The influence of business associations on legislation: The case of Kenya

Interest groups seek to influence public policy. Business associations specifically seek to influence policy related to the environment in which their members operate, with the intention of making it easier for the members, and the wider private sector, to “do business.” Scholars question whether interest groups are influential and, if so, the degree to which their activity influences public policy. Even if they do influence public policy at the margins, it is questionable how effective they are in influencing legislation. As a result, there is little exploration of the factors that may determine whether business membership organizations (BMOs) are likely to be successful. This paper explores the efforts of two BMOs in Kenya to influence legislation: In one case, the BMO persuaded the government to introduce legislation to regulate an activity that had previously not been subject to legislation; in the other, a BMO sought to persuade the government to amend its own proposals to replace existing legislation with new legislation. In both cases, we find evidence that the BMO was successful, though one BMO was significantly more successful than the other. We review the factors perceived by the BMOs to have led to their success. Neither was in a position to rely on economic or other power to strong‐arm the government. Both followed a predominantly insider strategy though with occasional media back‐up. Both were successful on the more “technical” issues. Key factors include the use of a champion, engaging across government, supplying information, and providing evidence and good argumentation.     

Critical success factors for modernising public financial management information systems in Bosnia and Herzegovina

This article identifies a number of critical factors that have contributed to the successful implementation of a public financial management information system in the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). The information system, funded by USAID and implemented by Emerging Markets Group from 1999 to 2004, has revolutionised accounting practices and has contributed to a more transparent and effective public sector. This article describes the project's context and purpose, its main features, challenges and obstacles. It continues by outlining the critical success factors that have contributed to the success of the project in a challenging environment. The project was implemented in a rather unique environment since it was initiated not long after the end of the civil war and the creation of the Republic of BiH. The Republic of BiH inherited the former socialist Yugoslavian payment systems. There were no adequate public financial management systems in place, and the project team could essentially start from scratch. The project team designed and implemented an accrual accounting system, and unlike the situation in many countries, relieved the government from having to transform their financial management system from cash‐based accounting to accrual accounting. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Decentralized planning in Kenya

In 1983 the Government of Kenya embarked on an accelerated programme of decentralization known as ‘District Focus’. This exercise in devolution is aimed at promoting more effective and efficient use of scarce domestic resources through efforts to strengthen planning capacity at the district level, improve horizontal integration among operating ministry field agents, and expand authority to district heads of operating ministries for managing financial and procurement aspects of local project implementation. Given the importance of this initiative to the economic growth of Kenya and the current search for administrative reforms that could help accelerate rural development in Africa, District Focus merits close attention by development experts. This article reviews the historical background, content, and implementation progress of District Focus.     

Identification of critical success factors for public–private partnership projects

Public–private partnership (PPP) is one of the popular mechanisms for the development of infrastructure worldwide; governments across the globe are engaged in discovering a range of PPP policies and strategies for growth of infrastructure. The growth of infrastructure is imperative of the sustainable development of an economy. Therefore, it is pertinent to identify key success factors for the development of infrastructure through PPP model. The current paper aims to explore significant factors for successful execution and completion of PPP projects in infrastructure. A total of 517 employees who had hand‐on experience on PPP projects located in India were interviewed through a structured questionnaire. Exploratory factor analysis yielded 14 components as a significant factor for the success of PPP in infrastructure. This study highlights that the development of infrastructure would be rapid through PPP if government considers these factors in the implementation phase.     

Fertile soil: explaining variation in the success of Green parties

Comparative political science has largely ignored the marked cross-national variation in Green party electoral performance. This article uses a unique aggregate dataset of 347 parliamentary elections from 32 countries over the course of 45 years to test competing theories about the causes of Green party success. The findings show that voter demand, institutions and mainstream party strategy all affect the Green vote. Green parties do well in societies with post-materialist conflicts caused by high levels of wealth or the presence of a tangible environmental dispute. The article also shows that regional decentralisation helps Green parties, but electoral systems have little effect on their vote share. Most importantly, it demonstrates that the impact of mainstream party strategy on Green electoral strength is dependent on the age of the Green party. While mainstream parties can undermine young Green parties by adopting the environmental issue, this effect is reversed once the Greens have survived a number of elections. Thus ‘accommodative’ mainstream party strategies eventually boost the Green vote by increasing the salience of the key Green issue.     

Foam architecture: managing co-isolated associations

Abstract

This article analyses Peter Sloterdijk's grand trilogy on spheres which re-conceptualizes our being-together and its spatial conditions. After a brief outline of the main objectives of sphereology, I analyse the notion of foam which, Sloterdijk argues, should replace the concept of society. I here explore the sociological theories that form the backdrop to Sloterdijk's idea of foam sociality, in particular Gabriel Tarde's monadological sociology of imitation but also the vitalist impulse that is central to the immunology of the foam theory, and which Sloterdijk inherits from Hermann Broch. The following section examines one of the important contributions of the foam theory, namely, its explicit engagement with architecture. In the final part, I offer a foam-theoretical interpretation of environmental crime prevention. This case study brings together foam theory, immunology and the focus on architecture.     

Computerizing Accounting Systems in Developing Bureaucracies: Lessons from Kenya

Kenya's agriculture ministries are reforming their accounting systems and the reform includes computerization. This article examines the impact of computers on accounts and the lessons that can be drawn from Kenya about building computerized accounting systems.
Four propositions emerge about the impact of computers on the accounting systems. First and surprisingly, the initial impact of computers is indirect. Their primary impact is to strengthen the manual accounts which the ministries continue to rely upon. Second, computers promote effectiveness reforms by changing procedures, rather than efficiency reforms by accelerating the throughput of data with existing procedures. Third, computers do not initially promote document processing but do improve data processing. Fourth, computers do promote rudimentary analysis.
One conclusion from the Kenya case is that modular implementation of computerized accounting is helpful. Implementing modules rather than an integrated system means that accounting reforms can begin without waiting for lengthy procedural reforms. Modular implementation also facilitates agency involvement in the design of the system.     

Organising for mutual advantage: municipal associations in Bulgaria

Networks of local government support organisations (LGSOs) are critical to successful intergovernmental relations and effective local governance in democratic societies. Bulgaria had no such network of municipal associations when it began the transition from communist rule in the early 1990s. Using US and other external technical assistance, Bulgaria over the next decade overcame the impediments to collective action and established what appears to be an effective and sustainable system to back up its cities and towns. Important factors in mobilising support included a long‐term focus on institutional development, non‐partisanship, flexibility in implementation and a pragmatic orientation that focused on learning by doing. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Conflict and rent-seeking success functions: Ratio vs. difference models of relative success

The rent-seeking competitions studied by economists fall within a much broader category of conflict interactions that also includes military combats, election campaigns, industrial disputes, lawsuits, and sibling rivalries. In the rent-seeking literature, each party's success p_i (which can be interpreted either as the probability of victory or as the proportion of the prize won) has usually been taken to be a function of the ratio of the respective resource commitments. Alternatively, however, p_i may instead be a function of the difference between the parties' commitments to the contest. The Contest Success Function (CSF) for the difference from is a logistic curve in which, as is consistent with military experience, increasing returns apply up to an inflection point at equal resource commitments. A crucial flaw of the traditional ratio model is that neither onesided submission nor two-sided peace between the parties can ever occur as a Cournot equilibrium. In contrast, both of these outcomes are entirely consistent with a model in which success is a function of the difference between the parties' resource commitments.In preparing successive drafts of this paper I have benefited from suggestions and comments from Michele Boldrin, Avinash Dixit, Arye L. Hillman, David Hirshleifer, Eric S. Maskin, David Levine, Eric Rasmusen, John G. Riley, Russell Roberts, and Leo K. Simon.