Search

Begin New Search Topic Development

3471. India: Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction During the 1990s

Author:
Catherine G. Corey
Publication Date:
07-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United States Agency for International Development
Abstract:
The fiscal crisis that struck India in 1991, as the result of myriad internal and external factors, compelled the nation to adopt a series of economic reforms and liberalization policies. The genesis of the fiscal crisis lay partly in the highly protected domestic economy that maintained extensive subsidization, licensing and investment regulations, thus placing considerable burdens on the expenditures of the central government. Compounding this problem was a rapidly expanding current account deficit that had grown over time as import demand steadily increased and exports and foreign investment lagged. These conditions, in combination with external factors, generated a severe balance of payments crisis in which India came perilously close to defaulting on loans from international lenders. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narasimha Rao and Financial Minister Manmohan Singh, the Indian government initiated a series of macroeconomic reforms. This included reductions in fiscal expenditure, privatization of state-run industries, promotion of foreign investment, and liberalization of international trade policy.
Topic:
Development, Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Poverty
Political Geography:
South Asia and Asia

3472. Linking Democracy and Development: An Idea for the Times

Author:
Hal Lippman
Publication Date:
06-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United States Agency for International Development
Abstract:
IN THE POST–COLD WAR ERA, a variety of factors, some internal to USAID, some external, have prompted the emergence of linkages between democracy and governance (DG) programs and those of the Agency's other strategic goals. Downsizing, conducive host-country situations, shifts in thinking about development, and creative leaders and staff all have spurred the incorporation of democratic principles into Agency activities. In some missions, accountability, participation, responsiveness, and transparency are now an integral part of environmental, economic growth, health, and education activities. And missions have found they are achieving positive results and bolstered governance, creating synergy that promotes USAID's overall mission.
Topic:
Democratization, Development, Economics, Government, and Politics

3473. Aftermath: Women's Organizations In Postconflict El Salvador

Author:
Shelley Sperry
Publication Date:
04-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United States Agency for International Development
Abstract:
WOMEN'S ORGANIZATIONS proliferated during and after the civil war that ravaged El Salvador from 1979 through 1991. By war's end, more than a hundred different women's organizations existed in El Salvador, each generating local and regional projects and frequently working in the national political arena as well. Unlike women's movements in other Latin American nations, the women's movement in El Salvador has grown stronger in the post conflict period of emerging democracy. The two movements—democracy and women's rights—appear to be mutually supportive. The case of El Salvador suggests that helping women's groups establish autonomy and stability during, rather than following, a conflict may be crucial to ensuring future women's activism and a vital democratic civil society.
Topic:
Civil Society, Development, Gender Issues, and Politics
Political Geography:
Latin America, Central America, and El Salvador

3474. Urban and Industrial Pollution Programs: Czech Republic Case Study

Author:
Matthew Addison, Steven Gale, Keith Forbes, and Michael Gould
Publication Date:
04-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United States Agency for International Development
Abstract:
In 1995 USAID Launched the Environmental Action Program Support Project. EAPS grew out of a 1993 international conference held in Lucerne, Switzerland, to develop a joint environmental action program. The project sought to decrease environmental degradation in six central and eastern European countries that were making the transition from centrally controlled economies and authoritarian governments to open markets and more democratic institutions. The Czech Republic was the first USAID-assisted country where EAPS was implemented.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Environment, and Government
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe, Switzerland, and Czech Republic

3475. Fifteen Years On: Spanish Membership in the European Union Revisited

Author:
Charles Powell
Publication Date:
11-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Abstract:
This paper attempts to describe and account for the major changes undergone by Spain as an EU player since her accession in 1986. Many analysts appear to have espoused the view that most if not all of these can be attributed to the fact that, following the 1996 general election, a decidedly pro-integrationist Felipe González was replaced as prime minister by a vaguely eurosceptical José María Aznar. Undoubtedly, ideological considerations (and, more importantly perhaps, differences in political culture) must be taken into account when examining the evolution of Spain's European policy over the past fifteen years. However, this paper will argue that changing policy styles and contents should be understood in terms of both the learning process undergone by all new member states as they mature, and the need to adapt and respond to developments within the EU, most notably the evolution of the European integration process itself.
Topic:
Development and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
Europe

3476. Observing the 2002 Mexico Elections

Author:
Marcela Szymanski
Publication Date:
03-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Carter Center
Abstract:
The Carter Center has a long history of engagement with Mexico with the shared goal of improving the electoral system in that country. In the early 1990s, the Center helped national observer groups to form and sent international observers to assist in domestic election monitoring. It also invited Mexicans to observe the U.S. elections in 1992. In 1994, the Center was among the first international observers to monitor elections in Mexico, and its observations helped shape electoral reforms that framed those and the 1997 elections, which the Center also observed.
Topic:
Democratization and Development
Political Geography:
Latin America and Mexico

3477. Observing Political Change in Venezuela: The Bolivarian Constitution and 2000 Elections

Author:
Laura Neuman and Jennifer McCoy
Publication Date:
02-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Carter Center
Abstract:
Venezuela under President Hugo Chávez undertook a bold experiment to revamp its political system and address economic inequities and poverty. The country held seven votes in two years as voters chose Hugo Chávez to lead them in December 1998 and then supported his radical reform program, beginning with a new constitution. A Constitutional Assembly was elected in July 1999 to draft a new constitution, which voters approved in December 1999. Every elected position in the country was then presented to the voters again in a two-stage election in July and December 2000. While we do not believe that the election irregularities would have changed the 2000 presidential results, the significant politicization of the elections and organizational deficiencies contributed to a lack of confidence in the process and the nonpresidential results, thus leading us to characterize the July 2000 elections as flawed.
Topic:
Democratization and Development
Political Geography:
South America, Latin America, and Venezuela

3478. CERI: Politics Behind The Mask: Studying Contemporary Carnivals in Political Perspective, Theoretical and Methodological Suggestions

Author:
Denis-Constant Martin
Publication Date:
11-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales
Abstract:
Carnivals are a type of rite of renewal where mask and laughter spur the invention of highly symbolic modes of expression. They offer opportunities for the study of social representations and, since they are both recurring and changing, they constitute a ground where not only social change can be assessed, but where the meanings of social change can be best understood. The first part of this paper reviews and discusses theories of carnival, in particular those related to its relationship to power and social hierarchies. The second part proposes a few methodological suggestions for the study of carnival from a political perspective, emphasizing semiotic analysis and surveys using non-directive methods.
Topic:
Civil Society, Development, Government, and Politics

3479. "Injustes" sanctions: les constructions internationales de la dénonciation des embargos et l'escalade de la vertu abolitionniste

Author:
Ariel Colonomos
Publication Date:
11-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales
Abstract:
At a time when the use of sanctions has intensified considerably, criticism directed at embargos is gaining ground. In interpreting this significant rise in opposition, this article shows how and why mobilization against sanctions has developed, what sort of actors are involved and what forms it takes. This research brings to light the formation of networks and coalitions against both unilateral and multilateral measures. It underlines the role, status and scope of those whose business it is to fashion norms, by questioning the main analytical categories their strategies are usually based on. An expertise in embargo assessment, destined to levy judgment on a type of very specific violence, is developing in both national and transnational public spaces. This research, analyzing the emergence of this expertise, sheds light on the development of a conception of unjust sanctions and identifies the mechanisms of its construction on an international scale. This text in particular underlines the importance of traditions of just war, especially their reinterpretation by actors on the international scene and its moral norm-makers. Considering the development of these standards allows us to grasp one of the most decisive aspects of the use of force in the post-cold war world, as well as the establishment of certain international reforms.
Topic:
Development, Economics, International Cooperation, and International Trade and Finance

3480. The Russian Press in the Post-Soviet Era: A Case Study of Izvestia

Author:
Adam Jones
Publication Date:
07-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas
Abstract:
The progress of the Russian press in the late Soviet and post-Soviet eras can be described (with apologies to Vladimir Lenin) as "two steps forward, on step back." The flowering of glasnost (openness) under Mikhail Gorbachev le to a "golden age" of Soviet journalism, including an explosion of new publications and a lifting of nearly all state restrictions on journalists' professional activities. However, the collapse of the USSR and the onset of material crisis in 1991-92 quickly produced a winnowing of the press and a retrenchment on the part of surviving publications. At the same time, powerful new forces - especially oligarchs and regional and leaders - arose to vie with the state for influence over post-Soviet media. This paper explores the trajectory of one of the leading newspapers of the Soviet and post-Soviet period, Izvestia, in the light of those broader trends. While Izvestia emerged from the ashes of Soviet communism with formal control over its material plant and journalistic collective, it was soon subjected to a tug-of-war between powerful actors determined to control its destiny - first the Communist-dominated Duma (parliament), and then large corporations and business oligarchs. The struggle led, in 1997, to the dismissal of the paper's editor. Oleg Golembiovsky, and the departure of many staff to form Novye Izvestia (New Izvestia) - though this publication too, was also unwilling or unable to avoid the temptations of a close alliance with one of the leading oligarchs, Boris Berezovsky. The findings are place in the broader comparative context of the press in transition, based on the author's research into process of media liberalization and transition worldwide.
Topic:
Cold War, Development, and Government
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, and Asia