The Limits of Institutional Engineering

The Limits of Institutional Engineering PDF

Author: David Waldner

Publisher:

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 20

ISBN-13:

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By using a method called process tracing to scrutinize institutional engineering in Iraq, it becomes clear why intensified violence followed the drafting and ratification of the Iraqi constitution. It is not surprising that institutional engineering did not forestall violence; therefore, we can conclude that the Iraqi experience does not support theories of institutional design--Publisher's description.

Institutional Engineering and Political Accountability in Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines

Institutional Engineering and Political Accountability in Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines PDF

Author: Patrick Ziegenhain

Publisher: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies

Published: 2015-02-25

Total Pages: 315

ISBN-13: 9814515000

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Political accountability is a crucial element of any democracy since it is a safeguard against power abuse and corruption, both urgent problems of many political systems in Southeast Asia. Based on social science theories, the author analyses from a comparative perspective the ways institutional engineering concerning different dimensions of political accountability influenced the quality of democracy in Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines. By highlighting the successes and shortcomings, this book evaluates the degree these institutional reforms resulted in the deepening, stagnation, or regression of the respective democratization processes in these three Southeast Asian countries.

The Global Engineers

The Global Engineers PDF

Author: Evan Thomas

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2020-07-17

Total Pages: 94

ISBN-13: 3030502635

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The Global Engineers: Building a Safe and Equitable World Together, is inspired by the opportunities for engineers to contribute to global prosperity. This book presents a vision for Global Engineering, and identifies that engineers should be concerned with the unequal and unjust distribution of access to basic services, such as water, sanitation, energy, food, transportation, and shelter. As engineers, we should place an emphasis on identifying the drivers, determinants, and solutions to increasing equitable access to reliable services. Global Engineering envisions a world where everyone has safe water, sanitation, energy, food, shelter, and infrastructure, and can live in health, dignity, and prosperity. This book seeks to examine the role and ultimately the impact of engineers in global development. Engineers are solutions-oriented people. We enjoy the opportunity to identify a product or need, and design appropriate technical solutions. However, the structural and historical barriers to global prosperity requires that Engineers focus more broadly on improving the tools and practice of poverty reduction and that we include health, economics, policy, and governance as relevant expertise with which we are conversant. Engineers must become activists and advocates, rejecting ahistorical technocratic approaches that suggest poverty can be solved without justice or equity. Engineers must leverage our professional skills and capacity to generate evidence and positive impact toward rectifying inequalities and improving lives. Half of this book is dedicated to profiles of engineers and other technical professionals who have dedicated their careers to searching for solutions to global development challenges. These stories introduce the reader to the diverse opportunities and challenges in Global Engineering.

Democratic Consolidation in Eastern Europe: Volume 1: Institutional Engineering

Democratic Consolidation in Eastern Europe: Volume 1: Institutional Engineering PDF

Author: Jan Zielonka

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Published: 2001-06-14

Total Pages: 506

ISBN-13: 0191529184

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This is the first volume in a series of books on democratic consolidation in Eastern Europe. The series focuses on three major aspects of democratic consolidation in Eastern Europe: institutional engineering, transnational pressures and civil society. This first volume analyses constraints on and opportunities of institutional engineering in Eastern Europe: to what extent and how elites in Eastern Europe have been able to shape, if not manipulate, the politics of democratic consolidation through institutional means. The aim is to contrast a set of democracy theories with empirical evidence accumulated in Eastern Europe over the last ten years. The volume tries to avoid complex debates about definitions, methods and the uses and misuses of comparative research. Instead it tries to establish what has really happened in the region, and which of the existing theories have proved helpful in explaining these developments. The volume starts with a presentation of conceptual and comparative frameworks, followed by in-depth empirical analyses of the thirteen individual countries undergoing democratic consolidation. The first conceptual and comparative part contains three chapters. The first chapter explains what institutional engineering is about and describes our experiences with institutional engineering in former transitions to democracy. It also focuses on the import and export of institutional designs. The second chapter analyses the utility of constitutions in the process of democratic consolidation. The third chapter compares constitutional designs and problems of implementation in Southern and Eastern Europe. The empirical case studies deal with the following countries: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary and Poland. And the conclusions evaluate the enormous impact of institutions on politics in Eastern Europe and show how central constitutional designs are to the institutional engineering in the societies undergoing transitions to democracy.

Enhancing the Postdoctoral Experience for Scientists and Engineers

Enhancing the Postdoctoral Experience for Scientists and Engineers PDF

Author: Institute of Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2000-10-08

Total Pages: 210

ISBN-13: 0309069963

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The concept of postdoctoral training came to science and engineering about a century ago. Since the 1960s, the performance of research in the United States has increasingly relied on these recent PhDs who work on a full-time, but on a temporary basis, to gain additional research experience in preparation for a professional research career. Such experiences are increasingly seen as central to careers in research, but for many, the postdoctoral experience falls short of expectations. Some postdocs indicate that they have not received the recognition, standing or compensation that is commensurate with their experience and skills. Is this the case? If so, how can the postdoctoral experience be enhanced for the over 40,000 individuals who hold these positions at university, government, and industry laboratories? This new book offers its assessment of the postdoctoral experience and provides principles, action points, and recommendations for enhancing that experience.

The International Handbook of Public Financial Management

The International Handbook of Public Financial Management PDF

Author: Richard Allen

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2013-08-15

Total Pages: 1125

ISBN-13: 113731530X

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The Handbook is a virtual encyclopedia of public financial management, written by topmost experts, many with a background in the IMF and World Bank. It provides the first comprehensive guide to the subject that has been published in more than ten years. The book is aimed at a broad audience of academics/students, government officials, development agencies and practitioners. It covers both bread-and-butter topics such as the macroeconomic and legal framework for budgeting, budget preparation and execution, procurement, accounting, reporting, audit and oversight, as well as specialist subjects such as government payroll systems, local government finance, fiscal transparency, the management of fiscal risks, sovereign wealth funds, the management of state-owned enterprises, and political economy aspects of budgeting. The book sets out numerous examples and case studies describing good practice in public financial management, and is highly relevant for use in both advanced and developing countries.

Institutional Architectures to Improve Systems Operations and Management

Institutional Architectures to Improve Systems Operations and Management PDF

Author:

Publisher: Transportation Research Board

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 98

ISBN-13: 0309129192

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"The objective of this research was to undertake a comprehensive and systematic examination of the way agencies should be organized to successfully execute operations programs that improve travel time reliability. The following types of questions were examined at the outset of this research: How does operations fit into a transportation agency's overall program? What changes can be made in agency culture and training to promote operations? Which local and regional public agencies and private-sector organizations are essential to the various aspects of operations? Are there emerging technologies, systems, or organizational structures that can be used to advance intra-agency and interagency communications and therefore operations? The research addressed a large number of topics concerning organizational and institutional approaches that could enhance highway operations and travel time reliability. The most fruitful investigation was identification of the Capability Maturity Model, used extensively in the information technology field for organizational self-assessment and continuous improvement of quality and reliability. The researchers recognized that a version of the Capability Maturity Model could be developed and applied to highway operations and in turn travel time reliability. Elements defining different levels of maturity include culture/leadership, organization and staffing, resource allocation, and partnerships."--Publisher's description.

Electoral Systems and Political Context

Electoral Systems and Political Context PDF

Author: Robert G. Moser

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2012-09-28

Total Pages: 309

ISBN-13: 1139577034

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Electoral Systems and Political Context illustrates how political and social context conditions the effects of electoral rules. The book examines electoral behavior and outcomes in countries that use 'mixed-member' electoral systems – where voters cast one ballot for a party list under proportional representation (PR) and one for a candidate in a single member district (SMD). Based on comparisons of outcomes under the two different rules used in mixed-member systems, the book highlights how electoral systems' effects – especially strategic voting, the number of parties and women's representation – tend to be different in new democracies from what one usually sees in established democracies. Moreover, electoral systems such as SMDs are usually presumed to constrain the number of parties irrespective of the level of social diversity, but this book demonstrates that social diversity frequently shapes party fragmentation even under such restrictive rules.