Geske Dijkstra

Governance and the democratic deficit: Assessing the democratic legitimacy of governance practices

Contents: Theoretical Framework: Governance and the democratic deficit: introduction, Victor Bekkers, Geske Dijkstra, Arthur Edwards and Menno Fenger The Governance Concept in Public Administration, Menno Fenger and Victor Bekkers Legitimacy and Democracy: a Conceptual Framework for Assessing Governance Practices, Victor Bekkers and Arthur Edwards The idea of democracy in the 18th century, Koen Stapelbroek. Governance at a Distance and Market Governance: Governance, Democracy and the European Modernization Agenda: a Comparison of Different Policy Initiatives, Victor Bekkers, Menno Fenger and Evelien Korteland Police, policing and governance in The Netherlands and in the United Kingdom, Arie van Sluis and Lex Cachet The Accountability of Professionals in Social Policy: or Why Governance is Multi-Focal and Democracy is Multi-Local, Peter Hupe and Michael Hill. Network Governance and Societal Self-Governance: The legitimacy of the Rotterdam integrated public safety program, Peter Marks Embedding Deliberative Democracy: Local Environmental Forums in The Netherlands and the United States, Arthur Edwards The Limits of Donor-Induced Participation: an Analysis of a Participatory Development Program in Mozambique, Geske Dijkstra and Lieve Lodewyckx. Multi-Level Governance: Democratic Legitimacy of Inter-Municipal and Regional Governance, Jose Manuel Ruano de la Fuente and Linze Schaap Democratic legitimacy of economic governance: the case of the European and Monetary Union, Frans van Nispen and Johan Posseth The OMC and the quest for democratic legitimization: the case of the European employment strategy, Patty Zandstra Supranational governance and the challenge of democracy: the IMF and the World Bank, Geske Dijkstra. Conclusions: Governance and the democratic deficit: an evaluation, Victor Bekkers, Geske Dijkstra, Arthur Edwards and Menno Fenger. Index.

Governance or Poverty Reduction? Assessing Budget Support in Nicaragua

Abstract General Budget Support (GBS) is assumed to lead to more effective poverty reduction through non-earmarking of the money and through recipient country ownership. A second and more hidden objective of GBS, however, is to influence policies and governance of recipient countries. This article develops an evaluation framework that takes the tensions between these two objectives into account. It then assesses the results of GBS in Nicaragua under two administrations. It concludes that for most donors, the aim of improving governance was more important than poverty reduction, in both government periods, thus reducing the effect of GBS on poverty reduction. In addition, donor influence on governance was limited.

The new aid paradigm: A case of policy incoherence

From around 2000 onwards, donors and recipient governments embarked upon a new aid paradigm. The most important elements include increased selectivity in the aid allocation, more ownership of recipient countries based on nationally elaborated Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs), and more donor alignment and harmonization via programme-based approaches such as budget support. The paper assesses the theoretical merits of this new paradigm, identifying some contradictions and limitations, and then examines its implementation over the past decade and its results. The empirical literature largely confirms the earlier identified weaknesses and limitations. The paper concludes with some suggestions for improving aid practices.

Challenges in evaluating budget support and how to solve them

While there are well-tested methods for evaluating projects, it is much more difficult to evaluate budget support with the same rigour. This article outlines the challenges of evaluating budget support. In addition to applying a rigorous counterfactual for assessing impact, we argue that there are three other challenges, mainly caused by the ambiguities in the theory and practice of budget support. We then present a typology of different approaches for evaluating budget support based on two dichotomies: ‘qualitative versus quantitative’ and ‘country case study versus cross-country research’. Discussing the strengths and weaknesses of each, we show that an eclectic combination of the different methods can successfully solve the challenges.

Export Promotion in Costa Rica

Costa Rica is a relatively rich Central American country. It is also one of the smallest countries in the region, both in land area and in market size. Foreign trade and aid are therefore of prime importance to the economy. The country had experienced high growth rates of GOP after the Second World War, at an average 6 per cent per year between 1965 and 1980. This growth was based on exports of traditional goods such as coffee, sugar, meat and bananas. Manufacturing industry was built up in this period and expanded rapidly. It benefited from an expanding domestic market, from state subsidies, and from a high effective rate of protection as a member country of CACM.

Climate variability and vulnerability to poverty in Nicaragua

ABSTRACT This study considers the effect of climate variability on vulnerability to poverty in Nicaragua. It discusses how such vulnerability could be measured and which heterogeneous effects can be expected. A multilevel empirical framework is applied, linking per capita consumption to household, regional and climate characteristics. Results confirm a negative effect of climate variability on consumption per capita of Nicaraguan households. This suggests the need for stronger public policies and more resources in order to adapt to the effect of climate change. Furthermore, the poverty reduction attainments reached since the 1990s could be jeopardized if this vulnerability persists.

Public accountability and the Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability tool: an assessment

Since 2005, the Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability tool has been widely used in developing countries and emerging economies to evaluate the performance of public financial management systems. In this article, we assess the strengths and weaknesses of the Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability instrument tool for evaluating public financial accountability. We examine the theoretical literature on public accountability in order to derive a suitable normative framework to assess the Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability tool. However, given that this literature is based on experiences in developed countries, we must extend it to also take into account the political cultures and practices in developing countries. Using this extended framework, we assess the Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability indicators related to, in particular, parliamentary committees for financial oversight and Supreme Audit Institutions. We conclude that the Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability tool could devote more attention to the independence of Supreme Audit Institutions, the nature of accountability debates, democratic inclusion and horizontal accountability mechanisms Points for practitioners The Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability tool has been applied in more than 116 countries and its reports offer valuable information for practitioners and researchers around the world. It is the only publicly available data set that measures the performance of financial committees of parliament and Supreme Audit Institutions. The strengths and weaknesses revealed in this article should be taken into account when using the Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability tool for research or for evaluating the quality of financial accountability systems in particular countries. The international financial institutions and donor agencies governing the Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability Secretariat can use the recommendations of this article to further improve the framework.

Aid and good governance: Examining aggregate unintended effects of aid

Although donors generally aim to improve governance in recipient countries by various means, critics claim that the aggregate effect of large aid flows is the deterioration of governance. Aid is said to weaken domestic accountability, sustain authoritarian regimes, increase political instability, weaken government capacities, and increase corruption. Conducting a systematic search in Web of Science, this paper reviews the empirical evidence for these unintended aggregate effects of aid on the political, administrative, and judicial dimensions of good governance. It finds that the negative effects of aid on governance are much exaggerated. The aggregate effect of aid on democracy has become more positive after the Cold War, and the effect of aid on government capacity and on reducing corruption has also improved over time. Furthermore, most studies show a positive effect of aid on political stability. These findings imply that donor intentions matter: donors that are serious about their intended effects on governance are able to mitigate the possible negative unintended effects of their aid.