successful policy reform is at its core governance reformI completely agree with this sentiment. For too long, the multilateral agencies have focussed on policy formulations and seeing it fail and blaming it on governance. While the link has been made many times, mostly in a post facto manner. The right way to go about is i think going for governance reform, enablers (Specifically MIS), and then policy reforms. While this seems self evident on reading, it must be noted that "washington consensus" which was the staple of reforms under development agencies, for long has focussed on policy reforms while treating Governance as an exogenous variable.
Apr 19, 2008
Beyond Washington Consensus
Dani Rodrik says
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but how do you bring gorvenance reforms in a democracy like india which has a intensly jumbled up political system. sometimes dictatorship is a better way.
ReplyDeleteI dont think you are sincere here (you call to Dictatorship gives you away)..but the essential question remains, whether the style of government (Shallow institutions based Democracy in India's case) itself can be treated as an exogenous variable and suppose we focus just on bureaucracy (non policy governance reform can be credibly imagined as bureaucracy reform or organisational reforms), and then whether we will be repeating the same mistake of ignoring a critical element of the equation.
ReplyDeleteFrankly, Governance reform will be the toughest nut to crack. But as i mentioned in the post, the reform agenda must be in terms of enables - eg MIS tolls, helping decision making, gathering information, creating a paper trail etc and then we can take things to the next level in terms of strengthening institutions and only then we should go for policy prescriptions such as moving away from intervention to regulation etc which normally has been the first step in the reform agenda.
This ties up to John Buchanan's "focus on the process" or Lord Krishna's "Karmanye va adhikarasthe" and other zen fundas.
ReplyDeleteCant believe economists took this long! :-)