Regulatory Impact Assessment: How political and organizational forces influence its diffusion in a developing country

Regulatory Impact Assessments (RIAs) are being diffused progressively throughout the world following the recommendations of international organizations. Research has shown that the diffusion of RIA has not produced convergence in actual practices, particularly in developing countries, due to political forces at work in domestic contexts or the available organizational capacities. The Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) has recently recommended that the Brazilian federal government adopt RIA. This article evaluates how contextual variables, specifically political and organizational ones, influence RIA adoption in Brazil. It is based on field research consisting of semi‐structured interviews with the main stakeholders of the Brazilian regulatory framework. The research explored RIA concept familiarity among stakeholders, the bureaucratic context, the policy process, pivotal stakeholders' standpoints in adopting RIA, and available organizational capacities. Contrary to previous studies in developing countries, the research reveals that strong organizational capacities are not a sufficient factor for successful diffusion of RIA, because political variables can influence divergence among agencies in future RIA practices.     

Engaging with the self-captive nation: Albania in the US official documents from 1945 to 1980

This paper aims to analyse US policy towards Albania during the cold war, as a case that illustrates Washington’s approach towards individual Communist countries in Eastern Europe in the light of the grand contest between the antagonist superpowers. This analysis is based almost exclusively on published US archival documents related to Albania from 1945 to 1980. This analysis underlines that in the American perception, the geopolitical importance of each Communist country was intrinsically linked with its position vis-à-vis the Soviet Union. Albania was no exception, despite the rigid Communist dogma it vigorously pursued.     

THE “INVASION” OF MANUFACTURED CIVIL SOCIETY: GOVERNMENT–NONPROFIT PARTNERSHIPS IN A BRAZILIAN STATE

The growth of the nonprofit sector in Brazil has been conceptually similar to that of the Anglo‐Saxon Third Way, where the government promotes the creation of partnerships with civil society. This process has been criticized for creating a “manufactured civil society”. This study will investigate whether the same pattern can be observed in the Brazilian context, particularly within the Management Shock Reform implemented by Minas Gerais, one of the principal Brazilian states. Management Shock is guided by a governmental partnership discourse that promotes contractual partnerships with both businesses and nonprofits. We opted for a bottom‐up oriented research approach, aiming to comprehend the rationale for initiating and sustaining the partnerships revealed in the narratives that emerged from both government and nonprofit partners. Data were collected through semistructured interviews and content analysis of documents and the media. Results show the predominance of agency‐type partnerships, highlighting the centrality of the government and its techno‐bureaucratic role in fostering and maintaining Organização da Sociedade Civil de Interesse Público or Civil Society Organization of Public Interest designs. Differing from the Anglo‐Saxon context, we observed the “invasion” of market‐driven values in nonprofits and, to some extent, in government narratives. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.