Aid Transparency in the Making: What Compliance with the International Aid Transparency Initiative Reveals About Ideational Dynamics in the Aid and Development Regime

Drawing on ideational underpinnings of Social Constructivism, we perceive transparency as a norm in the aid and development regime. To establish this perception we refer to Cortell’s and Davis’ outline of the emergence of norms in domestic systems. We focus on the stage of institutionalization, i.e. the incorporation of ideational principles into formal institutions, as the IATI is considered as an institutionalized form of transparency in this context, but still assign great importance to the discourse employed in this specific stage (Cortell and Davis, 2000). These theoretical foundations allow for the application of Mitchell’s Model of Balanced Demand and Supply of Information. According to this model, a balance between the demand and supply of information proves decisive for the transparency of a regime, the very fact of which functions as an indicator for the regime’s success (Mitchell, 1998). Placing transparency in its ideational understanding within the realm of Mitchell’s model allows us not only to assess the success of the IATI in the wider aid and development regime, but also to contribute to the adaption of the model to the contemporary ideational dynamics

Organisational transparency in South African banking : an institutional field discourse analysis

Abstract in English with Zulu and SeTswana translationsThis thesis examines organisational transparency in South African banking after the financial crisis of 2007-2009. The crisis upset the global economy and resulted in general mistrust in banks and the global financial system. In addition to poor governance standards, inadequate transparency was identified as a key issue to be addressed in order to prevent future crises. The nature and consequences of banking transparency became a matter of worldwide debate. While the extant literature focuses mainly on banking transparency in the context of accounting, this study uses a communication perspective, examining transparency as a dynamic social and organisational phenomenon that is constituted through and reflected in organisational discourse, with both symbolic and practical implications. The primary objective of this study was to establish how the discourse in the institutional field of banking in South Africa after the Financial Crisis shaped the construction of the meaning of transparency in banking, and consequently how organisational field level discourse contributed to the institutionalisation of transparency practices in South African banking. The study adapted several conceptual frameworks previously used in discourse studies in order to analyse a banking field discourse at meso-level. From the data analysis perspective, the qualitative content analysis was performed with the aid of ATLAS.ti 8 software. The sample for the study comprises 76 purposively selected documents produced by the actors within the institution field of banking from the onset of the Financial Crisis until 2018. This study underlines the importance of the discourse within the institutional field of banking in South Africa and the construction of what is normal, acceptable and expected in terms of banking transparency, and its institutionalisation, thus highlighting the historical and social embeddedness of banking transparency. The data analysis identifies the main discursive strands within the banking discourse: one that is focused on market conduct transparency and the other, which addresses the importance of banks’ transparency in maintaining stability in the financial system. The results also reveal multiple meanings of transparency in South African banking and draw attention to the historical and discursive events that trigger change in institutional fields.Le thesisi iphenya ukusebenza shashalazi kwenhlangano eNingizimu Afrika ngemuva kwenhlekelele yezimali ukusukela ngo 2007 ukufika ngo 2009. Le nhlekelele yaguqula isimo somhlaba kwezomnotho yaze yadala izinga lokungasathembeki kwamabhangi nohlelo lwezimali emhlabeni wonke. Ukwengeza phezu kwamazinga angagculisi okuphathwa kwamabhizinisi, ukungasebenzi shashalazi ngokwanele kuye kwabonwa njengodaba oluyinkinga okufanele luxazululwe ukugwema izinkinga esikhathini esizayo. Ubunjalo besimo kanye nemiphumela yohlelo olushashalazi lwemboni yezamabhangi kugcine sekuba wudaba oluxoxwa umhlaba wonke. Njengoba umbhalo wobuciko okhona ugxile kakhulu phezu kohlelo olushashalazi lwamabhangi kweze-accounting, lolu cwaningo lusebenzisa umqondo wezokuxhumana, luhlola uhlelo olushashalazi njengohlelo lwenhlangano yomphakathi oluguqukayo futhi olwakhekayo, kanti lolu hlelo lubonakala njengodaba lwenhlangano, ngendlela yophawu nangendlela ephathekayo. Inhloso yokuqala yalolu cwaningo kwabe kukuthola indlela lesi sifundo emkhakheni weziko lezamabhangi eNingizimu Afrika ngemuva kokuthi iziNhlekelele zeZimali zishintshe isakhiwo sencazelo yegama lokusebenza shashalazi kwezamabhangi, bese ekugcineni ingabe udaba lwezinga lomkhakha wenhlangano lube negalelo elinjani ekwakhiweni kwezingqubo zohlelo olushashalazi embonini yezamabhangi eNingizimu Afrika. Ucwaningo luguqule izakhiwo zegama ezimbalwa ebezisetshenziswa esikhathini esedlule ezifundweni zocwaningo ukuhlaziya udaba lomkhakha wezamabhangi ezingeni lomhlaba. Ngokomqondo wokuhlaziywa kwedatha, ukuhlaziywa ngendlela egxile kwingxoxo yolwazi olumumethwe kwenziwa ngosizo lwe-ATLAS.ti 8 software. Isampula yocwaningo iqukethe imibhalo engama-76 ekhethwe ngenhloso ekhiqizwe ngabadlali abangaphakathi komkhakha weziko lezamabhangi ngesikhathi sokuqala kweNhlekelele yeZezimali ukufika ngonyaka ka 2018. Ucwaningo lugcizelela ukubaluleka kwesifundo esingaphakathi komkhakha weziko lezamabhangi kanye nokwakhiwa kwalokho okuthathwa ukuthi kujwayelekile, kuyamukeleka futhi kulindelwe mayelana nohlelo lokusebenza shashalazi kwamabhangi, kanye nokkwakhiwa kwalolu hlelo, ngakho-ke lokhu kuveza umlando kanye kanye nabantu ohlelweni lokusebenza shashalazi kwezamabhangi. Ukuhlaziywa kwedatha kwenze ukuthi kuphawuleke izimpawu ezibalulekile ezidukisayo ngaphakathi kohlelo lwezamabhangi; olunye lugxile phezu kohlelo olushashalazi mayelana nokuziphatha kwamabhangi, kanti olunye lubhekene nokubaluleka kohlelo olushashalazi kwezamabhangi ngenhloso yokugcina ingqubo ezinzile ohlelweni lwezezimali. Imiphumela nayo iveza izincazelo eziningi zohlelo lokusebenza shashalazi kwamabhangi eNingizimu Afrika kanye nokuxwayisa ngomlando nangezehlakalo ezidukisayo eziphembelela ukuthi kube nezinguquko emikhakheni yamaziko.Phuputso ena e hlahloba ponaletso ya mokgatlo lekaleng la dibanka tsa Afrika Borwa kamora koduwa ya ditjhelete ya ho tloha 2007 ho isa ho 2009. Koduwa ena e ile ya ferekanya moruo wa lefatshe mme ya fella ka ho se tsheptjwe ha dibanka le tsamaiso ya ditjhelete ya lefatshe. Ntle le maemo a mabe a puso, ponaletso e sa lekanang e ile ya hlwauwa e le taba ya mantlha e lokelang ho rarollwa ho thibela mathata a kamoso. Sebopeho le ditlamorao tsa ponaletso ya dibanka ebile taba ya puisano ya lefatshe ka bophara. Leha dingodilweng tse fumanehang hona jwale di shebile ponaletso ya dibanka haholo-holo maemong a ho boloka dibuka, phuputso ena e sebedisa pono ya puisano, e lekolang ponaletso e le taba e matla ya phedisano le mokgatlo e hlophisitsweng ka, mme e bontshitswe puong ya mokgatlo, ka diphello tsa matshwao le tse sebetsang ka bobedi. Morero wa mantlha wa phuputso ena e ne e le ho tiisa hore na puo lefapheng la dibanka Afrika Borwa kamora Koduwa ya Ditjhelete e thehile kaho ya moelelo wa ponaletso dibankeng jwang, le hore na puo ya boemo ba mokgatlo e kentse letsoho jwang ho hlophiseng mekgwa ya ponaletso dibankeng tsa Afrika Borwa. Phuputso e ile ya hlophisa meralo e mmalwa e neng e sebedisitswe diphuputsong tse fetileng tsa dipuo e le ho manolla puo ya lekala la dibanka maemong a bohareng. Ho latela pono ya manollo ya lesedi, manollo ya boleng ba dikateng e entswe ka thuso ya software ya ATLAS.ti 8. Sampole ya phuputso e na le ditokomane tse kgethilweng ka boomo tse 76 tse hlahisitsweng ke ba amehang lefapheng la dibanka ho tloha qalong ya Koduwa ya Ditjhelete ho fihlela 2018. Phuputso ena e totobatsa bohlokwa ba puo kahare ho lefapha la dibanka Afrika Borwa le kaho ya se tlwaelehileng, se amohelehang le se lebelletsweng mabapi le ponaletso ya dibanka, le tlhophiso ya yona ka hona ho totobatsa ho kenella ha nalane le phedisano ho ponaletso ya dibanka. Manollo ya lesedi e hlwaya dikarolwana tse ka sehloohong tse ka hare ho puo ya banka: e nngwe e shebane le ponaletso ya boitshwaro ba mmaraka, ha e nngwe e bua ka bohlokwa ba ponaletso ya dibanka ho boloka botsitso tsamaisong ya ditjhelete. Diphetho di boetse di senola ditlhaloso tse ngata tsa ponaletso dibankeng tsa Afrika Borwa le ho lebisa tlhokomelo diketsahalong tsa nalane le tse amanang le puo tse bakang phetoho makaleng a ditsi.Communication ScienceD. Phil. (Communication

Entrenching decentralisation in Africa: A review of the African Charter on the values and principles of decentralisation, local governance and local development

The African Union (AU) adopted the African Charter on the Values and Principle of Decentralisation, Local Governance and Local Development (African Charter on Decentralisation) in 2014. The African Charter on Decentralisation was inspired by the Yaounde Declaration of 2005 which was adopted by the African Ministers in charge of Decentralisation and Local Development in their respective countries. The Yaounde Declaration stresses the importance of a participatory democracy where local communities, groups and organisations can deliberate on their own needs, develop their own programmes for change, and influence policy processes to respond to those needsThe African Union (AU) adopted the African Charter on the Values and Principles of Decentralisation, Local Governance and Local Development (African Charter on Decentralisation) in 2014. The Charter seeks to promote decentralisation as a vehicle for improving the livelihood of people on the African continent. It is the first to provide a decentralisation framework or model framework for local government for the African continent. Like most international instruments, member states of the AU will only be legally bound by the Charter once they have ratified it. Most Member States of the AU have not ratified the Charter due to varying reasons, including, the fact that the ratification process in many countries is often cumbersome. Non-ratification could also be due to the fact that there is not yet a clear understanding of the meaning and significance of the decentralisation framework which the Charter provides. Thus, the actual impact of the Charter on changing the poor state of local government on the African continent upon coming into operation is as yet unknown. This problem is inflated by the fact that there is present no scholarly commentary on the Charter, given that it is relatively new. This article provides a critical analysis of the Charter, looking at its strengths and weakness, against the background of the international literature on decentralisation and ‘best’ practices on local government

Entrenching decentralisation in Africa: A review of the African charter on the values and principles of decentralisation, local governance and local development

The African Union (AU) adopted the African Charter on the Values and Principles of Decentralisation, Local Governance and Local Development (African Charter on Decentralisation) in 2014. The Charter seeks to promote decentralisation as a vehicle for improving the livelihood of people on the African continent. It is the first to provide a decentralisation framework or model framework for local government for the African continent. Like most international instruments, member states of the AU will only be legally bound by the Charter once they have ratified it. Most Member States of the AU have not ratified the Charter due to varying reasons, including, the fact that the ratification process in many countries is often cumbersome. Non-ratification could also be due to the fact that there is not yet a clear understanding of the meaning and significance of the decentralisation framework which the Charter provides. Thus, the actual impact of the Charter on changing the poor state of local government on the African continent upon coming into operation is as yet unknown. This problem is inflated by the fact that there is present no scholarly commentary on the Charter, given that it is relatively new. This article provides a critical analysis of the Charter, looking at its strengths and weakness, against the background of the international literature on decentralisation and ‘best’ practices on local government

An analysis of the decentralisation framework provided for in the African Charter on the Values and Principles of Decentralisation, Local Governance and Local Development, 2014

Magister Legum - LLMIn 2014, the African Union (AU) adopted the African Charter on the Values and Principles of Decentralisation, Local Governance and Local Development (the African Charter on Decentralisation). The Charter is a first of its kind to provide a decentralisation framework for local government on the African continent. It seeks to use local government as a vehicle for improving the livelihoods of people on the African continent. Member States of the AU will only be bound by the African Charter on Decentralisation once they have ratified it. The actual impact of the Charter to improve the livelihood of people on the African continent is unknown. This research paper provides a critical analysis of the Charter in order to establish its potential. The analysis is undertaken against the background of the international literature on decentralisation and 'best' practices on local government.South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI

In the public interest or out of desperation? The experience of Australian whistleblowers reporting to accountability agencies

Whistleblower protection legislation in Australia has three objectives: (i) to facilitate the making of disclosures about public interest wrongdoing in government departments, (ii) to ensure such disclosures are properly dealt with, and (iii) to ensure the protection of whistleblowers. These objectives align with the three core purposes of accountability: reporting information, justification and debate, and the rectification of any wrongdoing. Using empirical data collected by a national research project, ‘Whistling While They Work’, this thesis analyses the experiences of whistleblowers who make their disclosures to external accountability agencies - auditors-general, ombudsmen, corruption and crime commissions and public sector standards. The whistleblowers in this study reported wrongdoing to their own departments, out of loyalty to their organisation and trusting that their managers shared their ethical values and commitment to integrity. Only when this trust was breached, did they make their disclosures to external accountability agencies in the hopes of achieving rectification of the wrongdoing and protection from reprisals. The focus of the analysis is on the extent to which accountability agencies are achieving the objectives of the legislation. The fundamental conclusion is that they are not. Resource constraints and problems with the legislation itself, particularly the ‘public interest’ threshold test, clearly contribute to agencies’ limited achievements. In large part, however, accountability agencies have failed to develop approaches to whistleblowing that take into account the needs and vulnerabilities of whistleblowers. Accountability agencies trust the ‘distributed integrity’ in government departments in the same way as they do for other areas of their work, for example, complaints from the general public. In doing so, they fail to use the many-faceted experience of whistleblowing to improve accountability. All too often, they simply confirm whistleblowers’ disappointment in the standards of ethics and accountability within the public sector

Precious stones, black gold and the extractive industries: Accounting for the institutional design of multi-stakeholder initiatives.

Why was the Kimberley Process (KP) able to devise a soft law institution 'with teeth' whereas the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) failed. In various policy fields and particularly in the extractive industries, multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs) are becoming more important for regulating business behaviour. However, International Relations (IR) has as yet failed to explain why some succeeded in designing a strong international institution whereas others failed. To answer the research question the thesis first establishes a methodology for assessing strong and weak institutionalisation of MSIs. I argue that functional regime theory is inadequate at assessing MSIs as it does not capture institutional variety within soft law. Based on the Global Governance literature, the thesis establishes four indicators - membership, obligation, monitoring and enforcement, which allow us to evaluate the degree of institutionalisation. How can we account for institutional variety of MSIs. Mainstream IR theories are not able to explain the differences between the two case studies as they gloss over the differences in normative and material structures assuming that complete rationality and concerns for efficiency are critical when determining institutional design. I argue that norm entrepreneurs push for strong institutionalisation by the social mechanism of norm diffusion. Succeeding in diffusing the norm by using political strategies such as framing and structural power galvanises support for strong institutionalisation. Nevertheless, norm diffusion can fail when political opportunity structures empower norm opponents rather than norm entrepreneurs. I argue that the impact of norms varies, depending on distinct structural settings. Thus I unveil the circumstances under which new norms do not gain acceptance from the international community. In summary, when accounting for the MSI institutionalisation process, we not only need to pay attention to political strategy and agents, but must include in the analysis normative and material structures as drivers of or constraints to norm diffusion

Theatres of algorithmic transparency : a post-digital ethnography

This thesis investigates how algorithmic transparency is performed in French public sector organisations. I analyse the practices, methods and performative style of public disclosures in an ethnography initiated at Etalab — the French Open Data task force — and conducted in 2018. The study starts by considering recent controversies about unfair administrative algorithms. This research shows that to be effective, calling for algorithmic transparency requires the staging of identities, issues and algorithms. I describe how information about algorithms is disclosed through the mise en scène of citizens’ motivations, the placing of controversial requests on public bodies, and a regulatory framework redefining administrative procedures as “algorithms”. In a second empirical chapter, I unpack the dispute about unfair calculations of the housing tax. This dispute provides an opportunity to understand how the performance of transparency is purposefully planned by Etalab and the General Directorate of Public Finance. When these two organisations realise that full accountability of the housing tax algorithm is impossible, they set the boundaries of what should be made public. I posit that to be performed, algorithmic transparency requires the negotiation of its limits and the scripting of disclosures. I then study how the housing tax algorithm was disclosed in practice. Since full accountability is not attainable, algorithmic transparency is not longer defined as a bureaucratic duty but performed through a proclaimed exemplarity. Disclosures provide occasions for actors to brand transparency as an honourable achievement, but one that is disconnected from accountability requirements. On this basis, I develop the argument that algorithmic transparency is best understood, not as an accountability device, but as a political force shaping new narratives about public sector digitalisation. The performance of algorithmic transparency serves as an incentive to reorder public services, and, an attempt to refresh the technologies supporting administrative action in the public sector