Rethinking governance: why have international efforts to promote transformation processes remained so limited?

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2 Rethinking governance: why have international efforts to promote transformation processes remained so limited? Presentation prepared for a GIZ workshop Alina Rocha Menocal April 2013

3 Outline of presentation 1. Defining governance 2. Why governance matters and governance in a post framework 3. Governance: methodological challenges to assess impact 4. Good Governance agenda: challenges and limitations 5. Key lessons and implications 3

4 Defining governance Governance is more than just government It has to do with the nature of relations between state and society It is also process-oriented how not just what is done As such, governance can be understood as: The rules that regulate the public realm the space where state as well as economic and societal actors interact to make decisions and the processes and institutions, both formal and informal, through which public authority is exercised 4

5 Why governance matters Governance and the quality of institutions is crucial in enabling development. Governance processes and institutional dynamics are essential in explaining differences in progress in development, including MDGs. Progress gaps have been clearest in fragile and conflict affected states, where governance is weakest. The New Deal agreed among the g7+ group of fragile states emphasizes the need for effective governance as a (pre)-requisite for development in other areas. 5

6 Governance post-2015 Domestic governance has emerged as a critical piece missing from the MDG framework. There is an on-going debate on how governance should be incorporated into a post-2015 development consensus. Debates remain open. A variety of ideas have been put on the table, but there is far from an agreed position on this. Transparency and open access to data and information has perhaps gained the most traction. 6

7 Governance post-2015 The lack of concrete governance targets in the MDG framework is not accidental. This was a politically sensitive area in 2000, and it remains so today. How governance objectives are framed in a post-2015 framework is likely to play a key role in determining the outcome of the process. It will be important to focus on institutional functionality rather than form, which tends to be prescriptive/normative. 7

8 Methodological challenges Governance remains an under-evaluated area in development: Governance is complex and difficult to measure There is a lack of suitable indicators Reliable baseline and longitudinal data are scarce There is also a problem of attribution M&E have not been consistently incorporated 8 The evidence base remains scattered /unconsolidated

9 GG: challenges and limitations There is widespread agreement that the success of governance interventions has been uneven at best. The intuition that problematic governance is a key cause of poor socioeconomic outcomes may be powerful, But the empirical case that good governance is necessary for development progress is less straightforward than tends to be proclaimed. 9

10 GG: challenges and limitations The Good Governance agenda emerging from the 1990s onward is ambitious. It targets a lengthy list of objectives captured by the World Bank Institute Governance Indicators. But it has considerable drawbacks that have limited its impact and effectiveness: It is highly normative It espouses a technocratic approach to development It is excessively comprehensive and demanding 10

11 GG: challenges and limitations Normative slant: Overly idealistic and normative view of the political process Reliance on blueprints and best practices transplanted from the developed world despite mantra of no one size fits all Excessive reliance on standardised approaches focused almost exclusively on formal institutions. Form is privileged over functionality. Informal institutions tend to be ignored. 11

12 GG: challenges and limitations Technocratic Approach: Tendency to see development as a technocratic exercise. Implicit assumption that all good things go together without sufficiently recognising that politics matter. Lack of awareness of the political nature of reform processes: reforms are fundamentally about changing informal behaviours and altering power relations. Changing the way governments work poses political risks: e.g., trade-offs between providing public goods and serving powerful vested interests to maintain stability. 12

13 GG: challenges and limitations Excessively demanding: The GG paradigm implies a very wide range of institutional preconditions for development. It calls for improvements that touch virtually all aspects of the public sector. But the long list may be beyond what is needed or feasible and is a-historic. 13

14 GG: challenges and limitations These assumptions have contributed to poor programme design: Unsubstantiated theories of change Weak problem analysis Poor contextual tailoring Activities founded on poorly articulated hypotheses and causal mechanisms. All this makes robust M&E difficult. 14

15 Key lessons and implications There is a need to build a more thorough and systematic evidence base to understand the impact of governance interventions This requires a focus on rigorous evaluation, as well as further research to fill gaps in knowledge. But knowledge gaps and constraints are not the most significant challenges. After approximately two decades of GG promotion, some important lessons on improved practice have emerged. 15

16 Key lessons and implications Start with the local context: Develop solid understanding of domestic dynamics at work, and Tailor interventions accordingly. Move away from normative prescriptions and encourage multiple paths to institutional performance: Best fit over best practice Recognise development as fundamentally political: Be realistic about what is feasible Focus on fostering enabling environment and influencing incentives 16

17 Key lessons and implications Focus first on basic reforms and gradually build further reforms from there: Modest and selective entry points can have partial success and can lay the basis for later progress. Recognise the long-term nature of promoting development. Progress is not linear, so there is a need to develop a higher tolerance for risks and setbacks (within donors but also their home publics). 17

18 Key lessons and implications Improve project and programme design: longer timeframes, more realistic assessments of how change happens, greater flexibility and adaptability. Better suited and meaningful indicators for governance. Given the emphasis being placed on results and the way the results agenda is being conceived, there has been a great drive towards identifying indicators that can be easily quantified and measured. 18

19 Key lessons and implications Improving programme design is also likely to call for different ways of working as advisors and facilitators / brokers of change rather than simply as funders or implementers of governance programmes. How best to capture these more dynamic/organic and flexible processes is an open question, but there is agreement that this cannot be done within a traditional logframe. Developing staff that has the necessary skills and feels comfortable to engage in this kind of more politically aware work is also essential. 19

20 ODI is the UK s leading independent think tank on international development and humanitarian issues. We aim to inspire and inform policy and practice to reduce poverty by locking together high-quality applied research and practical policy advice. The views presented here are those of the speaker, and do not necessarily represent the views of ODI or our partners. Overseas Development Institute 203 Blackfriars Road, London, SE1 8NJ T: a.rochamenocal@odi.org.uk

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