Governing Failure
Cambridge University Press, 1/31/2014
EAN 9781107035041, ISBN10: 110703504X
Hardcover, 280 pages, 23.4 x 15.6 x 1.8 cm
Language: English
Jacqueline Best argues that the 1990s changes in IMF, World Bank and donor policies, towards what some have called the 'Post-Washington Consensus,' were driven by an erosion of expert authority and an increasing preoccupation with policy failure. Failures such as the Asian financial crisis and the decades of despair in sub-Saharan Africa led these institutions to develop governance strategies designed to avoid failure: fostering country ownership, developing global standards, managing risk and vulnerability and measuring results. In contrast to the structural adjustment era when policymakers were confident in their solutions, this is an era of provisional governance, in which key actors are aware of the possibility of failure even as they seek to inoculate themselves against it. Best considers the implications of this shift, asking if it is a positive change and whether it is sustainable. This title is available as Open Access on Cambridge Books Online and via Knowledge Unlatched.
Part I. Understanding How Global Governance Works
1. Introduction
2. A meso-level analysis
Part II. History
3. What came before
4. Transformations
Part III. New Governance Strategies
5. Fostering ownership
6. Developing global standards
7. Managing risk and vulnerability
8. Measuring results
Part IV. Conclusion
9. The politics of failure and the future of provisional governance.