Patchwork Leviathan

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Patchwork Leviathan

Erin Metz McDonnell
Patchwork Leviathan Book PDF

Author : Erin Metz McDonnell
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 312 pages
File Size : 49,9 Mb
Release : 2020-03-03
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780691197357

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Patchwork Leviathan by Erin Metz McDonnell Pdf

Corruption and ineffectiveness are often expected of public servants in developing countries. However, some groups within these states are distinctly more effective and public oriented than the rest. Why? Patchwork Leviathan explains how a few spectacularly effective state organizations manage to thrive amid general institutional weakness and succeed against impressive odds. Drawing on the Hobbesian image of the state as Leviathan, Erin Metz McDonnell argues that many seemingly weak states actually have a wide range of administrative capacities. Such states are in fact patchworks sewn loosely together from scarce resources into the semblance of unity. McDonnell demonstrates that when the human, cognitive, and material resources of bureaucracy are rare, it is critically important how they are distributed. Too often, scarce bureaucratic resources are scattered throughout the state, yielding little effect. McDonnell reveals how a sufficient concentration of resources clustered within particular pockets of a state can be transformative, enabling distinctively effective organizations to emerge from a sea of ineffectiveness. Patchwork Leviathan offers a comprehensive analysis of successful statecraft in institutionally challenging environments, drawing on cases from contemporary Ghana and Nigeria, mid-twentieth-century Kenya and Brazil, and China in the early twentieth century. Based on nearly two years of pioneering fieldwork in West Africa, this incisive book explains how these highly effective pockets differ from the Western bureaucracies on which so much state and organizational theory is based, providing a fresh answer to why well-funded global capacity-building reforms fail—and how they can do better.

Patchwork Leviathan

Erin Metz McDonnell
Patchwork Leviathan Book PDF

Author : Erin Metz McDonnell
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 312 pages
File Size : 55,6 Mb
Release : 2020-03-03
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780691197364

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Patchwork Leviathan by Erin Metz McDonnell Pdf

Corruption and ineffectiveness are often expected of public servants in developing countries. However, some groups within these states are distinctly more effective and public oriented than the rest. Why? Patchwork Leviathan explains how a few spectacularly effective state organizations manage to thrive amid general institutional weakness and succeed against impressive odds. Drawing on the Hobbesian image of the state as Leviathan, Erin Metz McDonnell argues that many seemingly weak states actually have a wide range of administrative capacities. Such states are in fact patchworks sewn loosely together from scarce resources into the semblance of unity. McDonnell demonstrates that when the human, cognitive, and material resources of bureaucracy are rare, it is critically important how they are distributed. Too often, scarce bureaucratic resources are scattered throughout the state, yielding little effect. McDonnell reveals how a sufficient concentration of resources clustered within particular pockets of a state can be transformative, enabling distinctively effective organizations to emerge from a sea of ineffectiveness. Patchwork Leviathan offers a comprehensive analysis of successful statecraft in institutionally challenging environments, drawing on cases from contemporary Ghana and Nigeria, mid-twentieth-century Kenya and Brazil, and China in the early twentieth century. Based on nearly two years of pioneering fieldwork in West Africa, this incisive book explains how these highly effective pockets differ from the Western bureaucracies on which so much state and organizational theory is based, providing a fresh answer to why well-funded global capacity-building reforms fail—and how they can do better.

Markets with Bureaucratic Characteristics

Yingyao Wang
Markets with Bureaucratic Characteristics Book PDF

Author : Yingyao Wang
Publisher : Columbia University Press
Page : 281 pages
File Size : 52,5 Mb
Release : 2024-05-21
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780231560467

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Markets with Bureaucratic Characteristics by Yingyao Wang Pdf

China’s breathtaking economic development has been driven by bureaucrats. Even as the country transitioned away from socialist planning toward a market economy, the economic bureaucracy retained a striking degree of influence and control over crafting and implementing policy. Yet bureaucrats are often dismissed as faceless and inconsequential, their role neglected in favor of party leaders’ top-down rule or bottom-up initiatives. Markets with Bureaucratic Characteristics offers a new account of economic policy making in China over the past four decades that reveals how bureaucrats have spurred large-scale transformations from within. Yingyao Wang demonstrates how competition among bureaucrats motivated by careerism has led to the emergence of new policy approaches. Second-tier economic bureaucrats instituted distinctive—and often conflicting—“policy paradigms” aimed at securing their standing and rewriting China’s long-term development plans for their own benefit. Emerging from the middle levels of the bureaucracy, these policy paradigms ultimately reorganized the Chinese economy and reshaped state-market relations. Drawing on fine-grained biographical and interview data, Wang traces how officials coalesced around shared career trajectories, generational experiences, and social networks to create new alliances and rivalries. Shedding new light on the making and trajectory of China’s ambitious economic reforms, this book also provides keen sociological insight into the relations among bureaucracy, states, and markets.

After Positivism

Nicholas Hoover Wilson,Damon Mayrl
After Positivism Book PDF

Author : Nicholas Hoover Wilson,Damon Mayrl
Publisher : Columbia University Press
Page : 612 pages
File Size : 53,7 Mb
Release : 2024-04-21
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9780231557320

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After Positivism by Nicholas Hoover Wilson,Damon Mayrl Pdf

What is the value of comparison for research in historical sociology? Today, social scientists regularly express doubt about the positivist premises that have long justified comparison’s use: that cases can be unproblematically compared as though they are independent of one another, that comparison can reliably yield valid causal inference, and that comparative methods can grapple with questions of meaning, sequence, and process that are central to historical explanation. Yet they remain reluctant to abandon comparison altogether, not least because comparisons are still manifestly useful in the research process. After Positivism presents a bold new set of warrants and methodologies for comparison that takes these criticisms fully into account. The contributors to this book marshal a wide array of postpositivist approaches to knowledge to reconstruct the analytic potential of comparison for a new generation of social scientists. In addition to providing fresh answers to classic questions about case selection and causal inference, authors ponder the role comparison plays in a world where social phenomena are demonstrably time-, space-, and concept-dependent; where causation is typically conjunctural; where social structures and groups emerge and die; and where important objects of inquiry can be understood only in terms of relationships, emergent properties, or contingent and irregular effects. Engaging and timely, this book will be of interest to all those who seek to improve our explanations of historical change in social-scientific research.

Problem-Solving Sociology

Monica Prasad
Problem Solving Sociology Book PDF

Author : Monica Prasad
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 241 pages
File Size : 52,5 Mb
Release : 2021-10-15
Category : Reference
ISBN : 9780197558485

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Problem-Solving Sociology by Monica Prasad Pdf

A broad resource that offers tools for how to conduct problem-solving sociology in order to deepen and reformulate our understanding of society. Most students arrive in graduate sociology programs eager to engage with the pressing social and political issues of the day. Yet that initial enthusiasm does not always survive the professional socialization of graduate school. In Problem-Solving Sociology, Monica Prasad shows graduate students and early career sociologists how to conduct research that uses sociological theory to help solve real-world problems, and how to use problem-solving to improve sociological theory. Prasad discusses how to be objective when examining issues of injustice and oppression, and provides methodological strategies and plenty of exercises for research aimed at creating change. She gives examples throughout of problem-solving research conducted at all levels, from undergraduate theses to the major figures of the discipline. She also considers how to respond to some common objections; where problem-solving fits into the landscape of sociological practice; and how to build a life in problem-solving.

Pockets of Effectiveness and the Politics of State-building and Development in Africa

Sam Hickey
Pockets of Effectiveness and the Politics of State building and Development in Africa Book PDF

Author : Sam Hickey
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 305 pages
File Size : 52,6 Mb
Release : 2023-07-03
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9780192688378

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Pockets of Effectiveness and the Politics of State-building and Development in Africa by Sam Hickey Pdf

This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-BC-ND 4.0 International License. It is free to read at Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations. Why do certain parts of the state in Africa work so effectively despite operating in difficult governance contexts? How do 'pockets of bureaucratic effectiveness' emerge and become sustained over time? And what does this tell us about the prospects for state-building and development in Africa? Repeated economic and social crises have demanded that development thinkers and policy actors have had to engage with the critical role that states play in delivering development. Pockets of Effectiveness and the Politics of State-building and Development in Africa shows that politics is the driving factor that shapes how well state agencies perform their roles. It deploys a new conceptual framework – the power domains approach – to explore the shifting fortunes of key state agencies in five countries – Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zambia – over the past three decades. Our original research reveals when, how and why political rulers decide to build effective state agencies and enable them to deliver certain forms of economic development – often through forming strategic coalitions with senior bureaucrats and with international support – and also when this support falters and gives way to a politics of survival. Comparative analysis identifies two potential trajectories towards state-building in Africa, each shaped by different configurations of social and political power. The book critiques the role that international development agencies have played in (mis)shaping the state in Africa and suggests a new strategic agenda for building the state capacities required to deliver sustained development at the current juncture. The book closes with critical commentaries from two leading scholars in the field, to help place our work in context and establish the next steps for research and strategy in this increasingly important area of development theory and practice.

The Government Analytics Handbook

Daniel Rogger,Christian Schuster
The Government Analytics Handbook Book PDF

Author : Daniel Rogger,Christian Schuster
Publisher : World Bank Publications
Page : 1197 pages
File Size : 44,7 Mb
Release : 2023-10-20
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781464819810

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The Government Analytics Handbook by Daniel Rogger,Christian Schuster Pdf

The Government Analytics Handbook presents frontier evidence and practitioner insights on how to leverage data to strengthen public administration. Covering a range of microdata sources—such as administrative data and public servant surveys—as well as tools and resources for undertaking the analytics, it transforms the ability of governments to take a data-informed approach to diagnose and improve how public organizations work. Readers can order the book as a single volume in print or digital formats, or visit worldbank.org/governmentanalytics for modular access and additional hands-on tools. The Handbook is a must-have for practitioners, policy makers, academics, and government agencies. “Governments have long been assessed using aggregate governance indicators, giving us little insight into their diversity and how they can practically be improved. This pioneering handbook shows how microdata can be used to give scholars and practitioners granular and real insights into how states work, and practical guidance on the process of state-building.†? —Francis Fukuyama, Stanford University, author of State-Building: Governance and World Order in the 21st Century “The Government Analytics Handbook is the most comprehensive work on practically building government administration I have ever seen, helping practitioners to change public administration for the better.†? —Francisco Gaetani, Special Secretary for State Transformation, Government of Brazil “The machinery of the state is central to a country’s prosperity. This handbook provides insights and methodological tools for creating a better shared understanding of the realities of a state, to support the redesign of institutions, and improve the quality of public administration.†? —James Robinson, University of Chicago, coauthor of Why Nations Fail

Managing Organizations to Sustain Passion for Public Service

James L. Perry
Managing Organizations to Sustain Passion for Public Service Book PDF

Author : James L. Perry
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 333 pages
File Size : 44,8 Mb
Release : 2020-12-17
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781108843256

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Managing Organizations to Sustain Passion for Public Service by James L. Perry Pdf

New behavioural science knowledge about motivation in public service from a pioneer of the field.

An Ungovernable Foe

Natalie B. Aviles
An Ungovernable Foe Book PDF

Author : Natalie B. Aviles
Publisher : Columbia University Press
Page : 553 pages
File Size : 55,7 Mb
Release : 2024-01-23
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780231551779

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An Ungovernable Foe by Natalie B. Aviles Pdf

In American politics, medical innovation is often considered the domain of the private sector. Yet some of the most significant scientific and health breakthroughs of the past century have emerged from government research institutes. The U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) is tasked with both understanding and eradicating cancer—and its researchers have developed a surprising expertise in virus research and vaccine development. An Ungovernable Foe examines seventy years of federally funded scientific breakthroughs in the laboratories of the NCI to shed new light on how bureaucratic organizations nurture innovation. Natalie B. Aviles analyzes research and policy efforts around the search for a viral cause of leukemia in the 1960s, the discovery of HIV and the development of AIDS drugs in the 1980s, and the invention of the HPV vaccine in the 1990s. She argues that the NCI transformed generations of researchers into innovative public servants who have learned to balance their scientific and bureaucratic missions. These “scientist-bureaucrats” are simultaneously committed to conducting cutting-edge research and stewarding the nation’s investment in cancer research, and as a result they have developed an unparalleled expertise. Aviles demonstrates how the interplay of science, politics, and administration shaped the NCI into a mission-oriented agency that enabled significant breakthroughs in cancer research—and in the process, she shows how organizational cultures indelibly stamp scientific work.

Patching Development

Rajesh Veeraraghavan
Patching Development Book PDF

Author : Rajesh Veeraraghavan
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 257 pages
File Size : 45,8 Mb
Release : 2021-12-16
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780197567814

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Patching Development by Rajesh Veeraraghavan Pdf

Diving into an original and unusually positive case study from India, Patching Development shows how development programs can be designed to work. How can development programs deliver benefits to marginalized citizens in ways that expand their rights and freedoms? Political will and good policy design are critical but often insufficient due to resistance from entrenched local power systems. In Patching Development, Rajesh Veeraraghavan presents an ethnography of one of the largest development programs in the world, the Indian National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), and examines NREGA's implementation in the South Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. He finds that the local system of power is extremely difficult to transform, not because of inertia, but because of coercive counter strategy from actors at the last mile and their ability to exploit information asymmetries. Upper-level NREGA bureaucrats in Andhra Pradesh do not possess the capacity to change the power axis through direct confrontation with local elites, but instead have relied on a continuous series of responses that react to local implementation and information, a process of patching development. Patching development is a top-down, fine-grained, iterative socio-technical process that makes local information about implementation visible through technology and enlists participation from marginalized citizens through social audits. These processes are neither neat nor orderly and have led to a contentious sphere where the exercise of power over documents, institutions and technology is intricate, fluid and highly situated. A highly original account with global significance, this book casts new light on the challenges and benefits of using information and technology in novel ways to implement development programs.

Institutions Taking Root

Naazneen H. Barma,Elisabeth Huybens
Institutions Taking Root Book PDF

Author : Naazneen H. Barma,Elisabeth Huybens
Publisher : World Bank Publications
Page : 415 pages
File Size : 50,5 Mb
Release : 2014-09-09
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781464802690

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Institutions Taking Root by Naazneen H. Barma,Elisabeth Huybens Pdf

Building and operating successful public institutions is a perennial and long-term challenge for governments. Drawing on research carried out on nine public agencies in Lao PDR, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, and Timor Leste, this volume identifies the shared mechanisms underpinning institutional success in fragile states.

The Rise of Real-Life Superheroes

Peter Nowak
The Rise of Real Life Superheroes Book PDF

Author : Peter Nowak
Publisher : Douglas & McIntyre
Page : 281 pages
File Size : 47,8 Mb
Release : 2020-09-12
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781771622516

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The Rise of Real-Life Superheroes by Peter Nowak Pdf

Meanwhile, back in the darkened alleys of a city near you... trouble is brewing. A fight breaks out. A mugger shakes down an innocent tourist. Inequality is on the rise. Enter our heroes. Dark Guardian chases off an angry drug dealer in Manhattan. Mr. Xtreme charges in and breaks up a San Diego bar brawl. T.O. Ronin hugs a homeless man on the snowy streets of Toronto. These aren’t the big-screen or comic-book heroes that have been increasingly dominating pop culture. They’re real-life superheroes: individuals who take on masked personae to fight crime and help the helpless. They don’t have superpowers, but they do try to make the world a better place. Lifelong comic-book fan and veteran journalist Peter Nowak goes to the source of this phenomenon, meeting with real-life superheroes in North America and around the world to get their stories and investigate what the movement means for the future of society. To some people, real-life superheroes may seem like quirky outliers or dangerous vigilantes but, as Nowak shows, they are also archetypes whose job is to remind us of the better part of human nature.

The Better Angels of Our Nature

Steven Pinker
The Better Angels of Our Nature Book PDF

Author : Steven Pinker
Publisher : Penguin Books
Page : 834 pages
File Size : 47,9 Mb
Release : 2012-09-25
Category : Psychology
ISBN : 9780143122012

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The Better Angels of Our Nature by Steven Pinker Pdf

Faced with the ceaseless stream of news about war, crime, and terrorism, one could easily think this is the most violent age ever seen. Yet as bestselling author Pinker shows in this startling and engaging new work, just the opposite is true.

Varieties of Clientelism

Edward Aspinall,Ward Berenschot
Varieties of Clientelism Book PDF

Author : Edward Aspinall,Ward Berenschot
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
Page : 202 pages
File Size : 43,5 Mb
Release : 2022-12-26
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781000818437

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Varieties of Clientelism by Edward Aspinall,Ward Berenschot Pdf

Clientelism is a prominent feature of many of the world’s democracies and electoral authoritarian regimes. Yet the comparative study of this practice, which involves exchanging personal favours for electoral support, remains strikingly underdeveloped. This book makes the case that clientelistic politics take different forms in different countries, and that this variation matters for understanding democracy, elections, and governance. Involving collaboration by experienced observers of politics in several countries – Mexico, Ghana, Sudan to Turkey, Indonesia, the Philippines, Caribbean and Pacific Island states, and Malaysia – the chapters in this volume unpack the concept of clientelism and show that it is possible to identify different types of patronage democracies. The book proposes a comparative framework that focuses on the networks that politicians use, the type of resources they hand out, their degree of control over the distribution of state resources, and shows that the comparative study of a key informal dimension of politics offers much analytical promise for scholars of democracy and governance. Varieties of Clientelism is essential reading for scholars and students interested in clientelism, patronage democracies, comparative political economy, as well as party politics. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Democratization.

Rethinking Theories of Governance

Christopher Ansell
Rethinking Theories of Governance Book PDF

Author : Christopher Ansell
Publisher : Edward Elgar Publishing
Page : 257 pages
File Size : 43,6 Mb
Release : 2023-10-06
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781789909197

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Rethinking Theories of Governance by Christopher Ansell Pdf

Considering whether theories of governance are useful for helping policymakers to meet and tackle contemporary challenges, this insightful book reflects on how a theory becomes useful and evaluates a range of theories according to whether they are warranted, diagnostic, and dialogical.