News from Governance November 2014
An International Journal of Policy, Administration, and Institutions

Co-Editors  Alasdair S. Roberts and Robert H. Cox  Book Review Editor  Clay Wescott 
The challenge for Indonesia's new president
Joko Widodo
 
In a commentary for the next issue of Governance, Marcus Mietzner of Australian National University looks at the results of last month's election in Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country.  Enthusiasm over the election of Joko Widodo "is already giving way to a growing realization of the protracted problems" confronting the country, Mietzner says.  These include "the fight against corruption, economic reform, infrastructure development, and reduction of wasteful subsidies."  Free access to the commentary.

Also: read earlier online comments on recent elections in India and the European Union by Thomas Risse, Alexander Katsaitis, Krishna Tummala, and Rahul Mukherji.
How "delegation deals" build state capacity
 
In the current issue of Governance, Aila Matanock of the University of California, Berkeley asks whether governance delegation agreements -- international treaties by which states cede legal authority to external actors for fixed terms -- can be effective in statebuilding.  The answer, she concludes, is yes, largely because these "delegation deals" have domestic support from a ruling coalition.  Matanock draws on statistical analysis of United Nations missions as well as discussion of specific cases, including the Australia-led mission to the Solomon Islands undertaken in 2003, a "canonical case of full governance delegation" that "succeeded in restoring the rule of law and strengthening governance."  Read the article.  The article is part of a special issue on governance in areas of limited statehood edited by Thomas Risse and Stephen Krasner.
Call for papers: Fudan symposium on governance in China

 

Governance will partner with the School of International Relations and Public Affairs at Fudan University, and other institutions, to organize a symposium on governance in China in October 2015.  The call for papers is now available.  The symposium will be held in Shanghai on October 16-17.  The symposium "seeks to explain China's recent decades of development by exploring its changing institutional structures and its ability to accommodate multiple and sometimes conflicting demands in a period of rapid transition."
Talking about Governance

 

On the World Bank's CommGAP blog, Sina Odugbemi discusses Governance's special issue on limited statehood.  "It is an excellent issue of the journal and worth reading," says Odugdemi.

On the Global Integrity blog, Alan Hudson references Matt Andrews' 2010 Governance article in a discussion about the need to move "beyond the 'good governance mantra.'"

In a paper on deliberative negotiation, Mark Warren and Jane Mansbridge draw on Governance articles about transparency by Jenny De Fine Licht et al and Monika Bauhr and Marcia Grimes.

And the World Bank's iChallenge workshop, held in Paris on October 29-30, says that Francis Fukuyama's 2013 commentary in Governance has "spurred the debate" about how to measure the effectiveness of public institutions.
Book review: Controlling tobacco around the globe
 
In the current issue of Governance, Paulette Kurzer of the University of Arizona reviews Global Tobacco Control: Power, Policy, Governance and Transfer by Paul Cairney, Donley Studlar and Hadii Mamudu.  The book examines two topics, Kurzer says: Why did it take governments so long to recognize the health consequences of smoking?  And why did policy action vary if the problem is the same across the globe?  The book "is a superb examination of an important question . . . [A] first-rate account of tobacco control that will be a standard text for years to come."  Read the review.
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