International Organizations and Good Governance – External Conditionality and Internal Reforms
Description
This is a specialization course for students following the track International Administration. In recent decades, processes of globalization have been accompanied with an increasing role for a number of international organizations such as the EU, the IMF, the World Bank and several others. These and other international organizations devote considerable resources to the promotion of democracy, administrative reform, financial regulation and better governance. As their role becomes more important, questions arise how legitimate the requirements and conditions set by international organizations are and to what extent they themselves are able to adhere to the principles and norms they promote in terms of both democracy and effectiveness.
The course explores the interrelationship between international organizations, their goals and objectives and the effectiveness of reform. We examine reform and especially administrative reform, both in countries that are the target of reform and the organizations themselves. In this way, the course provides a crucial link that illustrates, for public administration students, the connection between reforms of governance and the effectiveness and legitimacy of international organizations.
Course objectives
By the end of this course, students should have attained:
A broad awareness of the role some of the most prominent international organizations play in governance in various parts of the world
An broad understanding of the goals and objectives of key international organizations such as the EU, the IMF, the World Bank, the Council of Europe
A broad understanding of the way ideas of good governance have been incorporated in the strategies and requirements of these international organizations
A broad understanding of the tool of conditionality as applied by international organizations and the ability to critically evaluate this tool, its advantages and disadvantages
A broad understanding of the debate on legitimacy in global governance and the possible ways to evaluate legitimacy and accountability beyond the state’s borders.
The capacity to evaluate the legitimacy and effectiveness of international organizations based on existing empirical accounts of reform inside the organizations and on pre-defined criteria for legitimacy
Timetable
Schedule:
3/9 t/m 15/10
Day: Monday
Time: 11-13 hrs
Room: A2.01, Schouwburgstraat
Mode of instruction
The mode of instruction in this seminar will combine discussion with student presentation. Part one, close reading and discussion, will examine issues related to reform and transparency and good governance inside international organizations that might help us understand how international organizations manage to adhere to democratic principles themselves and the link between legitimacy and the effectiveness of an IO. Part two will be based on student presentations and research of several international organizations or democracy promotion programmes. Students will research and present several international organizations and their reform and governance promotion programmes.
Assessment method
Presentations by students: 40%
Final paper 50%
Attendance and participation: 10%
Reading list/Literature
Anthony McGrew (Editor), David Held (Editor) Governing Globalization: Power, Authority and Global Governance; October 2002, Polity
ISBN: 978-0-7456-2734-2
Next to the book, the course uses a variety of articles and online papers and sources, to be specified in the course outline and on blackboard
Blackboard
Instructor uses Blackboard. This page is available approximately a week before the start of the course
Registration
Via USIS
Contact information
Dr. Antoaneta Dimitrova
Dimitrova@fsw.leidenuniv.nl
Remarks / Preparation for first session
to be announced via blackboard