The agricultural crisis in Egypt

The paper probes the historical origins of and current responses to the agricultural problems of Egypt. Much of the difficulty stems from the fact that the class structure, the distribution of resources, and the social bases of both Nasser's and Sadat's regime have blocked either the mobilization of the peasantry on the one hand or the provision of decentralized incentives on the other. After a brief assessment of Nasser's land reforms, price policies, and investment strategy, the current responses of changing crop patterns and mechanization are assessed. Such a strategy seems unlikely to succeed, but no other obvious alternative strategy is at hand.     

Book reviews

Slums of Hope: shanty towns of the Third World. Peter Lloyd, Harmondsworth, England: Penguin. 1979. 246 pp. £1.25 pb.

Agrarian Revolution: social movements and export agriculture in the underdeveloped world. Jeffery M Paige, London: Collier Macmillan. 1978. 435pp. £5.25 pb.

Population and Development: high and low fertility in poorer countries. Edited by Geoffrey Hawthorn, London: Frank Cass. 1978. 210pp. £11.00.

Theory of International Politics. Kenneth N Waltz, Reading: Addison‐Wesley. 1979.304 pp. £2.50.

The Commonwealth Office 1925–68. Joe Garner, London: Heinemann. 1978. 478 pp. £19.50.

Commodity Conflict: the political economy of international commodity negotiations. L N Rangarajan, London: Croom Helm. 1978. 390 pp. £12.95.

Global Fracture: the new international economic order. Michael Hudson, New York: Harper &; Row. 1977. 296 pp. £12.50

The Evolution of the International Economic Order. W Arthur Lewis, Princeton University Press. 1978. 81 pp. £5.00

The Newly Industrialising Countries and the Adjustment Problem. Foreign and Commonwealth Office, London: FCO. 1979. 96 pp.

Nuclear Weapons and World Politics: alternatives for the future. David C Gombert et al, New York: McGraw Hill. 1977. 370 pp. £5.20 pb.

Poverty, Wealth of Mankind. Albert T Tévoèdjrè, Oxford: Pergamon. 1979. 200 pp. £10.00. £5.00 pb.

Hosts and Guests: an anthropology of tourism. Edited by Valene L Smith, Oxford: Blackwell. 1978. 254 pp. £8.00.

Taxation and Economic Development: twelve critical studies. Edited by J F J Toye, London: Frank Cass. 1978. 299pp. £11.50.

The OPEC Market to 1985. Farid Abolfathi et al. Lexington, Massachusetts: Lexington Books (distributed in the UK by Teakfield). 1977. 406 pp. £15.00.

Mosquitoes, Malaria and Man: a history of the hostilities since 1880. Gordon Harrison, London: John Murray. 1978. 314pp. £8.50.

Minerals in African Undervelopment. S A Ochola, London: Bogle‐L'Ouverture. 1975. 148 pp. £5.00. £1.50 pb.

Mineral Economics and Basic Industries in Asia. K P Wang and E Chin, Boulder, Colorado: Westview (distributed in the UK by Ernest Benn). 1978. 358 pp. £16.10.

International Resource Flows. Edited by G and L A Garvey, Lexington, Massachusetts: D C Heath (distributed in the UK by Teakfield). 1977. 202 pp. £13.75.

How Europe Underdeveloped Africa. Walter Rodney, London: Bogle‐L'Ouverture Publications. 1972. 316 pp. £0.65 pb.

Britain, the EEC and the Developing World. Matthew McQueen, London: Heinemann Educational. 1977. 115 pp. £1.25 pb.

African History. P Curtin, S Feierman, L Thompson, and J Vansina, London: Longman. 1978. 612pp. £9.75.

African Historical Studies. E A Ayandele, London: Frank Cass. 1979. 314pp. £12.00.

Nigerian Historical Studies. E A Ayandele, London: Frank Cass. 1979. 305pp. £12.00.

West African Resistance: the military response to colonial occupation. Edited by Michael Crowder, London: Hutchinson. 1978. 314pp. £3.75.

The Population of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Simeon Ominde, Nairobi, Kenya: Heinemann Educational. 1975. 124 pp. £2.50

The Widening Gulf: Asian nationalism and American policy. Selig S Harrison, New York: The Free Press. 1978. 468 pp. $15.95.

US Strategy in the Indian Ocean: the international response. Monoranjan Bezboruah, London: Praeger. 1977. 268 pp. £12.50.

Zionism and the Palestinians. Simha Flapan, London: Croom Helm. 1979. 361 pp. £11.95.

The Trading World of Asia and the English East India Company 1660–1760. K N Chaudhuri, Cambridge University Press. 1978. 629 pp. £37.50.

A Shaft of Sunlight. Philip Mason, New Delhi: Vikas. 1978. 240 pp.

Bhutan: the dragon kingdom in crisis. Nari Rustomji, Delhi: Oxford University Press. 1978. 150pp. £4.50.

Sons of the Soil: migration and ethnic conflict in India. Myron Weiner, Princeton University Press. 1978. 383 pp.

Energy and Economic Development in India. R K Pachauri, New York: Praeger. 1977. 185 pp. £14.00.

Frogs in a Well: Indian women in purdah. Patricia Jeffery, London: Zed Press. 1979. 187 pp. £7.50. £2.95 pb.

Land and Power in South America. Sven Lindqvist, Harmondsworth, England: Penguin. 1978. 333 pp. £2.25 pb.     

Improving NGO governance: practical applications of the GATE approach

Non-governmental organisations face increasing demands to be accountable and transparent. Both need sound and timely evidence. Ensuring that these demands are satisfied is a key responsibility of governance, but fulfilling this requirement is a frequent weakness. A comprehensive approach to self-analysis – known as GATE – can make governing bodies more effective by better leadership of organisational responses to such demands. GATE works by: (1) making common sense connections to visualise the links between internal operations and generation of results, reputation, and resources, which makes complexity understandable and manageable; and (2) using a question-based ‘alignment’ resource to guide discussion and decision-making.

Améliorer la gouvernance des ONG: les applications pratiques de l'approche GATE

Les organisations non gouvernementales sont soumises à des exigences croissantes de redevabilité et de transparence. L'une et l'autre nécessitent des données concrètes solides et opportunes. Les efforts pour faire en sorte que ces exigences soient satisfaites constituent une responsabilité clé de la gouvernance, mais la satisfaction de cette exigence représente un point faible fréquent. Une approche complète de l'auto-analyse – connue sous l'acronyme GATE - peut rendre les organes responsables plus efficaces en dirigeant plus efficacement les réactions organisationnelles à ces exigences. GATE fonctionne : (1) en établissant des connexions sensées pour visualiser les liens entre les opérations internes et la génération de résultats, la réputation et les ressources, ce qui rend la complexité compréhensible et gérable ; et (2) en utilisant une ressource d’« alignement » basée sur des questions pour orienter la discussion et la prise de décisions.

Mejorar la gobernanza de las ONG: las aplicaciones prácticas del enfoque GATE

Cada vez más frecuentemente, las organizaciones no gubernamentales enfrentan demandas vinculadas a su rendición de cuentas y a su transparencia. Ambos aspectos requieren de información fidedigna y oportuna. Cumplir con estas demandas representa un aspecto importante de la gestión de las organizaciones. Sin embargo, a menudo, éstas presentan debilidades en este sentido. El presente artículo, hace referencia a la implementación de una metodología integral para el autoanálisis, conocida como GATE. La misma propicia el aumento en la eficacia de la gestión de estas organizaciones, mediante un mejor liderazgo a la hora de responder a estas demandas. GATE funciona: (1) generando vinculaciones de sentido común que permiten visualizar las conexiones entre la gestión interna y la generación de resultados, la reputación y los recursos, ante lo cual, lo complejo se vuelve comprensible y más manejable; y (2) utilizando un recurso de “alineamiento”, basado en preguntas, que orienta la discusión y la toma de decisiones.

Melhorar a ONG governança: aplicações práticas da abordagem GATE

Organizações Não-Governamentais enfrentam exigências cada vez maiores para serem responsáveis e transparentes. Para ambas exigências, são necessárias evidências confiáveis e oportunas. Garantir que estas exigências sejam satisfeitas é uma responsabilidade-chave de governança, mas cumprir esta exigência é frequentemente difícil. Uma abordagem abrangente para auto-análise – conhecida como GATE – pode tornar os órgãos governantes mais efetivos através de uma melhor coordenação de respostas organizacionais para tais demandas. A GATE trabalha: (1) fazendo conexões de senso comum para visualizar as ligações entre operações internas e geração de resultados, reputação e recursos, o que torna a complexidade compreensível e gerenciável e (2) utilizando um recurso de “alinhamento” baseado em questões para orientar a discussão e a tomada de decisões.     

Joint care and joint funding

One of the most important possible sources of conflict of interest between central and local governments is difference in political preferences with respect to, for example, income redistribution. If local governments are of a different political composition than the central government, they may be inclined to reinforce or weaken the redistribution policies as pursued by the central government. We empirically test whether local governments in the Netherlands do pursue income redistribution policies over and above the central government's redistribution policy and we find that the distribution of the local tax burden over the various household types differs according to the political composition of the local council.     

Europe and local government

The Care in the Community initiative has resulted in a renewed interest in collaboration between local and health authorities. The focus of such collaboration is commonly on the transfer of long‐stay patients from psychiatric and mental handicap hospitals that are due to close, though the extent of local authority involvement in closure programmes varies considerably.

Joint planning typically involves a number of local authority departments: social services, housing, chief executives’ offices and legal services. It sometimes also involves education, recreation and leisure departments. Joint planning can be very time‐consuming and can call for considerable effort. It frequently gives rise to a good deal of conflict between the participating agencies. The pay‐offs, on the other hand, often appear to be small. Such plans as are finally implemented tend to be small‐scale: attempts at broader strategic planning almost invariably come to grief. The question then has to be asked, whether joint planning is worth all the effort. In the end, the primary justification for such planning has to lie in its ability to produce more appropriate services for service‐users.

This paper examines one local authority's experience of joint planning in relation to the closure of a large psychiatric hospital. Despite several setbacks, joint plans were eventually agreed and a number of former long‐stay patients were able to move into the community. The paper considers both the achievements and the shortcomings of the authority's collaboration with the health service.