of authority relations 1. Who does what? Collective action and the changing nature of authority Ann M. Florini 2. Grassroots empowerment: states, non-state actors and global policy formation Kendall W. Stiles Part II. Multinational companies and the establishment of international rules 3. Globalisation and policy convergence: the case of direct investment rules Andrew Walter 4. State authority and investment security: non-state actors and the negotiation of the Multilateral Agreement on Investment at the OECD Elizabeth Smythe 5. Structures, agents, and institutions: private corporate power and the globalisation of intellectual property rights Susan K. Sell 6. Business strategy and evolving rules in the Single European Market Duncan Matthews and John F. Pickering 7. Private sector international regimes Virginia Haufler 8. Corporate political action in the global polity: national and transnational strategies in the climate change negotiations David L. Levy and Daniel Egan Part III. Multinational companies and the international restructuring of production 9. Alliance capitalism as industrial order: exploring new forms of interfirm competition in the globalising economy Brian Portnoy 10. How global is Ford Motor Company's global strategy? Maria Isabel Studer Noguez 11. Foreign capital, host-country-firm mandates, and the terms of globalisation Jochen Lorentzen Part IV. Globalisation and inter-governmental and non-governmental organisations 12. Private authority, scholarly legitimacy and political credibility: think tanks and informal diplomacy Diane Stone 13. International trade rules and states: enhanced authority for the WTO? Gilbert Gagne 14. The World Bank, the World Trade Organisation and the environmental social movement Marc Williams 15. 'In the foothills' - relations between the IMF and civil society Jan Aart Scholte 16. Transnational environmental groups, media, science and public sentiment(s) in domestic policy-making on climate change Susanne Jakobsen

Non-Democratic Regimes: Theory, Government and Politics

Abstract: Introduction - Theories of Non-democratic Government - Types of Non-democratic Regime - The Emergence of Military Dictatorships - The Emergence of Party Dictatorships - Consolidation, Legitimacy and Control - Degeneration into Personal Rule - Policies and Performance - Democratisation - Semi-dictatorships and Semi-democracies - The Failure and Extinction of Dictatorship?

Justification and Legitimacy: Essays on Rights and Obligations

Abstract: Introduction 1. The principle of fair play 2. Fair play and political obligation: twenty years later 3. The obligations of citizens and the justification of conscription 4. Associative political obligations 5. External justifications and institutional roles 6. Philosophical anarchism 7. Justification and legitimacy 8. 'Denisons' and 'Aliens': Locke's problem of political consent 9. Human rights and world citizenship: the universality of Human Rights in Kant and Locke 10. Original-acquisition justifications of private property 11. Historical rights and fair shares 12. Makers' rights.

Where’s the glue? Institutional and cultural foundations of American Indian economic development

Abstract: Since the mid-1970s, the hundreds of American Indian reservations in the United States have been afforded substantial powers of self-government –from law enforcement and taxation to environmental and business regulation. The result has been a set of diverse efforts to overcome widespread poverty, with equally diverse outcomes. This study reports the results of research into the sources of development success during the “take-off” stage of self-government. Little evidence is found to support hypotheses that resource or human capital endowments hold keys to launching Indian economies. Instead, tribal constitutional forms appear to be make-or-break keys to development. Development takes hold when these forms provide for separations of powers and when their structures match indigenous norms of political legitimacy.

What Now for the Contact Hypothesis? Towards a New Research Agenda

Abstract: This article begins with a review of recent research on the Contact Hypothesis. It will be shown that the literature in this area has become essentially closed and self-referential where the core political and theoretical premises that underpin the Hypothesis have been taken for granted and the debates have therefore become restricted simply to how best to measure the influence of inter-group contact. One of the key reasons for this is the lack of critical engagement with the Contact Hypothesis from those of a more structuralist and/or 'radical' perspective. This may be because the individualistic focus of the Hypothesis is seen from such a perspective as largely irrelevant to addressing racial and ethnic divisions and/or because it may be felt that to engage with the concept is to give it undue legitimacy. It will be argued in this article, however, that the wholesale dismissal of the Contact Hypothesis is a little premature. Just as recent research on racial and ethnic divisions has drawn attention to t...

Actional Legitimation: No Crisis Necessary

Abstract: This article articulates the fundamental nature of "legitimacy" to public relations research and sets forth actional legitimation as a productive new area for public relations studies. After tracing the development of the idea of "corporate legitimacy," this research distinguishes between institutional and actional legitimacy. Although institutional legitimacy has formed a basis for studies of crisis communication, image, values advocacy, and issue management, actional legitimacy studies allow for the study of more day-to-day public relations activities in which publics have a more immediate impact on corporate policy. The article concludes that actively studying strategies of legitimation for specific corporate policies would produce useful scholarship that builds on extant legitimacy literature.

Critical Accounting Interventions

Abstract: Starting from prior research on the functioning of intellectuals, the current study examines two questions: first, how can we intervene in social struggles in a manner that takes advantage of our expertise and offers the greatest potential for transforming and improving social practices? and second, how do we, as “intellectuals," judge the effectiveness or success of an intervention, given that the means used to effect change could well have a bearing on our legitimacy, on the very definition of “intellectual," and on our long-term efficiency. Using two case studies, we analyze the functioning of accounting within public policy struggles, and theoretically interrogate the interventions and the resultant outcomes. Although we acknowledge that the specific terrain of struggle varies, insights from these two episodes extend our understandings of accounting’s role within social conflict and perhaps, more importantly, encourage critical accountants to reintegrate the theoretical and praxis components of accounting scholarship through interventions in the public sphere.

The Changing Regime: Forest Property and Reformasi in Indonesia

Abstract: This article explores the dominant explanations of the failure of forest management in Indonesia within the public discourse of the late New Order period. Drawing on a review of salient literature and relevant case studies the major part of the article discusses the underlying historical institutional and political causes of the failure of the state property regime. By taking a narrow view of the issues public discourse during the New Order (1966-98) avoided discussion of the structure of property relations and the power relations that supported them. However the forest fires of 1997-98 and the ensuing ecological crisis have revealed that the forest policy that allocated property rights over vast areas of the nations forests to well-connected conglomerates and politico-business families was inequitable and lacked legitimacy. While new legislative initiatives open up possibilities for co-management the reforms so far barely engage with the underlying structure of property rights. These issues will need to be more thoroughly addressed if Indonesia is to tackle the bitter legacy of the Suharto period. (authors)