The World Bank as a norm-broker : knowledge, funds and power in governance reforms in Argentina

This study explores the role of the World Bank in the promotion of two governance reforms in Argentina, judicial reform and anti-corruption policies. It argues that when the World Bank is able to draw on both its financial and knowledge power to build and consolidate 'pro-reform networks' with local actors it is more likely to ensure the implementation of governance reforms in its client countries. This argument is built on the premise that whatever the leverage of the World Bank as a financial institution or as a Knowledge Bank, and despite this leverage, it cannot implement programmes by itself in developing countries. A loan and its conditions may be negotiated and approved with government officials, yet the materialisation of projects into policies and institutions is embedded in complex policy process in which the interplay between Bank staff and local actors (beyond government officials) can favour or inhibit policy change. In this context, it is argued that the dominance of a particular actor or paradigm vis-a-vis other contending actors or ideas is not reinforced simply by the coercive position of the lender over the borrower, but rather by its capacity to integrate contesting impulses into broader consensus for policy change. In this capacity, the World Bank is defined as a 'normbroker'. Through a framework that combines critical perspectives in International Political Economy and institutional analysis, this thesis explores different patterns of intervention of World Bank units that acted either as a mere 'conveyor' in the transfer of funds and knowledge or as a 'broker' by integrating the normative agenda grounded in Bank's knowledge with country-based knowledge for the design, negotiation and implementation of governance reforms in Argentina. The theoretical and empirical study of judicial reform and anti-corruption in Argentina contribute to the understanding of reform implementation in which the Bank only succeeds in achieving effective institutionalisation when it engages with local actors, in particular with local experts, in pro-reform networks. By analysing different patterns of involvement of Bank units, this thesis also identifies knowledge/policy dynamics as a critical aspect of policy-making. From this perspective, this thesis departs from traditional studies that focus on one-way coercive leverage of lending institutions and offers a critical approach to the analysis of power, knowledge and policy change in developing countries. It also sheds light on the complexities of international organisations as they expand their roles towards new areas of involvement that fall into the domain of domestic policy-making

The World Bank as a norm-broker : knowledge, funds and power in governance reforms in Argentina

This study explores the role of the World Bank in the promotion of two governance reforms in Argentina, judicial reform and anti-corruption policies. It argues that when the World Bank is able to draw on both its financial and knowledge power to build and consolidate 'pro-reform networks' with local actors it is more likely to ensure the implementation of governance reforms in its client countries. This argument is built on the premise that whatever the leverage of the World Bank as a financial institution or as a Knowledge Bank, and despite this leverage, it cannot implement programmes by itself in developing countries. A loan and its conditions may be negotiated and approved with government officials, yet the materialisation of projects into policies and institutions is embedded in complex policy process in which the interplay between Bank staff and local actors (beyond government officials) can favour or inhibit policy change. In this context, it is argued that the dominance of a particular actor or paradigm vis-a-vis other contending actors or ideas is not reinforced simply by the coercive position of the lender over the borrower, but rather by its capacity to integrate contesting impulses into broader consensus for policy change. In this capacity, the World Bank is defined as a 'normbroker'. Through a framework that combines critical perspectives in International Political Economy and institutional analysis, this thesis explores different patterns of intervention of World Bank units that acted either as a mere 'conveyor' in the transfer of funds and knowledge or as a 'broker' by integrating the normative agenda grounded in Bank's knowledge with country-based knowledge for the design, negotiation and implementation of governance reforms in Argentina. The theoretical and empirical study of judicial reform and anti-corruption in Argentina contribute to the understanding of reform implementation in which the Bank only succeeds in achieving effective institutionalisation when it engages with local actors, in particular with local experts, in pro-reform networks. By analysing different patterns of involvement of Bank units, this thesis also identifies knowledge/policy dynamics as a critical aspect of policy-making. From this perspective, this thesis departs from traditional studies that focus on one-way coercive leverage of lending institutions and offers a critical approach to the analysis of power, knowledge and policy change in developing countries. It also sheds light on the complexities of international organisations as they expand their roles towards new areas of involvement that fall into the domain of domestic policy-making.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceUniversity of WarwickGBUnited Kingdo

Measuring the Progress and Success of Regional Health Policies: PRARI Toolkit of Indicators for the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR)

PRARI is a social development research project that looks at world-regional social governance, politics, and policy. PRARI brings together an international team of researchers studying the scope for enhancing the effectiveness of the contributions of Southern regional organisations to poverty reduction. It receives funding from the ESRC

Regionalism and health policy in South America : tackling germs, brokering norms and contesting power

Since the creation of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), health became a strategic driver in regional politics in South America in two ways: by redefining trans-border practices through health policies and institutions within the region; and by projecting (regional) health policies through global interventions. The paper explores these dynamics in relation to UNASUR’s policies towards access to medicine, inclusion, and demands for better governance at the World Health Organisation. It argues that regional organisations like UANSUR are significant actors in on-going attempts to address and mitigate trans-border social harms, contributing with innovative regulatory frameworks and different mechanisms of socialisation and engagement that can significant impact national policy making and management in health. But it is also argued that the significance of regional health governance as promoted by UNASUR has to be seen not only as a framework for the promotion of ‘regulatory regionalism’ (Hameiri and Jayasuriya 2009) in public health, but also for ‘regional health diplomacy’ brokering new norms and revising the terms of global health governance. This analysis hopes to contribute directly to the literature in IPE and regionalism by offering a more nuanced discussion about the links between regionalism and social policy, and new forms of regional diplomacy beyond traditional goals of trade and financial markets expansion

Coronavirus y el desafío para la gobernanza regional en América Latina

El trabajo presenta un análisis de las perspectivas del regionalismo sudamericano en términos de salud pública, sus rasgos definitorios como diplomacia regional —que afectan a la política nacional y global de la salud—, y los desafíos de cara a la gestión del coronavirus. A continuación, se ofrece un análisis crítico sobre las respuestas de los gobiernos ante la crisis desatada por la pandemia. Finalmente, se reflexiona sobre las oportunidades que la crisis podría generar para reconstruir una gobernanza regional en salud

Reconstructing regionalism: What does development have to do with it?

Is Latin America facing a “Polanyian” moment of compensation for market excess or is it part of a “revolution in the making?" This question is at the core of this chapter. The route to answer it, we propose, is to make a distinction between moderate regionalism based on resilient models conceived by the “open regionalism” that prevailed during the 1990s and more radical models of socialist integration. By looking at the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA) and the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) we argue that UNASUR and ALBA must not simply be seen as ad hoc subregional responses to the many crises of neoliberalism and the collapse of US-led hemispheric leadership but rather as visible manifestation of a repoliticization of the region giving birth to new polities in which citizens, social movements, political parties, and leaders interact and construct new understandings of social development and autonomy. Theoretically, we hope to challenge New Regionalist approaches that have usefully embraced issues beyond mainstream European Union (EU) studies (in particular the links between the regional, the international, and the local), yet had assumed regionalism as taking place within and modelled by neoliberal economics. Although there is undisputable agreement that regionalism is driven by economic calculations, we claim that UNASUR and ALBA relink the political and social dimensions to define post-neoliberal integration objectives.</p