4 research outputs found
Information and Communication Technologies in Areas of Limited Statehood
This paper analyzes the effects of information and communication technology
(ICT) on governance where the stateâs ability to authoritatively implement and
enforce political decisions is weak or functionally absent â areas of limited
statehood (AoLS). How do ICTs influence the provision of collective goods in
AoLS, especially in policy fields such as security, welfare and the
environment? In addressing this question we focus on the emergence of ICT-
enabled forms of steering. Virtual organizations such as Ushahidi and
FrontlineSMS enable the coordination of collective goods without the same
level of hierarchical structure historically associated with traditional forms
of governance. The focus lies on quasi-organizational forms that rely on mass
collaborative action across electronic networks. The consideration of these
questions is supported by fieldwork in Africa in 2011, and on previous
research in Afghanistan and various African countries in 2010. The paper
concludes with some tentative hypotheses on the interconnection between ICT,
statehood and governance.Dieses Arbeitspapier analysiert die Effekte von Informations- und
Kommunikationstechnologien (ICT) in RĂ€umen begrenzter Staatlichkeit (RbS) mit
Bezug auf Governance. Es geht dabei v.a. der Frage nach, wie ICTs die
Bereitstellung kollektiver GĂŒter insbesondere in den Politikfeldern
Sicherheit, Wohlfahrt und Umwelt beeinflussen. Bei der Beantwortung dieser
Frage konzentrieren wir uns auf die Entstehung neuer Steuerungsformen, die auf
ICTs basieren. Virtuelle Organisationen wie Ushahidi oder FrontlineSMS
beispielsweise ermöglichen die Erbringung kollektiver GĂŒter auch ohne
staatlich-hierarchische Strukturen, die in einem traditionellen VerstÀndnis
hÀufig als Voraussetzung von Governance betrachtet werden. Unser Fokus liegt
somit auf Governance-Formen die auf kollektivem Handeln ĂŒber elektronische
Netzwerke basieren. Die Diskussion dieser Fragen wird durch die Ergebnisse von
Forschungsaufenthalten illustriert, die in den Jahren 2010 und 2011 in
Afghanistan und verschiedenen afrikanischen Staaten stattgefunden haben. Das
Paper endet mit einigen vorlÀufigen Hypothesen zu der Verbindung von ICTs,
Staatlichkeit und Governance
A Macro-Quantitative Analysis of Governance Performance
âState-Buildingâ wird vielerorts als Prinzip moderner Entwicklungspolitik
angesehen. Dies beruht auf der Annahme, dass dem modernen Staat eine zentrale
Rolle im Bereich der GewÀhrleistung von Governance-Dienstleistungen zukommt.
Das VerhĂ€ltnis zwischen Staatlichkeit und so verstandener âGovernanceâ ist
jedoch alles andere als klar. Auf Basis eines makro-quantitativen Ansatzes,
analysieren wir die Performanz von Staaten in Bereichen wie Sicherheit,
Gesundheit, Bildung, ökonomische Subsistenz, Infrastruktur und Umwelt und
fragen, inwieweit Staatlichkeit die entsprechenden Unterschiede erklÀren kann,
wenn fĂŒr diverse andere Faktoren kontrolliert wird, die in den entsprechenden
Debatten (v.a. in der Politikwissenschaft und (Entwicklungs-) Ăkonomie) als
zentral angesehen werden. Drei Ergebnisse der Untersuchung stechen hervor:
Erstens â und entgegen der obigen Annahme â lĂ€sst sich keine signifikante,
konsistente Beziehung zwischen Staatlichkeit und objektiver Governance-
Performanz herstellen. Zweitens schneiden die entsprechenden Indikatoren
besser ab, wenn es um den Zusammenhang zur subjektiven Wahrnehmung von
Governance- Performanz geht, was die UbiquitÀt der o.g. Annahme bestÀtigt.
Drittens schlieĂlich stellt sich der Grad des âEmpowermentâ von Frauen ĂŒber
ganz verschiedene Sachbereiche hinweg als stÀrkster PrÀdiktor der Governance-
Performanz heraus. Dieses Ergebnis rechtfertigt den Schwerpunkt, den viele
Akteure der Entwicklungspolitik derzeit auf die Förderung von Frauen legen.State building is seen as the central tenet of many present-day development
efforts. This rests on a global normative script that emphasizes the modern
stateâs role in providing governance services from security to education to
health. However, the relationship between statehood and governance outcomes is
not well understood. We use a macro-quantitative approach to analyze state
performance in various governance dimensions including security, health,
education, economic subsistence, infrastructure, and the environment. We test
for the power of statehood in explaining the variation in governance outcomes
while controlling for various other factors prominent in the respective
debates in political science, economics, and development studies. The analysis
yields three interesting results. First, statehood does not have a consistent
significant relationship with governance outcomes. It matters more for some
outcomes than for others. Second, we find that statehood sometimes performs
better at predicting subjective (survey-based) evaluations than at predicting
objective measures of governance outcomes (which confirms the ubiquity of the
normative script). Finally, we find that the degree of domestic female
empowerment performs consistently strong at explaining the variation in
governance outcomes. This result is consistent with the policy communityâs
emphasis on womenâs roles in development
Democracy and representation beyond the nation state
If the EU were to apply for membership of the EU, it would not qualify because of the inadequate democratic content of its constitution. At the same time, a significant proportion of legislative activity in its member states is driven by decisions made in the opaque labyrinth of institutions in far-away Brussels. So, are the member states democratically governed? The picture is similar with respect to other international institutions in the OECD world. The WTO system of agreements, for instance, comprises almost 10,000 pages and is the result of marathon negotiations, lasting over a decade, involving over 150 states and thousands of experts. These agreements contain far-reaching implications for employees in crisis-prone industrial sectors, and in agriculture. To be sure, it was the democratically elected governments that participated in the negotiations. But did citizens really exercise recognisable influence over the decisions? The problem behind these questions is clear. Although security and social welfare, two central aims of governance, can be better achieved with international institutions than without them, the mere existence of international institutions is no guarantee of good governance. Moreover, international institutions now truly exercise power. The rise of dispute settlement bodies, majority decisions rules, improved monitoring schemes, the role of transnational groups in âenforcingâ rules via naming and shaming, and, of course, a body of ius cogens in international law has led to an undermining of the consensus principle of international politics (ZĂŒrn et al. 2007)