Search

Begin New Search Topic Governance

1001. Can Asia lead? Power ambitions and global governance in the twentyfirst century

Author:
Amitav Acharya
Publication Date:
07-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Chatham House
Abstract:
Is the much hyped 'rise of Asia' translating into global public good? The leading Asian powers, China, India and Japan, demand a greater share of the decisionmaking and leadership of global institutions. Yet, they seem to have been more preoccupied with enhancing their national power and status than contributing to global governance, including the management of global challenges. This is partly explained by a realpolitik outlook and ideology, and the legacies of India's and China's historical identification with the 'Third World' bloc. Another key factor is the continuing regional legitimacy deficit of the Asian powers. This article suggests that the Asian powers should increase their participation in and contribution to regional cooperation as a stepping stone to a more meaningful contribution to global governance.
Topic:
Governance
Political Geography:
Japan, China, India, and Asia

1002. Índice de Percepción sobre la Gobernabilidad democrática (IPG). El caso de Zacatecas. Una herramienta para medir la calidad de la democracia.

Author:
Leonel Álvarez Yáñez, Guadalupe Margarita González Hernández, and Jesús Becerra Villegas
Publication Date:
01-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
CONfines de Relaciones Internacionales y Ciencia Política
Abstract:
Este artículo expone una investigación en la que se propuso calcular la percepción de gobernabilidad democrática, otorgándole una alta significa - tividad para evaluar los cambios de la democracia en México. La medición combina la satisfacción de los ciudadanos con el desempeño de las insti - tuciones, sus gobernantes y ellos mismos (los ciudadanos) como actores activos para mejorar la democracia mexicana. A tal efecto, se propuso que el entrevistado hiciera una evaluación de la situación socioeconómica de su entorno, a fin de comprender su percepción sobre la efectividad del gobierno en lograr éxitos económicos.
Topic:
Civil Society, Democratization, and Governance
Political Geography:
Latin America

1003. El cambio en el régimen de políticas a través de la crisis. Análisis del desempeño gubernamental frente a las crisis en Argentina, España y México.

Author:
Juan Carlos Montero Bagatella
Publication Date:
05-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
CONfines de Relaciones Internacionales y Ciencia Política
Abstract:
Crises are unexpected events that trigger and enable change in the policy regime. To analyze how the policy paradigm changes, this paper analyzes three different crises: Argentina in 2000-2003, Spain in 2008-2011, and Mexico in 1994-1996. The question of the article is: How does crisis trigger change in the policy regime? To answer, is shown that crisis destroy the preexisting government's coalitions, enable the formation of new coalitions that face the crisis that are also substituted after the crisis for a new coalition to institutionalize the new policy paradigm.
Topic:
Democratization, Politics, and Governance
Political Geography:
Latin America and Mexico

1004. The future of the Arctic: cauldron of conflict or zone of peace?

Author:
Oran R Young
Publication Date:
01-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Chatham House
Abstract:
The forces of climate change and globalization are transforming the Arctic, tightening the links between this seemingly remote region and the world at large with regard to matters of environmental protection, sustainable development, and the pursuit of peace. This has triggered an explosion of both popular and scholarly interest in the far north. Much of the resultant literature is marked by persistent expectations that the Arctic will become the scene of escalating jurisdictional conflicts, resource wars, a new great game and even armed clashes during the coming years. Yet as the books considered in this review article make clear, these expectations are greatly exaggerated; there is much to be said for the proposition that armed conflict is less likely to occur in the Arctic than in most other parts of the world anytime soon. What is needed is an alternative paradigm to provide a basis for understanding the significance of the profound changes now eroding the old order in the Arctic and establishing a basis for framing innovative governance arrangements capable of ensuring the future of the Arctic as a zone of peace.
Topic:
Development and Governance

1005. Campaign disconnect: operational progress and strategic obstacles in Afghanistan, 2009–2011

Author:
Rudra Chaudhuri and Theo Farrell
Publication Date:
03-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Chatham House
Abstract:
Success in war depends on alignment between operations and strategy. Commonly, such alignment takes time as civilian and military leaders assess the effectiveness of operations and adjust them to ensure that strategic objectives are achieved. This article assesses prospects for the US-led campaign in Afghanistan. Drawing on extensive field research, the authors find that significant progress has been made at the operational level in four key areas: the approach to counterinsurgency operations, development of Afghan security forces, growth of Afghan sub-national governance and military momentum on the ground. However, the situation is bleak at the strategic level. The article identifies three strategic obstacles to campaign success: corruption in Afghan national government, war-weariness in NATO countries and insurgent safe havens in Pakistan. These strategic problems require political developments that are beyond the capabilities of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). In other words, further progress at the operational level will not bring 'victory'. It concludes, therefore, that there is an operational- strategic disconnect at the heart of the ISAF campaign.
Topic:
Security, NATO, and Governance
Political Geography:
Pakistan and Afghanistan

1006. Protectors of Putin's vertical: Russian power ministries before the 2011-2012 elections

Author:
Alexander Golts
Publication Date:
09-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Finnish Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
Contrary to the traditional behaviour during the election period, the Russian government is risking irritating the security ministries and agencies by conducting extremely painful reforms in the Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interior. However, the authorities cannot avoid such reforms because of the total inefficiency of these two “power ministries”. In the aftermath of the Russian-Georgian conflict in August 2008, the Defence Ministry decided to carry out the most radical military reform undertaken in Russia over the past 100 years. However, it is still unclear whether the reformers will be able to resolve the main problem concerning the military construction – the repeal of conscription. In contrast to the Armed Forces, the reform of the Ministry of the Interior does not even touch the major deficiencies in the law enforcement agencies, namely their centralization, lack of public control, and the prevalence of repressive functions over protection of citizens. The ongoing reform is merely a great purge. The country's leadership believes that by firing corrupt police officers, it can solve the problem of corruption in general. The reform of the Security Council and the rejection of any reform of the Ministry of the Interior troops is a prescription for possible public unrest rather than an attempt to improve inter-agency coordination. The genuine reason for these reforms is the complete exhaustion of Prime Minister Putin's model of organizing the security forces. Yet, the next president will need their complete loyalty because of the real possibility of public unrest in the next few years.
Topic:
Corruption, Democratization, and Governance
Political Geography:
Russia

1007. Private School Chains in Chile: Do Better Schools Scale Up?

Author:
Gregory Elacqua, Humberto Santos, Dante Contreras, and Felipe Salazar
Publication Date:
08-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
There is a persistent debate over the role of scale of operations in education. Some argue that school franchises offer educational services more effectively than do small independent schools. Skeptics counter that large, centralized operations create hard-to-manage bureaucracies and foster diseconomies of scale and that small schools are more effective at promoting higher-quality education. The answer to this question has profound implications for U.S. education policy, because reliably scaling up the best schools has proven to be a particularly difficult problem. If there are policies that would make it easier to replicate the most effective schools, systemwide educational quality could be improved substantially.
Topic:
Development, Education, and Governance
Political Geography:
United States, Latin America, and Chile

1008. Capital Inadequacies: The Dismal Failure of the Basel Regime of Bank Capital Regulation

Author:
Kevin Dowd, Martin Hutchinson, Jimi Hinchliffe, and Simon Ashby
Publication Date:
07-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
The Basel regime is an international system of capital adequacy regulation designed to strengthen banks' financial health and the safety and soundness of the financial system as a whole. It originated with the 1988 Basel Accord, now known as Basel I, and was then overhauled. Basel II had still not been implemented in the United States when the financial crisis struck, and in the wake of the banking system collapse, regulators rushed out Basel III.
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, Markets, Monetary Policy, and Governance
Political Geography:
United States

1009. Intercity Buses: The Forgotten Mode

Author:
Randal O'Toole
Publication Date:
06-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
The debate over President Obama's fantastically expensive high-speed rail program has obscured the resurgence of a directly competing mode of transportation: intercity buses. Entrepreneurial immigrants from China and recently privatized British transportation companies have developed a new model for intercity bus operations that provides travelers with faster service at dramatically reduced fares.
Topic:
Economics, Markets, Infrastructure, and Governance
Political Geography:
United States and China

1010. Federal Higher Education Policy and the Profitable Nonprofits

Author:
Vance Fried
Publication Date:
06-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Undergraduate education is a highly profitable business for nonprofit colleges and universities. They do not show profits on their books, but instead take their profits in the form of spending on some combination of research, graduate education, low-demand majors, low faculty teaching loads, excess compensation, and featherbedding. The industry's high profits come at the expense of students and taxpayer.
Topic:
Economics, Education, Markets, Privatization, and Governance