Leader,Protester, Enabler,Spoiler: Aid Strategies and Donor Politics in Institutional Assistance

Aid co‐ordination has come to be seen as a miracle cure for the ills of donor proliferation. However, in weak states where aid conditionality may be a catalyst for institutional change, the ideal of aid co‐ordination is conceptually suspect, and in some instances politically counterproductive. Co‐ordination is one of the two solutions to the collective‐action problem that the public good of effective institutional conditionality generates; donor leadership is the other. The desirability of each solution depends on every donor's commitment and presence, which together generate a four‐fold typology: leader, protester, enabler, and spoiler. As long as there is at least one enabler or spoiler donor present, aid co‐ordination will be less effective than donor leadership.     

法律诊所与法律赋能的有机结合： 法律赋能诊所

随着诊所式法律教育和法律赋能理念的发展,两者相结合的法律赋能诊所成为一种新型的法律诊所形式。法律诊所和法律赋能在目的上彼此接近,在气质上彼此契合。一方面,法律赋能为法律诊所提供了新的思路和主题,另一方面,法律诊所为法律赋能提供了新的路径和资源,因此,法律赋能诊所这一形式颇有价值。强调替代性争端解决机制的作用,以社区为基础,注重当事人的参与,均构成了法律赋能诊所的特点。而以学生及当事人利益为依归,以法律赋能为基础更是这一诊所形式必须坚持的价值原则。在这一原则的指导下,法律赋能诊所可以开展个案法律援助、社区法律教育、社区法工培训、社区法律调研和法律政策倡导等活动。为了促进法律赋能诊所的发展,可以用量性和质性方法对其管理和教学质量、赋能成效进行监测和评估。     

对外援助与经济增长关系研究述评

国际援助既是外交行为,也是经济行为。在外交和政治目标之外,援助对一国经济增长的影响也是研究者关注的核心问题。学术界和政界曾一度迷信对外援助给经济增长所带来的直接正面影响。然而,现实中巨额的外援并未给第三世界受援对象带来期待中的可喜变化,学界开始反思,有一种倾向认为援助不仅未能给经济带来正向影响,反而有损经济增长。然而,这类结论有矫枉过正之嫌,此后越来越多的研究集中于考察援助未能有效促进增长的内外因素。这些探讨都试图找到对外援助与经济增长之间的普遍性联系,消弭了援助本身和受援对象的特殊性;在研讨援助与经济增长的关系时,都倾向于从受援对象方面来寻找原因和证据;现有的研究建立在传统援助的数据基础之上,忽视了来自发展中的新兴援助者的援助实践,而新兴援助者正给援助与经济增长提供越来越多正相关数据,有望推进该领域的进一步研究。     

西方视野中的中国对外援助研究

伴随着中国对外援助金额和影响的扩大,西方学者开始关注中国对外援助这一议题,并在过去不到十年的时间内有了一定数量的研究成果.文章试图对迄今为止国外学者和发展研究机构的中国对外援助研究进行全面系统的梳理和回顾,分析其视角和关注要点,以为国内学者未来的研究提供借鉴.整体而言,西方学者的相关研究可以概括为三个方面的内容:对中国对外援助概况的客观介绍,对中国对外援助方式和影响的评价,以及探讨中国在国际援助体系中的作用及与传统援助国的关系和未来.     

The institutional challenges of participatory communication in international aid

This article offers an explanation for the limited uses of participatory communication in development by taking an institutionalist perspective that examines prevalent notions about communication and organizational uses in international aid institutions. The argument is that institutional goals and dynamics determine the use of disciplinary and theoretical approaches. The selection of specific communication approaches is not primarily based on their analytical or normative value, but rather, on institutional factors and expectations. Institutional dynamics undercut the potential contributions of participatory communication in three ways. First, bureaucratic requirements favor the use of informational models over participatory approaches to communication. Standard institutional procedures inside development agencies, donors and governments perpetuate understandings and uses of communication as a set of technical skills to disseminate messages. Second, the weak status of communication as a field of study and practice in development organizations undermine the prospects for expanding the understanding of communication that do not fit prevalent institutional expectations. As long as technical experts in public health or other fields expect communication to be ‘the art of messaging,’ communication staff lacks autonomy to make decisions and incorporate participatory approaches. Third, the institutional predominance of a technical mindset also limits the uses of participation thinking. The prioritization of technical perspectives decouples ‘development’ programs from local processes of participation and change.     

Lost in translation: The World Bank and the Paris Declaration

The Paris Declaration embodies the consensus that country ownership of donor programmes is vital, and above all the principle that donors should base their programmes on developing country priorities. The Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) has assessed the World Bank as performing relatively well against the Paris targets, though not moving towards full compliance. In Sri Lanka and Côte d'Ivoire, however, the Bank pays only lip service to the governments’ priorities. The Paris commitment is swamped by the influence of the Bank's governing Board and its US‐nominated President, its lending imperative and the professional preoccupations of its staff. Real implementation of the Bank's Paris commitment would entail, ideally, a reform of Bank governance and a contractual mechanism for developing countries to hold the Bank (and other donors) to their Paris promises. Less ambitiously, the Bank and other donors may still take limited but precise action to ensure that country priorities are respected and ownership becomes a reality. In the Bank, it might be enough for the Bank's President to make true adherence to the Paris Declaration a personal priority, and to nominate one of his senior managers to follow up.     

How context influences the ideologies and strategies of disabled people’s organisations: a case study from Cambodia

Abstract

Studies of disability movements have centred on exploring how movements have emerged and how their strategies have been devised to effectively advocate for the rights of the people with disabilities they represent. However, little attention has been focused on examining their organisational contexts and how they shape ideologies and choice of strategies, which have implications for the success of their advocacy endeavours. This article seeks to contribute to knowledge in this area by studying the case of a disabled people’s organisation in Cambodia. The resource dependency of disabled people’s organisations on international development partners results in their ideologies and strategies being driven by the latter. This has not only fragmented their resources, but also made their endeavours less relevant to the needs of people with disabilities. This may act to prevent such organisations from building a common ground for collective action, and from effectively pressing for social change.     

The social capital of obese persons: implication for self-help/mutual aid groups and social work practice

This study investigates the amount of social capital possessed by obese persons. This is an interesting issue for social work because the relational attitude of users and their social capital are crucial for the efficacy and sustainability of helping actions. The study found that the social capital of a sample of obese persons undergoing obesity treatment in an Italian hospital ward did not differ from that of the general Italian population and no association between the BMI of the obese patients and the characteristics of their social capital was found. Overall the social capital of the obese patients was similar to that of the general population. This can be considered a useful prerequisite for the launching of recovery projects based on the involvement and reinforcement of interpersonal relations, using the social capital of the obese people to communicate and support a course of treatment structured according to the methodology of relational social work, particularly through self-help/mutual aid groups.     

Framing the results agenda in Swedish development co‐operation

The demand for results within international development co‐operation has increased over recent decades. Although many development actors agree on the necessity of improving their reporting on results, there is no general definition of what a result is or what the so‐called results agenda entails. With examples from Swedish development co‐operation and Swedish development relations with Uganda, this article explores how development actors are framing the results agenda. The findings, drawn from document analysis and interviews with stakeholders in Sweden and Uganda, reveal that Swedish development actors have different ways of describing the problem they intend to address with the results agenda, leading to misunderstandings over the implementation of the agenda and the effectiveness of the development co‐operation.     

US foreign aid and economic policy concessions*

Why do donors continue to provide foreign aid despite its failure to help poor countries over the past several decades? While some scholars argue that foreign aid is purely for humanitarian purposes, others assert that such aid serves as a tool to pressure recipient countries into accepting policy concessions. In this study, we subject these arguments to empirical testing using a dataset that integrates the amount of US aid and economic policies of recipient countries for 1995–2012. The findings suggest that aid decisions correspond to the interests of the United States, such as policy concessions in economic and business liberalization. However, an increase in US aid is not directly associated with further economic reforms in recipient countries. We conclude that US foreign aid programmes are strategic in nature and successful not in alleviating economic problems in recipient countries but, at the very least, in buying their policy compliance.