Conflicting theory and practice
Donor mechanisms for control and recipients’ desires for autonomy often collide in the development aid universe, shows a NUPI researcher in a recent book.
Contributing to Africa's Peacekeeping Capacity: 20 Years of Training for Peace in Africa
Myanmar elections – what is at stake?
The voting on November 8 takes place within three watershed political transitions. Watch Dr. Marc Lanteignes NUPI talk on the upcoming elections here.
Why Ukraine matters
NUPI has the pleasure of inviting you to a public seminar with James Sherr from Chatham House.
Hva bør Europa gjøre? Migrasjonskrisen
Først må den akutte migrasjonskrisen løses. Deretter må Europa finne varige politiske og institusjonelle løsninger.
The limits of global authority: World Bank benchmarks in Ethiopia and Malawi
Global benchmarks (re)shape political conversations and institutionalise authoritative languages. It does not necessarily follow, however, that benchmarks can exert a lasting or significant influence over policies and behaviour of benchmarked actors. We analyse how the World Bank uses benchmarks to manage its relations with both donors and recipient governments. We analyse the role of the World Bank’s Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (CPIA), both at headquarters and in relation to the recent history of two countries in Africa: Ethiopia and Malawi. We find that the CPIA is not – and contrary to what one would expect from the CPIA’s nominal function and the literature on benchmarks – a very important tool for signalling incentives and allocating funds, or shaping the policy dialogue or the World Bank’s strategy in these two countries. Rather, the CPIA is used highly selectively as one factor among many in the negotiations between World Bank staff and governments. We conclude that the CPIA helps establish the World Bank as an actor that embodies global authority on development issues, including with donors, but that there is a tension between such global authority on the one hand, and concrete authority to shape policy in domestic contexts, on the other.
The Expert-Executive Nexus in the European Administrative System: Expert Groups and the European Commission
Drawing on research from the administrative sciences and using organizational, institutional and decision-making theories, this volume examines the emerging bureaucratic framework of the EU and highlights that analyzing the patterns and dynamics of the EU's administrative capacities is essential to understand how it shapes European public policy.