Corruption, Elites, and Power: An Overview of International Policy Efforts to Improve the Quality of Government

2021 ◽  
pp. 471-494
Author(s):  
Francis Fukuyama ◽  
Francesca Recanatini
Keyword(s):  
The Political ◽  
Administrative Discretion ◽  
International Policy ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
Development Institutions ◽  
The Status ◽  
International Donor ◽  
Political Leverage ◽  
Accountability Initiatives

In 1996, the then president of the World Bank James Wolfenson stressed the malign effects of corruption on development, putting anticorruption on his institution’s agenda. Since then, the Bank and many other development institutions have focused on corruption and quality of government. This chapter reviews the different approaches taken to improve the quality of governments while fighting corruption: state structural reform, simplification and reduction of administrative discretion, transparency and accountability initiatives, international agreements and conventions, and specialized anticorruption bodies. This chapter reviews the effectiveness of these approaches and concludes that while there have been some successes, there is relatively little evidence of major improvement in aggregate levels of corruption. The reason for this lies in the political nature of corruption and the powerful incentives of elites to maintain the status quo. The limited impact of anticorruption efforts reflects the fact that the international donor community, often operating in an uncoordinated way, usually does not have the political leverage to shift these incentives.

scholarly journals Does the Political Environment Affect Inflows of Foreign Direct Investment? Evidence from Emerging Markets

2015 ◽  
Vol 63 (6) ◽  
pp. 2017-2026
Author(s):  
Michal Mádr ◽  
Luděk Kouba
Keyword(s):  
Emerging Markets ◽  
World Bank ◽  
Direct Investment ◽  
Political Instability ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Environment ◽  
Quality Of Democracy ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World

The main aim of the paper is to identify and quantify the influence of the political environment on the inflows of foreign direct investment in emerging markets. The paper defines emerging markets as Middle Income Countries according to the evaluation of the World Bank. Our sample of countries contains 78 states. The reference period focuses on the period of 1996–2012 due to data availability. The evaluation of the political environment is based on three dimensions: the quality of democracy, political instability and the level of corruption, which are related to three subcomponents of the concept, Governance Matters, provided by the World Bank. The paper distinguishes between two types of political instability omitted in thematic literature, elite and non-elite. The former represents non-violent instability (minority governments, tension related to the holding of elections) while the latter deals with violent forms of instability (civil wars, coups, ethnic and religious riots). The paper uses panel data regression analysis for the purpose of identification and quantification. The research uses fixed effects model with a cluster option. According to the results, the influence of the political environment on FDI is not entirely unequivocal in emerging markets; nevertheless, there is a statistically significant dimension – political instability (both parts). The quality of democracy and the level of corruption are significant only in some cases. The paper combines indicators frequently occurring in empirical literature (the Corruption Perception Index, Freedom in the World, Governance Matters) with alternative proxies (the Herfindahl Index Government, the Political Terror Scale, the State Fragility Index), which seem to be a perspective for a future research.

scholarly journals Status of Political Reforms Toward Violence’s Against Women in the Middle East

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (10) ◽  
pp. 66
Author(s):  
Abdulrahman Al-Fawwaz
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Violence Against Women ◽  
Equal Opportunity ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
The Political ◽  
Not Given ◽  
Political Reforms ◽  
The Status

Women are considered as equal and essential part of the society, and have all the rights to live according to their will. However, in various countries, they are not given such chances; even their legislative positioning is also weak. The purpose of the study is to critically review the status of political reforms made towards violence against women in the Middle East. The paper tends to investigate that how women of Middle East are treated unequally and unfairly. The findings of the paper reveals that the status of political reforms towards violence against women in the Middle East is weak as the societies are male-dominated. Females are not given equal opportunity to live and their quality of life is poor because there is no such strong implementation of legislative policies. There is much need of policy implications so that the political reforms can be made towards providing equal and fair rights to females. Women due to poor implementation of policies face the violence; however, governmental interventions can help to overcome such inequality in the Middle East.

scholarly journals INSTITUTIONAL-SYNERGETIC APPROACH TO THE PLANNING OF TERRITORIES OF ADVANCED SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 (2) ◽  
pp. 73-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Г. Галиуллина ◽  
G. Galiullina
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
System Development ◽  
Technological Development ◽  
Territorial Development ◽  
Territorial Planning ◽  
Social And Economic Development ◽  
Single Industry ◽  
Development Institutions ◽  
The Status

<p>The article features the concept of institutional-synergetic approach to planning as applied to territories of advanced social and economic development (TASED). At the initial stage it is proposed to determine the system of basic characteristics which are structured on the dichotomous method basis. Selecting one of the two possible solutions (the essence of the dichotomy) allows one to take a firm position about the most acute issues of the TASED formation, to focus resources and to develop a framework of strategic planning. The article systematizes the factors of the business investments decisions; these factors must be taken into account when developing the TASED models. The designed classification of single-industry cities with the status of special territories is represented in the form of three matrices. Such a representation makes it possible to take into account differences in income levels, technological development, and demographic potential of the territories. In addition to the resources of the territory, it is proposed to include the level and quality of strategic territorial planning, the level of interaction quality between stakeholders in the territory, and the quality of the territorial development management system. The proposed approach allows one to focus both on the development institutions and institutional transformations, and also to take into account the significant differences in the social and economic development of the single-industry cities, which received the status of TASED, their synergetic development potential, the factors of system  development and system formation.</p>

scholarly journals Zur politischen Ökonomie des Helfens.

2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (183) ◽  
pp. 205-227 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silke Van Dyk ◽  
Elène Misbach
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Civic Engagement ◽  
New Right ◽  
The Political ◽  
Social Rights ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Economic Implications ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Status

Starting out from the huge movement of aid to refugees in Germany, the article deals with the political economy of volunteering within its wider socio-economic and political context. The authors ask in how far civic engagement and volunteer involvement are not just appreciated as part of the new “Willkommenskultur” (‘welcome culture’), but explicitely exploited and co-opted as a productive resource in the context of welfare state cutbacks. The social and economic implications of the political economy of volunteering are discussed, i.e. the status of social rights in contrast to charitable help, the professionality and quality of services being provided by (non-trained) volunteers as well as the hierarchical interdependence between volunteers and refugees. At the same time, we take the specifics of the field “aid to refugees” into account since the anti-racist appeal of volunteers’ engagement should not be underestimated in times of new right-wing populist forces. The article finally deals with the question in how far practices of politically explicit “recalcitrant civic engagement” might prevent the co-optation and exploitation of volunteer involvement in contemporary capitalism with its restrictive border regime.

Women in Power and Decision making Positions : Conditions and Restraints

1970 ◽  
pp. 53-57
Author(s):  
Azza Charara Baydoun
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
Policies And Procedures ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Status ◽  
Slow Progress

Women today are considered to be outside the political and administrative power structures and their participation in the decision-making process is non-existent. As far as their participation in the political life is concerned they are still on the margins. The existence of patriarchal society in Lebanon as well as the absence of governmental policies and procedures that aim at helping women and enhancing their political participation has made it very difficult for women to be accepted as leaders and to be granted votes in elections (UNIFEM, 2002).This above quote is taken from a report that was prepared to assess the progress made regarding the status of Lebanese women both on the social and governmental levels in light of the Beijing Platform for Action – the name given to the provisions of the Fourth Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995. The above quote describes the slow progress achieved by Lebanese women in view of the ambitious goal that requires that the proportion of women occupying administrative or political positions in Lebanon should reach 30 percent of thetotal by the year 2005!

Orthodox arrangement of the Pochaiv Lavra in the second third of the XIX century.

2021 ◽  
pp. 13-41
Author(s):  
Ella Volodymyrivna Bystrytska
Keyword(s):  
Local Level ◽  
The Political ◽  
Special Role ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Political Motivation ◽  
Archival Documents ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Russian Empire ◽  
Xix Century

Abstract: A series of imperial decrees of the 1820s ordering the establishment of a Greco-Uniate Theological Collegium and appropriate consistories contributed to the spread of the autocratic synodal system of government and the establishment of control over Greek Uniate church institutions in the annexed territories of Right-Bank Ukraine. As a result, the Greco-Uniate Church was put on hold in favor of the government's favorable grounds for the rapid localization of its activities. Basilian accusations of supporting the Polish November Uprising of 1830-1831 made it possible to liquidate the OSBM and most monasteries. The transfer of the Pochaiv Monastery to the ownership of the Orthodox clergy in 1831 was a milestone in the liquidation of the Greco-Uniate Church and the establishment of a Russian-style Orthodox mono-confessionalism. On the basis of archival documents, the political motivation of the emperor's decree to confiscate the Pochayiv Monastery from the Basilians with all its property and capital was confirmed. The transfer to the category of monasteries of the 1st class and the granting of the status of a lavra indicated its special role in strengthening the position of the autocracy in the western region of the Russian Empire. The orders of the Holy Synod outline the key tasks of ensuring the viability of the Lavra as an Orthodox religious center: the introduction of continuous worship, strengthening the personal composition of the population, delimitation of spiritual responsibilities, clarifying the affiliation of the printing house. However, maintaining the rhythm of worship and financial and economic activities established by the Basilians proved to be a difficult task, the solution of which required ten years of hard work. In order to make quick changes in the monastery, decisions were made by the emperor and senior government officials, and government agencies were involved at the local level, which required the coordination of actions of all parties to the process.

Strategic Role of Zakat in Multidimensional Quality of Life in Sijunjung, Indonesia

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-72
Author(s):  
Herlin Hamimi ◽  
Abdul Ghafar Ismail ◽  
Muhammad Hasbi Zaenal
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Wealth Distribution ◽  
Absolute Poverty ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Status ◽  
Being There ◽  
The Impact

Zakat is one of the five pillars of Islam which has a function of faith, social and economic functions. Muslims who can pay zakat are required to give at least 2.5 per cent of their wealth. The problem of poverty prevalent in disadvantaged regions because of the difficulty of access to information and communication led to a gap that is so high in wealth and resources. The instrument of zakat provides a paradigm in the achievement of equitable wealth distribution and healthy circulation. Zakat potentially offers a better life and improves the quality of human being. There is a human quality improvement not only in economic terms but also in spiritual terms such as improving religiousity. This study aims to examine the role of zakat to alleviate humanitarian issues in disadvantaged regions such as Sijunjung, one of zakat beneficiaries and impoverished areas in Indonesia. The researcher attempted a Cibest method to capture the impact of zakat beneficiaries before and after becoming a member of Zakat Community Development (ZCD) Program in material and spiritual value. The overall analysis shows that zakat has a positive impact on disadvantaged regions development and enhance the quality of life of the community. There is an improvement in the average of mustahik household incomes after becoming a member of ZCD Program. Cibest model demonstrates that material, spiritual, and absolute poverty index decreased by 10, 5, and 6 per cent. Meanwhile, the welfare index is increased by 21 per cent. These findings have significant implications for developing the quality of life in disadvantaged regions in Sijunjung. Therefore, zakat is one of the instruments to change the status of disadvantaged areas to be equivalent to other areas.

The Changing Patterns of North Korea’s International Film Co-Productions Since the 1980s: A Global Value Chain Approach

2020 ◽  
pp. 83-108
Author(s):  
Moon Hwy-Chang ◽  
Wenyang Yin
Keyword(s):  
Value Chain ◽  
North Korea ◽  
Film Industry ◽  
International Standards ◽  
The Political ◽  
Global Value Chain ◽  
Comprehensive Understanding ◽  
Changing Patterns ◽  
Film Productions

Although North Korea is one of the most closed countries in the world, it has long been pursuing international cooperation with other countries in order to upgrade the quality of its film industry to international standards. Preceding studies on this topic have mainly focused on the political influences behind filmmaking in general and very few studies have exclusively dealt with North Korea’s international co-productions. In this respect, in order to develop a comprehensive understanding of the internalization strategy of North Korea’s film productions, this paper uses the global value chain as a framework for analysis. This approach helps understand the internationalization pattern of each value chain activity of film co-productions in terms of the film location and the methods for collaborating with foreign partners. By dividing the evolution of North Korea’s international co-productions into three periods since the 1980s, this paper finds that although North Korea has shown mixed results with different aspects of the film value chain, it has generally improved its internationalization over the three periods. This paper further provides strategic directions for North Korea by learning some of the successful Chinese experiences in the film sector regarding collaboration with foreign partners—to foster a win-win situation for all involved parties.

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