Weak Institutions and the Governance Dilemma

Gaps as Traps

verfasst von: Dr. Mariella Falkenhain

Verlag: Springer International Publishing

Buchreihe : International Series on Public Policy

Enthalten in: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft" , Springer Professional "Technik"

Einloggen, um Zugang zu erhalten

Über dieses Buch

“Weak Institutions and the Governance Dilemma is especially important and welcome since it offers a very incisive analysis of the role of NGOs in transitional democracies and the effect of institutional setting on NGO effectiveness in representing citizen interests. This book offers a very creative conceptual framework and timely, penetrating case studies which provide valuable insights on NGO strategy, governmental capacity, and the possibilities for social change.”Steven Rathgeb Smith, Executive Director, American Political Science Association, and Georgetown University, USA

This book provides a novel analytical perspective on policymaking, policy effects and NGOs in hybrid regimes. It examines the sources and patterns of gaps between formal rules, political practice and longer term effects, and explores how NGOs navigate the tension-laden environments that gaps represent. The book shows how weak institutions and malfunctioning policies turn NGOs into ambivalent actors. Empirically, it covers criminal justice and social protection policies in post-Soviet Georgia and Armenia. The findings from the in-depth case studies are then extended by a discussion of gaps in hybrid regimes as diverse as Malaysia, Kenya and Russia. The book’s approach and findings will appeal to scholars, students and practitioners interested in NGOs, institutional theory and public policy.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

Chapter 1. Introduction

Abstract

Starting from the common observation that, in the post-Soviet space, formal rules can often not be easily mapped onto substantive outcomes, this chapter proposes gaps as a new lens to study the discrepancies between policies, political practice and longer term effects in hybrid regimes. It then conceptualizes gaps as context for agency, and focuses on NGOs as relevant gap agents. To enhance analytical clarity, gaps are discussed in relation to three neighboring concepts from political science and sociology: institutional voids, implementation failure and decoupling. Before outlining the structure of the book, the chapter presents key methodological considerations.

Mariella Falkenhain

Chapter 2. Theorizing Gaps in Hybrid Regimes

Abstract

This chapter develops an analytical framework of gaps in non-democratic regimes. It first reviews a theoretical conversation by historical institutionalists about gaps in developed democracies. Based on arguments about the importance of institutional weakness and informality in authoritarian regimes, the chapter then suggests a revised understanding of gaps in non-democratic regimes, according to which the strength of the institutional environment, policy capacity in government, and informal institutions influence the extent and nature of gaps. After differentiating between two possible modes of gaps, the chapter discusses potential implications of gaps for governments and NGOs across regimes. It ends with an inventory of gaps based on ontological, analytical and substantive differences.

Mariella Falkenhain

Chapter 3. Criminal Justice Policy in Georgia: NGOs Facing Shallow Reform

Abstract

Focusing on Georgia’s probation system under the UNM government, this chapter illustrates a persistent gap between a formal policy and political practice. It shows that the zero tolerance for crime policy was a main driver of this implementation gap, even when the liberalization of criminal justice was formally on the agenda. The chapter then turns to NGOs as gap agents: As service providers and persuasive advocates, they hoped to make the government’s announced liberalization move a reality. However, in an increasingly repressive climate, dissenting organizations were marginalized and the formalized cooperation formats did not turn out to be viable avenues for voicing critical claims regarding the state’s wrongdoings. Ultimately, the NGOs were not able to remedy the implementation gap under UNM rule.

Mariella Falkenhain

Chapter 4. Social Protection in Georgia: NGOs in a Field of Low Political Salience

Abstract

This chapter examines social protection policies under the Georgian UNM government. In focusing on developments in the pension system, health care and social assistance, the chapter identifies a pronounced gap between social protection policies and their social consequences for the elderly. The gap was affected by an ultraliberal economic policy and by serial policy changes. Informal safety nets that waned due to outward migration and urbanization increasingly failed to remedy the gap from below. The second part of the chapter turns to NGOs as gap agents. It highlights their efforts to activate informal care and the challenges they faced in advocating for systemic change.

Mariella Falkenhain

Chapter 5. Criminal Justice Policy in Armenia: NGOs Facing Chronic Non-Enforcement

Abstract

This chapter describes the preparation and introduction of a probation service in Armenia. The analysis reveals strong expectations of institutional weakness, and highlights why the different stakeholders anticipated a gap between the new policy, its implementation and longer term effects. Torn between the potential advantages of a functioning probation service, donors’ emphasis on formal institutional design, and the many experiences of stillborn institutions, NGO responses were contradictory and proved largely insufficient to effectively remedy the gap or mobilize against it.

Mariella Falkenhain

Chapter 6. Social Protection in Armenia: NGOs and the Underproviding State

Abstract

This chapter analyzes pensions, health care, and social assistance in Armenia, and outlines a marked gap between social protection policies and ground level effects for the elderly. Family ties that once represented an important informal coping mechanism were no longer capable of closing the gap. Irrespective of official commitments for ageing, the government was unable to remedy the gap due to low levels of government capacity and societal distrust vis-à-vis public officials and institutions. The second part of the chapter examines NGOs as gap agents: In supplementing the state through service provision, the NGOs tried to remedy the gap in lieu of the state mainly by addressing symptoms, not causes. Eventually, they rather perpetuated state failure instead of prodding the government into action.

Mariella Falkenhain

Chapter 7. How NGOs Respond to Systemic and Provoked Gaps

Abstract

Based on the Armenian and Georgian lessons, this chapter identifies two empirically grounded gap varieties, provoked gaps and systemic gaps. It then starts theorizing about the implications of gaps for NGOs. It does so, first, by highlighting the differential exercise of core functions of NGOs (service provision, advocacy and innovation), and, second, by conceiving cross-case patterns of ambiguous organizational behavior as instances of means-ends decoupling and successful failure.

Mariella Falkenhain

Chapter 8. Conclusion: Gaps, Traps, and Ambiguity in Hybrid Regimes

Abstract

By means of tentative theoretical propositions and specific examples from hybrid regimes as diverse as Kenya, Russia, Ukraine and Malaysia, this last chapter validates the empirically grounded types and proposes two additional gap variants: deliberately permitted gaps and noncompliance gaps. The chapter also discusses the implications of the different gap varieties for governments and NGOs. The second part of the chapter highlights this book’s contributions to institutional theory, NGO research, and public policy analysis, outlines the main limitations, and proposes promising avenues for future research. The chapter ends by outlining practical implications of the findings for NGO managers and the international donor community.

Mariella Falkenhain

Backmatter

Titel: Weak Institutions and the Governance Dilemma
verfasst von: Dr. Mariella Falkenhain
Verlag: Springer International Publishing
Electronic ISBN: 978-3-030-39742-5
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-39741-8
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-39742-5