As I stumbled over the acronyms, feeling the unfamiliar syllables trip up my tongue, I reflected on a curiosity: the closer my work takes me to aid providers, the more I hear about Thinking Working Politically (TWP), Problem Driven Iterative Adaptation (PDIA) and Doing Development Differently (DDD).
Category: Governance
Playing in the sand-box or the tar-pit? Supporting politically-informed programming in large ‘Facilities’
As I exited my last position at The Asia Foundation, William Cole challenged me to: …report back in a year and tell me if its possible to think and work politically in high-value, multi-sector facility mechanisms So, after our involvement in three such 'Facilities' over the last 12-18 months[1], what is the verdict? Are we …
Deep and Wide? Or Wide and Shallow?
Deep and Wide? Or Wide and Shallow? At Sunday school sometime in the last century I remember singing with great gusto a chorus that included the lines “deep and wide, deep and wide, there’s a fountain flowing deep and wide…” Even today I can hum the tune (but not out loud as laryngectomees cannot sing. …
Divide and Conquer: Citizen Voice without Contested Politics
By Rebecca Haines In the development community, we typically interpret a government pushing for greater decentralisation as a positive step for governance reform and an opening for greater citizen participation and voice. Donors invest considerable funds in supporting the decentralisation processes of global governments, and NGOs focus energy and resources on preparing citizens to influence …
Continue reading Divide and Conquer: Citizen Voice without Contested Politics
Governance, Foreign Policy and Populism – All the Fun things
From Australia and Canada’s decision to integrate their development agencies, to the resurgence of nationalism in the UK and US and the flat-lining of public support for aid (see below graph from IDS) – major bilateral donors are increasingly bringing aid closer to the heart of government operations. As a result, the ‘old’ aid policy …
Continue reading Governance, Foreign Policy and Populism – All the Fun things
‘Good’ Governance – Remembering the Role of Values and Beliefs: A Recipient Nation’s Perspective
By Anar Ulikpan This blog is a response to the post entitled "What is this Governance Thing Anyway?" In very simple and broad terms, governance is a process through which public/community goods and services are coordinated to serve its peoples’ best interests in an equitable and fair manner. Countries with ‘good’ governance are expected to have …
DDD4 Jakarta
The fourth meeting of the ‘Doing Development Differently’ movement (as one of its founders, Michael Woolcock, calls it) was held over two days in Jakarta a couple of weeks ago. Jointly hosted by the Government of Indonesia, the World Bank and Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the workshop attracted over 200 participants from …
Our 5 component orthodoxy. Debate.
So, here’s our take – but what’s your view? What is this ‘governance’ thing anyway and what does it mean to you?
What is this ‘Governance’ thing anyway?
The first blog post will tackle the complex question of ‘what is this governance thing anyway?’ I remain surprised how many times I am asked this question. I suppose it’s like most things; if you know which English King was married to Eleanor of Aquitaine, then question is pretty easy. If you don’t it’s tricky.
The World Development Report is powerful but is it memorable?
In 1926, John Maynard Keynes said that “everything is politics, nothing is policies”. Has the World Bank discovered this truth for itself? What does the 2017 World Development Report say about governance, politics and power? Its very title – Governance and the Law – tries its best to put us off. It sounds more like a learned journal written by be-wigged barristers than one in a series of the most important development publication to emerge every year.
Governance and Development Soapbox 