A land full of opportunities? Agrarian frontiers,policy narratives and the political economy of peace in Colombia

Abstract

In many post-war countries, the relative security brought to rural areas is construed by government officials and business actors as an opportunity for development. This is particularly true for marginal areas, where opportunities for economic development had previously been hindered by the threat of violence. This provides a favourable context for the construction of commodity frontiers. Through the case of Colombia, I show that one of the main challenges faced by frontier policy narratives amounts to differentiating wartime dispossession from peacetime legitimate accumulation. This poses intractable challenges to policymakers and business actors, as it fuels the contradictions between peace consolidation and post-war development.     

Democracy over power? The democratic decision-making process in the case of the attempted privatization of Estonia's power production

The suspense-filled attempted partial privatization of the Narva Power Plants in the neo-liberal darling Estonia involved a rich cast, from trade unions and local scientists, via Estonian courts and ombudsmen to international consulting firms, major global banks and the US government. More important, a detailed single case study on the democratic decision-making process in this privatization case makes it possible to go beyond common generalizations regarding the consequences of neo-liberalism for democratic processes. It shows that purported proponents of economic neo-liberalism such as the US government sometimes use their arguments to advance the narrow business interests of politically well-connected firms. Established private firms can behave in a more rent-seeking manner than publicly owned, ex-communist companies. Liberal economic principles of open competition and a level playing-field are at times used by actors in the democratic process to question top-down, opaque economic decisions.     

'Public Service', 'Public Management' and the 'Modernization' of French Public Administration

Since the mid-1980s, successive French governments have attempted to 'modernize' the structures and methods of public administration. Although this vocabulary of 'modernization' is distinctly French, many of the actual reforms appear, at first sight, to be based on imported 'new public management' doctrines. In this article, we analyse the recent French reforms and the ideas underpinning them and we attempt to locate these reforms in their comparative context, employing data from a wide range of official reports and secondary sources and from a series of semi-structured interviews with senior officials. We build on the analyses of Hood (1991 and 1995) and Wright (1994) that if many governments are dealing with similar problems by adopting similar approaches to reforms based on private sector man-agement methods, the actual nature of the reforms in any individual state depends on the national context, or 'initial endowment'. In France, the importance of administrative law, the successful experience of nationalized, monopoly, public-service providers in the post-war period, the political weight and established rights of civil servants, and the idea of the 'general interest', represented at the local level by the prefect, explain many of the distinctive features of the hybrid modernization reforms. In short, an analysis of the policy of modernization and its origin leads to conclusions which are highly consistent with new institutional explanations of policy making (Hall 1987)     

Rethinking local political leadership

The changing nature of local political leadership in Britain over the past 25 years has received scant attention from political scientists. This article argues that changes in the roles and functions of local authorities have had a marked impact on the nature of local political leadership. Three phases (operational, transitional and collaborative) are identified and leadership roles are related to changes in the political context of local government. The fundamental tasks of leadership have not changed but what has changed is the balance or relative emphasis between them and the way they have been interpreted. While elected local authorities cannot ignore the implications of the changed external agenda – notably the advent of new forms of executive leadership – the way they respond still bears the mark of the local political culture.     

African biomedical scientists and the promises of “big science”

Abstract

An ongoing genomic revolution in biology has exponentially increased the rate, possibilities, scope and cost of biological research. Infectious disease genomics are often justified by the potential they have to ameliorate Africa’s disease burden. The molecular biology revolution that preceded genomic science widened the gap between the skill sets of many African biologists and their contemporaries elsewhere. Gap closure through genomics and the application of genomic data to health problems requires participation of, and leadership from, African scientists. However, few African scientists participate in genomics, and providing biological samples is their predominant contribution. Health-related applications are emerging from genomic activity for some infectious diseases that are endemic in Africa but not for many others. This article argues that the arrival of next-generation diagnostics, surveillance tools, drugs and vaccines could be accelerated by improving the nature and degree of participation of African scientists in genomic and post-genomic inquiry.     

Pitfalls of power to the people: Decentralization,local government performance,and system support in Bolivia

Across the developing world, many governments have implemented political reforms—heavily promoted by international donors—designed to transfer greater power to subnational levels of government and to provide a more substantial policymaking and oversight role to citizens. Although economic analyses have frequently argued that such decentralization programs improve the efficiency of public expenditures, far less is known about their political impact. Based on an analysis of two large national public-opinion surveys from Bolivia, a country that has recently implemented one of the most comprehensive decentralization reforms yet attempted in Latin America, we analyze the role decentralized local institutions are playing in shaping citizen attitudes toward their political system. Our findings support the contention that decentralization can bolster citizen levels of system support at the national level. Equally important, however, we also demonstrate that the renewed emphasis on local government can have the opposite effect of producingmore negative views of the political system when the performance of local institutions falters. Jonathan T. Hiskey is assistant professor of political science at the Univeristy of California, Riverside. His most recent research focuses on subnational processes of political and economic development taking place across Latin America. Mitchell A. Seligson is Daniel H. Wallace Professor of Political Science, research professor of international studies, and professor in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh. His research centers on surveys of democratic values and behaviors in Latin America.     

PUBLIC SERVICE MODERNIZATION AND TRADE UNION REFORM: TOWARDS MANAGERIAL LED RENEWAL?

It is a curious feature of the debate about the UK Labour government’s modernization agenda that the consequences for trade unions have been almost wholly neglected. Focusing on a case study of UNISON, the public service trade union that is dominant in local government and health, this paper argues that UNISON has emulated key aspects of the modernization agenda, adopting a dual strategy to union renewal. It has attempted to rebuild workplace organization, but has placed strong emphasis on managerial‐led renewal, adopting many components of the target culture. These measures have created tensions within the organization that mirror some of the broader contradictions of the modernization agenda. The paper concludes by considering the implications of these findings for public service union renewal.     

MI 6's Requirements Directorate: Integrating Intelligence into the Machinery of British Central Government

The following article examines the relationship between the British Secret Intelli-gence Service (SIS, a.k.a. MI 6) and the machinery of central government, particularly departments of state and other agencies which employ information generated by the SIS. It is argued the main link between the SIS and its consumers in British government is the SIS's requirements 'side', embodied throughout most of the post-war era in the form of a Requirements Directorate. The article argues that the Requirements mechanism operates as a line of communication between the SIS and its consumers separate from the Cabinet Office Joint Intelligence Organisation (JIO), although there is overlap and interdependency between the two architectures. This discussion traces the development of the 'requirements side' from the interwar period up to the post-Cold War era using information from archival sources and a programme of interviews with former UK intelligence officials. It is further argued that the structure and process of the SIS 'requirements side' has developed and changed as a consequence of changes in the structure of demand in the machinery of British government, including adapting to the increasingly central role of the JIO. However, despite that increasingly central role of the JIO, the 'requirements side' has continued to serve as the first point of contact between the SIS and its customers in Whitehall.     

Local Council Development Areas and Local Service Delivery: How a Fourth-tier Government Unit is Improving Access to Primary Health Care and Education Services in Lagos,Nigeria

ABSTRACT

Emerging accidentally from an array of political and legal contestations is a fourth-tier government unit in Lagos state – Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs). The LCDAs have survived almost two decades of existence without the ’traditional’ monthly federal allocation, which has been the mainstay of the existing 774 LGAs in Nigeria. This study attempts an explanation of this apparent survival by examining the institutional structure of the LCDAs vis-à-vis their service delivery performance. Different from earlier studies that have examined service delivery using final outcomes, the study examines accessibility as an intermediate output; dimensioned as availability, adequacy and affordability. Using a mixed-methods research design, the study shows that Lagos LCDAs’ inclusive operational structure is significantly improving access to primary health care and education services. Thus, the study finds evidence within the operational structure of Lagos LCDAs for Acemoglu and Robinson’s theory of inclusive and extractive institutions.     

Strategic Information System Plans in Nations Around the World

Strategic information systems planning (SISP) literature addresses the importance of measuring both broad externally validated societal measures of organizational outcomes, while at the same time assessing organization specific metrics that speak to an institution’s ability to deliver specific outputs. Accordingly, this article explores literature for strategic management in the public sector, SISP, and digital government and applies a strategic planning framework along with analyzing national SISP plans for information technology or electronic government. The research finds that countries are developing both strategic and operational goals that have managerial and governance implications.     

Local Government Modernization in Germany: Between Incrementalism and Reform Waves

In taking a historical-institutionlist approach, this paper looks at the development of administrative reforms in German local government which, because of the comparatively high degree of political and administrative decentralization of the Federal Republic has played a crucial role in the latter's entire politico-administrative setting and, hence, in its institutional reforms. The paper mainly identifies three stages in the post-war development of administrative reforms. During the 'planning movement' of the late 1960s and early 1970s, Germany's local level government and administration underwent significant and, to a considerable degree, lasting institutional changes. The 1980s were a period of incrementalist adaptation. Since the beginning of the 1990s, conspicuously later than in the Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian countries, but earlier and faster than the federal and the Länder levels, Germany's local government has embarked upon dramatic changes particularly on two scores. First, in a growing number of municipalities and counties, administrative modernization was incorporated under the heading of a 'New Steering Model' (NSM) that largely drew on the dominant international New Public Management (NPM) debate. The dynamics of the ongoing administrative reforms are marked by an 'amalgamation' of NPM/NSM and earlier ('traditional') reform concepts. Secondly, at the same time, the political institutions of local government have under-gone a significant shift as a result of the introduction of direct democratic procedures (direct election of mayors and heads of counties, binding local referenda). The paper argues that it is this co-incidence and co-evolution of administrative and political reforms that make for the peculiarity of Germany's current modernization trajectory, distinguishing it from the Anglo-Saxon and, to a lesser degree, from the Scandinavian modernization paths.     

Reforming government with information technology in South Korea

The South Korean government recently launched 11 major e‐government services after a long period of inter‐ and intra‐ministry politics concerning the allocation of jurisdiction over various e‐government services. This article analyses the politics of e‐government efforts in South Korea. It begins by describing the development of e‐government policy in South Korea for the past two decades, and identifies its four major features as comprehensiveness, fragmentation, the orientation toward operational efficiency and citizen services, and the inclination toward new technological solutions. The article concludes that these features can be attributed to the heavy involvement of the macro political system, its high susceptibility to inputs from experts, and the institutional design of the informatisation subsystem.     

THE EDUCATION OF THE TREASURY: THE MEDIUMTERM FINANCIAL STRATEGY 1980–84

The first Thatcher government introduced an innovatory macro-economic plan – the medium-term financial strategy (MTFs) – in March 1980. It was the most notable example of how the Government sought to change the direction of post-war policy. This article traces the origins and formulation of the strategy, noting that it was Treasury-imposed, and monetarist in orientation. During its implementation however it was substantially modified. The phrase 'pragmatism and continuity' best describes this process. Aspects of macro-economic policy are introduced to develop this theme. There is clear evidence that the Treasury was 'educated' by the problems encountered: the objectives of the MTFS were not uniquely achievable simply because they were deliberately limited in scope. Nevertheless, the strategy has survived as a policy framework and freed from its monetarist dogma remains a useful means of co-ordinating objectives.     

Causes of brain drain and solutions: The Taiwan experience

Over the years, Taiwan has experienced “brain drain”, as more than 80 percent of its students who completed their graduate study in the United States have failed to return. Instead, they have found their ways into the faculties of American colleges and universities or employment opportunities in various research organizations and industries. This article examines brain drain, its origin in Taiwan, and government response. One of the major findings of this study is that the elite emigration in Taiwan has been caused by a host of complex academic, social, economic, and personal factors. Second, Taiwan’s brain drain into the United States is primarily a case of “education and migration.” It is an outflow of college graduates, not an exodus of trained scientists and engineers; therefore, Taiwan’s manpower loss in the short run is not as serious as the case where mature and experienced scientists and professionals leave. Furthermore, whereas a large number of college graduates leave each year to study abroad, a much larger number of the graduating class does remain in Taiwan. To reverse Taiwan’s brain drain, the government of the Republic of China (ROC) has already implemented an ambitious program to recruit Taiwan’s highly trained talents from overseas. Taiwan’s successful experience could be emulated by other developing countries. Shirley L. Chang received her B.A. in Foreign Languages and Literature from National Taiwan University, Master of Library Science from Columbia University, and M.A. in Higher Education from The Pennsylvania State University. She is Chairman of the Department of Library Services and Catalog/Reference Librarian at Stevenson Library, Lock Haven University, Lock Haven, PA 17745.     

THE POVERTY OF SCIENCE: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL POLICY UNDER MRS THATCHER

The present government's policy for publicly funded science, which centres on selectivity and centralization, could damage Britain's capacity to innovate. The policy follows from a desire by government to control the scientific community and from the advice of some scientists and science policy experts. This paper details the contradictions in the government's thinking on industrial and scientific questions, and challenges the central, and usually unexamined, assumptions which are used to justify existing policy for science.     

After the War was over: The civilian return to Leningrad

This article focuses on the civilian return to Leningrad after the end of the Blockade and in the immediate post-war period. It examines how the authorities tried to control movement back to the city but proved to be overwhelmed by vast numbers of civilians returning with or without permission. It describes post-war living conditions, explores the official historical narrative of resilience and recovery, and provides a critique of the alternative historical narrative that claimed there was no post-war ‘return to normalcy’ and that Leningrad became a different city after the war.     

Joining it up? Health and Wellbeing Boards in English Local Governance: Evidence from Clinical Commissioning Groups and Shadow Health and Wellbeing Boards

Statutory responsibility for health care and social care has long been separated between National Health Service (NHS) bodies and local government authorities. Repeated policy attempts to promote service integration through collaboration between such authorities have achieved little. The latest of such policy interventions are the Health and Wellbeing Boards (HWBs) established by the 2012 Health and Social Care Act (HSCA) alongside a range of other organisational innovations, including Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs). These organisations await full legal and operational status but have begun to develop structures and processes. HWBs are intended to lead the integrated assessment of local needs to inform both NHS health and local authority social care commissioners. We undertook detailed qualitative case studies in eight CCGs during 2011–2012 and here report observational and interview data related to CCGs’ perspectives and observations of early HWB developments. We found that developing HWBs vary greatly in their structure and approach, but we also identified a number of significant issues that are familiar from earlier research into health and social care integration. These include heavy dependence on voluntary agreements to align the strategic plans of the many different new statutory bodies; a significant role for mundane organisational processes in determining the extent of effective co-operation; and problems arising from factors such as size and the arrangements of local boundaries.     

GOVERNMENT: A SUITABLE CASE FOR TREATMENT?

Government – its institutions, its working, its constitutional controls – is hugely important, not just as a subject of gossip or history in the making but as a discipline. Rod Rhodes' achievement in pioneering new ways of mapping and analysing developments inside government from the inside, and in coordinating so many different academic studies, was a remarkable model of the sort of research into government that can be, and needs to be, done by universities, not least as a basis for training future practitioners. The Whitehall Programme showed what can be done.     

Enforcing Stalinist Discipline in the Early Years of Post-war Reconstruction in the USSR, 1945–1948

A distinctive approach to disciplining the Soviet population emerged following the Terror of 1937–1938, and as a consequence of World War II, around the notion of socio-political and socio-economic ‘organisation’. The early post-war years as a consequence saw the introduction of innovative means of social disciplining in all areas of Soviet society. The infamous attack on the post-war intelligentsia, in particular, resulted from Stalin’s belief that only through the intelligentsia’s correct ‘leadership’ of this socio-economic ‘organisation’ would the Soviet Union be able to meet its challenges of reconstruction and superpower consolidation. This post-Terror and post-war phase in Stalinism marked a lasting turn, which consolidated the authoritarian socio-political dynamics evident in the later post-Stalin Soviet system.