Learning about the ‘mechanics of governance’ with DFID colleagues & researchers

This blog was originally published on the DFID Research blog and was called 'The machinery of government and the mechanics of governance: Findings from the Uganda Governance Evidence Week'. It was co-authored with DFID colleagues - Peter Evans, Alisha Patel and David Pedley. In October 2018, DFID Research and Evidence Division (RED) and DFID Uganda …

Bags of gold as an anti-corruption strategy?

My colleague, Laurence Cooley, and I have just finished a book chapter on 'Corruption and Post-Conflict Reconstruction' for a forthcoming collection, and we wanted to compare three cases to see if any specific lessons can be drawn about what worked, what didn't and why. We chose Bad, Worse and Rock Bottom as our cases - …

Why ‘going with the grain’ is harder for donors than is often appreciated

This is a talk I gave at the New Perspectives on Conflict and Security Second Annual Conference on 'Civil War and the State-building Challenge', held at the University of Birmingham on the 17th and 18th September 2012, sponsored by the Institute for Conflict, Cooperation & Security (ICCS). My talk was in the closing roundtable on 'Practitioner Perspectives: Government, …

Discussing transparency & accountability in fragile states at ODI

Last Friday, I was discussant at an excellent event organised by ODI on 'Transparency & accountability in fragile states'. Transparency and accountability in fragile states: why it matters and lessons from experience 15 April 2011 11:00-12:30 (GMT+01 (BST)) - Public event, London |Share The impact of corruption and lack of transparency on development progress, particularly in fragile …

Presentation on state-building and aid policy

I will be presenting a paper on 'Marrying state-building, governance and aid policy: Civil partnership or irreconcilable differences', with Zoe Scott of Oxford Policy Management, at the forthcoming workshop on 'Protecting Aid Funds in Unstable Governance Environments'. This is being held at the Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon, on 18 & 19 May2010, …

Upcoming conference – ECPR General Conference, Potsdam, 10-12 September

I am going to be speaking at the ECPR General Conference in Potsdam in September, as part of a panel on 'Democratization & institution-building: Recasting the structure-agency debate in democracy promotion & "transitology"',  in the section 'Political Development Between Democratization & Conflict'. The paper will be titled 'Donor-funded Civic Education in Kenya, 2000-2009: From democratisation …