Fragmented Responses towards Global Governance: The Indian Context

2017 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-84
Author(s):  
Sheila Rai
Keyword(s):  
Global Governance ◽  
Structural Adjustment ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Economic Consequences ◽  
Global Institutions ◽  
Southern States ◽  
International Donor ◽  
Service Sectors ◽  
Donor Agencies ◽  
The Masses

The liberalisation dice of the globalisation game has been loaded in favour of developed countries. The recipe of Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) prescribed by the World Trade Organization (WTO), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other international economic institutions has proved detrimental to developing countries like India where poverty is pervasive and scarcity of basic amenities crippling. 1 The SAP syndrome has manifested in lockouts, industrial takeovers, closures, massive retrenchments and weakening/diluting of labour laws, etc. Service sectors such as hospitals and schools have also been adversely affected under pressures from international donor agencies. The unsavoury social and economic consequences on the marginal sections have therefore led to a series of protests and demonstrations. The struggle in all its complexities is both ideological and practical. Pressure to alter the pace and intensity of liberalisation, and change ‘scorecards’ of growth, security and redistribution have gained momentum. The propensity of the elite to coalesce with the predominant forces of globalisation and ignore the basic urges of the masses further adds to the complexities. Evidently, the cataclysmic change augured by global governance on the society, politics and economics is multifaceted. The response of the southern states, namely, India, to this crossfire between the dictates of the global institutions vis-à-vis the complexities of the protests and demands of the classes and masses has been critically analysed in this article. The ongoing attempts to assuage the brutal edges of poverty and provide security and protection are also scrutinised.

scholarly journals Globalisation, Liberalisation, and Equitable Growth: Lessons from Contemporary Asian Experience

1997 ◽  
Vol 36 (4II) ◽  
pp. 915-928 ◽  
Author(s):  
Azizur Rahman Khan
Keyword(s):  
Global Economy ◽  
Structural Adjustment ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Oil Shocks ◽  
Trade Regimes ◽  
Declining Demand ◽  
Donor Agencies ◽  
Structural Adjustment Programmes ◽  
The International Monetary Fund ◽  
Trade And Investment

Since the beginning of the 1980s the less developed countries (LDCs) have been getting integrated with the global economy at a rapidly accelerating rate. The impetus for the process came from the need to make adjustment in the unsustainable imbalance in the external account that most of these countries experienced in the aftermath of the oil shocks of the 1970s and the declining demand for their exports due to the recession in the OECD countries during the 1980s. Many of these countries had to subject themselves to structural adjustment programmes at the behest of the multilateral donor agencies, led by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, who emphasised the urgency of reforming the protectionist trade regimes of these countries. Simultaneously, these countries came to realise the inefficiency of resource use fostered by their past strategy of import-substituting industrialisation (ISI) characterised by a trade and investment regime that enshrined overvalued exchange rates, quantitative import controls, high and non-uniform rates of effective protection, discrimination against export and strong impediments to foreign direct investment.

scholarly journals Macroeconomic Effects of Adjustment Lending in Pakistan

1994 ◽  
Vol 33 (4II) ◽  
pp. 1011-1031 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zafar Iqbal
Keyword(s):  
Structural Adjustment ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Economic Policies ◽  
Weak Institutions ◽  
Inflation Rates ◽  
Domestic Savings ◽  
Donor Agencies ◽  
Lending Institutions ◽  
Economic Growth Rates ◽  
Structural Adjustment Programmes

During the 1970s and early 1980s, many developing countries faced macroeconomic problems, notably large fiscal deficits, vulnerable balance of payments positions, increasing inflation rates, lower rates of domestic savings, and as a consequence lower capital formation and economic growth rates. The major financial lending institutions, preeminently the W orId Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), argue that the present macroeconomic problems in less developed countries (LDCs) are due to structural maladjustments-poor economic policies and weak institutions. Therefore, since 1980, these donor agencies have been proposing Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) and Sectoral Adjustment Programmes (SECAPs) associated with Structural Adjustment Lending (SALs) and Sectoral Adjustment Lending (SECALs), respectively. These programmes focus on broader macroeconomic adjustment policies. The disbursement of SALs and SECALs are, how~ver, conditional upon the recipient countries adopting economic policies specified by the staff of the World Bank and the IMF.

Farzana Naqvi. Energy, Economy and Equity Interactions in a CGE Model for Pakistan. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing Company, 1997. Hardbound. Price not given. xxii+290 pages.

1999 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-222
Author(s):  
Hina Nazli
Keyword(s):  
Negative Impact ◽  
Commodity Prices ◽  
Government Revenue ◽  
Foreign Markets ◽  
Nontraded Goods ◽  
Real Gdp ◽  
International Donor ◽  
Energy Economy ◽  
Balance Of Trade ◽  
Donor Agencies

Modernisation of the agricultural, industrial and household sectors causes the demand for energy to increase more rapidly than its supply. In countries that aim to modernise quickly a heavy investment is required to redress this imbalance. That is why in countries such as Pakistan, the energy has remained on the top of the agenda of loan negotiation with international donor agencies. Energy serves as both a final consumption good and as an essential intermediate input in the production of goods. Thus any change in the price of energy at both these levels affects consumption as well as production and that, in turn, can cause changes in the prices of all other commodities. A change in the prices of exportables affects their demand in foreign markets and any change in the prices of import-competing and nontraded goods affects their demand at home. The net effects of all these changes can be measured in terms of the effects on real GDP, balance of trade, and government revenue. And, because any change in commodity prices exerts a negative impact on real consumption of households; the formulation of a comprehensive energy policy requires a framework that can take the immense complexity of the linkages of all the sectors of the economy into consideration. In the book under review, Dr Farzana Naqvi, argues that the issues of energy pricing can not be examined in isolation and presents a general equilibrium framework to address the complex issues related to energy, economy and equity.

The Village Courts in Bangladesh

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias Berger
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Colonial Administration ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Complex Processes ◽  
Local Institution ◽  
International Donor ◽  
Donor Agencies ◽  
Historical Trajectory ◽  
The Village

This chapter embeds contemporary translations of ‘the rule of law’ in their historical trajectory. It reveals how the introduction of village courts by the colonial administration at the dawn of the twentieth century and current efforts by international donor agencies to activate these village courts follow strikingly similar logics. The village courts are therefore neither an exclusively global imposition nor an ostensibly local institution; instead, they have emerged in complex processes of translation in which the global and the local have become inseparably intertwined. Having reconstructed this historical trajectory, the chapter also provides a brief overview of Bangladesh’s recent political history and maps the country’s contemporary legal landscape.

scholarly journals Nigerian Civil Society Situation Room (NCSSR) and Electioneering Process in Nigeria (2015–2019)

SAGE Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 215824402110067
Author(s):  
Babayo Sule ◽  
Usman Sambo ◽  
Abdulkadir Ahmed ◽  
Muhammad Yusuf
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Theoretical Explanation ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Fourth Republic ◽  
Election Monitoring ◽  
International Donor ◽  
General Elections ◽  
Donor Agencies ◽  
Civil Societies

Civil society organizations have played a pivotal role in democratization process in Nigeria since the advent of the Fourth Republic. They have greatly helped in the success of the 2015 and 2019 General Elections through pre-election, during election, and in post-election monitoring and advocacy. This article, therefore, examined the role of the Nigerian Civil Society Situation Room (NCSSR) in improving the election in Nigeria during the 2015 and 2019 General Elections. While many civil societies flourished recently in Nigeria, their role toward democratization and facilitating credible election remain insignificant until in the 2015 and 2019 General Elections where their activities helped immensely the process of a credible election. A Civil Society as the Third Tier of Government framework was adopted as a theoretical explanation of the context of the work. The research used a qualitative case study method of data collection where informants consisting of members of NCSSR, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and academicians were selected for the interview and Focus Group Discussion. The total number selected was 16 from the three identified categories. The research discovered that the NCSSR aided the process and fairness of the 2015 and 2019 General Elections through proper monitoring, civic voter education, active collaboration with electoral body (INEC), and collaboration with international donor agencies through what they called “Civil Society Situation Room” which consist of more than 60 registered civil societies. The research recommends that civil societies should be empowered with constitutional backing and independent funding to enable them carry out their responsibilities adequately. Also, the article recommends that the electoral body (INEC) should liaise more and cooperate with civil societies to enable them conduct good and credible elections in future.

scholarly journals Elite attitudes and the future of global governance

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Aart Scholte ◽  
Soetkin Verhaegen ◽  
Jonas Tallberg
Keyword(s):  
Global Governance ◽  
The United States ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Global Institutions ◽  
The Future ◽  
Medium Level ◽  
Government Bureaucracy ◽  
Governance Institutions ◽  
Problem Solvers

Abstract This article examines what contemporary elites think about global governance and what these attitudes might bode for the future of global institutions. Evidence comes from a unique survey conducted in 2017–19 across six elite sectors (business, civil society, government bureaucracy, media, political parties, research) in six countries (Brazil, Germany, the Philippines, Russia, South Africa, the United States) and a global group. Bearing in mind some notable variation between countries, elite types, issue-areas and institutions, three main interconnected findings emerge. First, in principle, contemporary leaders in politics and society hold considerable readiness to pursue global-scale governance. Today's elites are not generally in a nationalist-protectionist-sovereigntist mood. Second, in practice, these elites on average hold medium-level confidence towards fourteen current global governance institutions. This evidence suggests that, while there is at present no legitimacy crisis of global governance among elites (as might encourage its decline), neither is there a legitimacy boom (as could spur its expansion). Third, if we probe what elites prioritize when they evaluate global governance, the surveyed leaders generally most underline democracy in the procedures of these bodies and effectiveness in their performance. This finding suggests that, to raise elites' future confidence in global governance, the institutions would do well to become more transparent in their operations and more impactful problem-solvers in their outcomes.

The perfect storm of personal consumption

2021 ◽  
pp. 27-50
Author(s):  
L. M. Grigoryev ◽  
Z. S. Elkina ◽  
P. A. Mednikova ◽  
D. A. Serova ◽  
M. F. Starodubtseva ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stock Prices ◽  
Durable Goods ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Service Industries ◽  
Investment Funds ◽  
Fiscal Incentives ◽  
Personal Consumption ◽  
Service Sectors ◽  
Real Estate Prices ◽  
Almost All

The COVID-19 pandemic forced the governments of almost all countries to introduce lockdowns in 2020, which sharply reduced the supply in a number of large service sectors: transport, recreation, catering, tourism. The recession began without a crisis, and the unique supply of cheap money and fiscal incentives prevented the development of a “liquidity crunch”. On the contrary, it led to an increase in stock prices, real estate prices, and a reduction in bankruptcies. There was no drop in the value of pension and investment funds. The working population has faced a reduction in employment in labor-intensive service industries, a violation of traditional lifestyle models. The course of the recession in these conditions has changed the structure of personal consumption in developed countries, with its severe adaptation in medium-developed and less developed countries. The pandemic and the recession have caused an uneven compression of activity and consumption across social strata that leads to an increase in social disparities on exiting the recession. The drivers of the demand-side recovery in developed countries are the growth of investments in housing and durable goods, and developing countries are gradually restoring normal consumption of non-durable goods and exports.

scholarly journals Competitiveness as the Ability to Adjust: the EU–10 Exports Structure and Its Convergence to the German Pattern

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-133
Author(s):  
Elżbieta Czarny ◽  
Małgorzata Żmuda
Keyword(s):  
World Trade ◽  
Structural Adjustment ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Living Standard ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Standard International Trade Classification ◽  
Eu Accession ◽  
Developed Economies ◽  
Catching Up ◽  
The Eu

Competitiveness of a nation is associated with a set of characteristics that enable structural adjustment to global technological trends, and as a consequence, a rise in the living standard of its citizens. For catching-up economies, GDP convergence towards the most developed economies, constituting their developmental goal, relies upon its ability to shift production and exports structure towards specialization based on knowledge and innovation. Thus, in this paper, competitiveness is evaluated through structural adjustments of exports, and for catching-up economies (the EU–10 states) it may be understood as the ability to close the structural gap to the most developed countries (here: the strongest EU member economy: Germany). We analyse the evolution of the EU–10 nations’ exports specialization in the years 2000 and 2014, checking whether the convergence towards the German exports pattern can be observed, and which of the analysed economies shows the best ability to shift its exports structure towards high-tech specialization. We look additionally at exports structures in 2004 (the year of EU-accession of eight out of 10 countries in the sample) and in 2009 (world trade collapse during the economic crisis). The analysis is based on the Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) concept by Balassa (1965). We use the UN Trade Statistics data in the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC), Rev. 4. Commodity groups are classified following the methodology developed by Wysokińska (1997, p. 18).

Strengthening school management committees: a framework for process and outcome

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 701-718
Author(s):  
Nauman Adil ◽  
Zaki Rashidi ◽  
Reema Frooghi
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
School Management ◽  
School Level ◽  
Government Schools ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Roles And Responsibilities ◽  
Fund Allocation ◽  
Process And Outcome ◽  
International Donor ◽  
Donor Agencies

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the existing mechanism of school management committees (SMCs) and to propose an improved framework for strengthening its process and outcomes. In 2005, the Education and Literacy department, Government of Sindh decentralizes the administrative and operational authorities to school level in the form of SMCs. These committees have been vested with several roles and responsibilities in accordance with the objective of SMCs set in by government in assistance with different international donor agencies. Design/methodology/approach The purposively selected respondent that includes 35 stakeholders among which 25 stakeholders has been interviewed individually while other ten has been interviewed in the form of two focused groups consisting of five members each. The findings based on the interviews are analyzed using the thematic analysis. This study analyzes the formation of SMCs, roles and responsibilities of members, Allocation SMC funds and its utilization methods. The study includes the challenges faced by these committees in school administration and operations with their recommendations for overcoming such challenges. Some common challenges include limited financial resources, interference of landlords and potential people of the community, limited administrative authorities and lack of interest of government toward government schools. Findings The recommendations have been categorized into three broad themes: strengthening of mechanism, strengthening through functions, roles and responsibilities and revising SMC fund allocation and its utilization. Originality/value The study proposed an improved framework for strengthening the process and outcomes of SMC.

Exploring the ICT Capabilities of Civil Society in Sub Saharan Africa

2011 ◽  
pp. 207-228
Author(s):  
Joshua C. Nyirenda
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Civil Liberties ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Press Freedom ◽  
Development Indicators ◽  
Operational Capabilities ◽  
Proxy Measure ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Masses

Civil society is argued to have been the most significant force of many forces that eradicated entrenched authoritarianism in Africa, in the early 1990s, ushering most of these countries to multi-party democracies. And yet after such accomplishment, many of these new democracies have receded to undemocratic practices. With weak economies, civil society faces many challenges in resource mobilization and in mobilizing the masses for national causes. Information communication technologies, or ICTs, are increasingly being seen as an aid to the mobilization and organization challenges of civil society. However, advanced ICT capabilities are mostly in developed countries where civil society is already strong. Using e-governance as a proxy measure for ICT capabilities for civil society, this chapter conducts an exploratory study using secondary baseline data collected by international institutions on Sub Saharan Countries. The relationship between ICT capabilities and the several civil society development indicators (press freedom, civil liberties, and various other variables) is investigated. Later, the Nation of Zambia (a country with moderate ICT capabilities in the region) is used for a qualitative case study to explore how ICT capabilities and various contextual issues influence ICT applications by civil society organizations to enhance operational capabilities such as collaboration and mobilization efforts.

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