Professor of Development Politics, International Development Department, University of Birmingham & FCDO Senior Research Fellow (Conflict & Governance)
Quick reads for short journeys (blogs/policy briefs/podcasts) ENACT, Organised Crime Index Africa I’m still working my way through this and thinking about the different ways in which it could be used, but this looks like a great initiative from ENACT. I was lucky enough to see Tuesday Reitano present some data at a serious organised … Continue reading What I’m reading this month: October 2019 edition
We had so many entries this month from other DFID colleagues that I limited the number of items I added to the email list, saving some goodies for next month. Southern Rail journeys (papers/journal articles/longer thought pieces) Julian Barbera, Thinking and working politically in the Vanuatu skills sector: supporting local leadership and building a political … Continue reading What I’m reading this month: April 2019 edition
As part of my role as Senior Research Fellow at DFID, one of the things I've been doing with my colleague, Alisha Patel, is to pull together a 'What we're reading on governance & conflict this month' email for colleagues far and wide. We've had fantastic feedback on it, and every month more and more … Continue reading What I’m reading this month: new feature
Originally posted on the OECD's Institutions & Stability blog So just as we embark on the most ambitious global development project yet in the form of the new Sustainable Development Goals, some hefty questions are being asked about development assistance. And the answer we keep hearing – in one form or another – is the … Continue reading Beyond the Limits: Can we Think and Work Politically to achieve the SDGs?
Originally posted on the DLP Opinions blog With Niheer Dasandi and Mark Robinson Many well-intentioned development programmes founder in the face of resistance from entrenched elites who feel threatened by a potential loss of power and resources. Resources intended for the poor and disadvantaged benefit the rich and powerful. In response, development practitioners and academics … Continue reading How does politically informed programming shape development outcomes?
From a restaurant in Jakarta, David Hudson & Heather Marquette with some new thinking on power, politics and governance What advice would you give to a novice governance advisor working for a bilateral donor going into the field for the first time? Want to know how some of the top governance experts, advisors, researchers and … Continue reading What are governance advisers missing with ‘Political Economy Analysis’? How can they do better?
Originally posted on the DLP Opinions blog Everyone associates Brazil with football and the World Cup. Brazilians pouring out onto the street last summer to protest the competition being hosted in their country was last thing many of us expected to see. In over one hundred cities, over one million people rallied by social media … Continue reading Development cooperation and fighting corruption: thinking differently
This guestie comes from Birmingham University’s Paul Jackson and Heather Marquette. Acres (how many football pitches-worth, we wonder) have been written about the footballing earthquake that followed the arrest of several FIFA officials and the melodramatic end of Sepp Blatter’s reign. But here’s another angle. In the world of development politics there are striking parallels between … Continue reading Reforming FIFA: what can we learn from experience with (other) corrupt autocrats?
Originally posted on the OECD's Institutions & Stability blog Development cooperation partners are increasingly asked by their constituencies to show that they give value for money. The financial crisis has hit public agencies around the world hard, and many countries have cut their development cooperation budgets. Under these circumstances, development practitioners are under strong pressure from … Continue reading Communicating anti-corruption messages in development
Originally posted on the DLP Opinions blog With Caryn Peiffer Despite the significant investment, perhaps as much as a hundred million dollars a year, being poured into fighting corruption by the international community, most systemically corrupt countries are considered to be just as corrupt now as they ever were. Recent events in Ukraine illustrate the … Continue reading Corruption: unpacking the black box of political will
Professor Heather Marquette 