Empire and Solidarity in International Legal Reform

2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 326-355
Author(s):  
Jeremy Webber
Keyword(s):  
International Development ◽  
Institutional Reform ◽  
Legal Reform ◽  
Cultural Imperialism ◽  
Popular Participation ◽  
Reform Agenda ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
International Solidarity ◽  
Uniform Model ◽  
Government Responsiveness

In the last two decades, aid organizations, led by the World Bank, have advanced legal and political reform as a necessary adjunct of international development assistance. This move has been challenged by critics who argue that institutional reform is inextricably tied to economic liberalization, that it is a form of cultural imperialism, and that it tends to displace domestic struggles for democratic self-determination, replacing them with a uniform model of atomized rights. This paper does not reject those concerns out of hand, but it does argue that they are often exaggerated and liable to undermine a valuable sense of international solidarity. It seeks to redirect the criticisms, confining and targeting them more carefully. It does so first by examining how the institutional reform agenda works in practice, drawing specifically on the experience of legal reform in Vietnam. From that example, it assesses the possibilities, limitations, and constraints of international institutional reform and provides recommendations on how reform might be pursued so as to reinforce, and not abandon, the values of transparency, consistency, popular participation and government responsiveness that animate, at its best, the institutional reform agenda.

China’s Humanistic Zhong-Yong Approach to Educational Partnerships for International Development in Post-Covid-19: Confucian and Ubuntu Perspectives on Confucius Institutes and Classrooms in Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-269
Author(s):  
Jun Li
Keyword(s):  
International Development ◽  
World Bank ◽  
Infrastructure Investment ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Educational Partnerships ◽  
Investment Bank ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
Confucius Institutes ◽  
Core Characteristics ◽  
Unique Potential

Abstract Based on broad observations of the development of Confucius Institutes and Classrooms in Africa over a decade, this article focuses on educational partnerships between Chinese and African educational institutions and their implications for international development, as they relate to international development in the era of post-Covid-19. The author identifies the Confucian Zhong-Yong approach to educational partnerships through Confucius Institutes and Classrooms in Africa, a pragmatic model for educational development centered on Confucianism. Three core characteristics of Confucian educational partnerships – demand-driven, ethics-based and pragmatic – are seen as the key to the success of such partnerships. Reflecting on Ubuntu from a Confucian perspective, the author concludes that China’s humanistic Zhong-Yong approach to partnerships has a unique potential to re-envision education for international development in ways that may be of interest to such international developmental agencies as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the World Bank, and the United Nations.

20. Indonesia

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gyda Marås Sindre
Keyword(s):  
Regime Change ◽  
Institutional Reform ◽  
Political Mobilization ◽  
New Order ◽  
South East Asia ◽  
Reform Agenda ◽  
Radical Reform ◽  
Success Stories ◽  
Growing Economy

This chapter examines the dynamics of regime change in Indonesia since 1998, with a particular focus on political mobilization against the backdrop of institutional reform. In the decade since the collapse of the ‘New Order’ — that is, the authoritarian military-based regime that governed Indonesia from 1966 to 1998 — Indonesia has become one of the few success stories in the post-1970s wave of democratization in the Global South. In addition to being considered the most stable and the freest democracy in South East Asia, Indonesia remains the region’s largest and fastest growing economy. The chapter first provides an overview of the legacies of authoritarianism in Indonesia before discussing the government’s radical reform agenda of democratization and decentralization after 1998. It then looks at political mobilization and participation that accompanied regime change in Indonesia and concludes with an assessment of the role of civil society in political mobilization.

Trust-Funded Partnership Programmes of the World Bank under the ario

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 126-148
Author(s):  
Andrea E. Stumpf
Keyword(s):  
International Development ◽  
World Bank ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Third Parties ◽  
Fund Flows ◽  
Roles And Responsibilities ◽  
International Partnership ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
Development Initiatives

This article suggests that the variety and complexity of international partnership programmes, especially those that contract major fund flows, can be sustained only if partners are able to allocate roles and responsibilities amongst themselves. The premise of this article is simple. Lest there be any doubt, agreed terms set forth in signed agreements and adopted partnership documents should be considered ‘rules of the organization’ under the ario, and should be recognized in allocating responsibility among international organizations and other partners in international development initiatives. A practical look at trust-funded partnership programmes involving the World Bank underscores the importance of lex specialis under the Articles on the Responsibility of International Organizations, including with respect to claims by third parties. At stake is the viability of such collaborative international development initiatives, which rests on the ability of partners to legitimately set their own terms for acknowledgment by others.

scholarly journals Biased Policy Professionals

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 310-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheheryar Banuri ◽  
Stefan Dercon ◽  
Varun Gauri
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
International Development ◽  
World Bank ◽  
Development Policy ◽  
Public Servants ◽  
Private Capacity ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
Subject Pool ◽  
The World ◽  
The Uk

Abstract Although the decisions of policy professionals are often more consequential than those of individuals in their private capacity, there is a dearth of studies on the biases of policy professionals: those who prepare and implement policy on behalf of elected politicians. Experiments conducted on a novel subject pool of development policy professionals (public servants of the World Bank and the Department for International Development in the UK) show that policy professionals are indeed subject to decision-making traps, including the effects of framing outcomes as losses or gains, and, most strikingly, confirmation bias driven by ideological predisposition, despite having an explicit mission to promote evidence-informed and impartial decision making. These findings should worry policy professionals and their principals in governments and large organizations, as well as citizens themselves. A further experiment, in which policy professionals engage in discussion, shows that deliberation may be able to mitigate the effects of some of these biases.

What determines financial inclusion in Sub-Saharan Africa?

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sydney Chikalipah
Keyword(s):  
International Development ◽  
World Bank ◽  
Financial Inclusion ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Ssa Countries

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the determinants of financial inclusion (FI) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Design/methodology/approach The paper uses the World Bank country-level data from 20 SSA countries for the year 2014. Findings The empirical findings in this study indicate that illiteracy is the major hindrance to FI in SSA. The findings provide useful information to government agencies and international development organisations. Also, the findings can help accelerate and strengthen FI strategies among SSA countries. Research limitations/implications Some countries were excluded from the final analysis due to lack of data. Practical implications In the last two decades, there has been renewed interest in fighting financial exclusion in Africa. Therefore, this study provide evidence which clearly shows that enhancing literacy levels in a country can immensely contribute towards building the financially inclusive societies in the SSA region. Originality/value To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first study to empirically test the determinants of FI in SSA using the World Bank FI data set. Furthermore, this is the first attempt to estimate the determinants of FI with a combined data of SSA countries.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document