Sabbi Local State Institutional Reforms in Ghana

Actors, Legitimacy and the Unfulfilled Promise of Participatory Development
1. Auflage 2017
ISBN: 978-3-8452-8141-4
Verlag: Nomos
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, Band 3, 336 Seiten, Format (B × H): 153 mm x 227 mm

Reihe: Bayreuther Studien zu Politik und Gesellschaft in Afrika

This study examines local institutional reforms frequently conceived as a panacea for accountable and responsive local institutions that engender change and prosperity in Ghana. Currently, this assumption is often made without recourse to how policymakers pursue these institutional changes in everyday situations. While the link between local democracy and poverty reduction remains largely rhetorical, it still persists because no clear distinction is made between local political reforms, local autonomy and local socio-economic change. Using an actor-centered institutional framework, this study offers critical insights into how local policymakers take advantage of institutional reforms to advance their own interests at the expense of specific local priorities and socio-economic change.
Matthew Sabbi is a Fritz Thyssen Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at the Chair of Development Sociology, University of Bayreuth, Germany. His research focuses on the analysis of local political reforms and local public policy in the Global South particularly in Ghana.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Sabbi, Matthew

Fachgebiete

• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften Interdisziplinär Entwicklungsstudien
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Internationale Beziehungen Entwicklungspolitik, Nord-Süd Beziehungen
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein Politische Studien zu einzelnen Ländern und Gebieten

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Cover;1
2;1. Introduction: Institution-Building and Change;17
2.1;1.1 Institution-Building in the International Development System;17
2.2;1.2 The Context and Problem: Local State Institutional Reforms in Ghana;22
2.3;1.3 Propositions in the Study;26
2.4;1.4 Objective of the Study;27
2.5;1.5 Research Questions;27
2.6;1.6 Rationale: Why Study Local State Institution- Building in Ghana?;28
2.7;1.7 Delimitations of the Study;29
2.8;1.8 Organization of the Sections of the Study;30
2.9;1.9 Concluding Remarks;33
3;2. Theoretical and Conceptual Analysis of Institution- Building and Change;35
3.1;2.1 The Rules and Players of Institutional Change;36
3.1.1;2.1.1 The agency-structure question;36
3.1.2;2.1.2 Defining institutions and organizations;38
3.2;2.2 Sociological Institutionalism and Change Programmes;38
3.2.1;2.2.1 Neo-institutionalism and the diffusion of change ideas;39
3.2.2;2.2.2 Entrepreneurs and institutional ideas;44
3.2.3;2.2.3 Research in neo-institutional analysis of change;45
3.2.4;2.2.4 Critique of the neo-institutional approach;47
3.3;2.3 Actor-Centered Institutionalism;49
3.3.1;2.3.1 Actor-centered institutionalism and local political reforms;51
3.3.2;2.3.2 Synthesizing the sociological and actor-centered institutionalisms;54
3.4;2.4 Conceptual Framework for Analysing Local Institutional Change;55
3.4.1;2.4.1 Constructed legitimacy within institutional reform programmes;57
3.4.2;2.4.2 Legitimacy rhetoric and institution-building enticements;59
3.4.3;2.4.3 Levels of analysis in the framework;59
3.5;2.5 Concluding Remarks;62
4;3. Methodology: The Empirical Study Design and Data;65
4.1;3.1 Framing the Basis of Knowledge in the Study;66
4.2;3.2 The Multi-Methods Design for the Study;67
4.3;3.3 Contextualizing the Study: Multi-Level and Multi-Site Locations;68
4.3.1;3.3.1 Study organizations and unit of analysis;69
4.3.2;3.3.2 Sources of evidence;70
4.4;3.4 Study Actors and their Characteristics;71
4.4.1;3.4.1 The sample and selection strategy;71
4.4.2;3.4.2 Number of study actors and their statuses;72
4.5;3.5 Empirical Data and Collection Procedure;74
4.5.1;3.5.1 The case study strand;75
4.5.2;3.5.2 The existing institutional data strand;76
4.5.3;3.5.3 The research internship;77
4.6;3.6 Processing and Analysis of Data;78
4.7;3.7 Challenges Encountered during the Field Research;80
4.7.1;3.7.1 Representativeness of study actors’ views;80
4.7.2;3.7.2 Character of the field and methods used;81
4.7.3;3.7.3 Researcher’s position in the field;82
4.7.4;3.7.4 Taking sides and empathy;82
4.8;3.8 Concluding Remarks;83
5;4. The Institutional Context and Characteristics of the Study Setting;85
5.1;4.1 The Study Regions: Why not Other Locations?;85
5.2;4.2 The North-South Divide in Ghana: Excursus on the Genesis;87
5.3;4.3 Ashanti Region and the Local Self-Government in Kumasi;92
5.4;4.4 The Upper West Region and the Local Self-Government in Wa;96
5.5;4.5 ‘Contested’ Departments of the Local State;101
5.6;4.6 Central State Structures for Local State Administration;101
5.7;4.7 Concluding Remarks;103
6;5. Local Institution-Building and Development: The Discourse and Practice;105
6.1;5.1 Decentralization Reforms and Change: The General Debate;105
6.1.1;5.1.1 Perceived benefits from decentralized political institutions;107
6.1.2;5.1.2 Shortcomings of local institutional reforms and change;108
6.2;5.2 Political Institutions and Participatory Development;111
6.2.1;5.2.1 The concept of participation revisited;112
6.2.2;5.2.2 Participatory development and good governance (de-) linkage;113
6.3;5.3 Central and Local State Settings in Ghana;115
6.3.1;5.3.1 Proto-local state in the pre-colonial era;118
6.3.2;5.3.2 The local state in the pre- and post-independence eras;119
6.3.3;5.3.3 Ghanaian public servants and their attitude to public work;121
6.3.4;5.3.4 Local institutional reforms and nomenclature of the current local state;127
6.3.5;5.3.5 The District Assembly: composition and actors;130
6.3.6;5.3.6 Development functions of the District Assembly;133
6.3.7;5.3.7 Local state institution-building and participatory development;134
6.4;5.4 Concluding Remarks;135
7;6. Reforming the Local Public Administration: Actors, Structures and Institutions;137
7.1;6.1 Actors, Structures and Competence in Local Public Policy and Change;138
7.1.1;6.1.1 Local political actors and legislative competence;139
7.1.2;6.1.2 The executive and local bureaucrats;142
7.1.3;6.1.3 Regional and central actors: politicians and bureaucrats;143
7.1.4;6.1.4 External actors on local policy and development;145
7.2;6.2 The Contested Sphere of State Officials: Bureaucrats on Edge;146
7.3;6.3 Local State Bureaucrats and their Interface with Local Political Actors;149
7.3.1;6.3.1 Competing authority claims and self-interest;151
7.3.2;6.3.2 Suspicion and distrust of the executive bureaucracy;157
7.3.3;6.3.3 Self-aggrandizement and communal expectations;166
7.3.4;6.3.4 Backstage strategies: cutting corners and maneuvering;172
7.4;6.4 Adapting to Multiple Expectations: Bureaucrats between Professionals and Followers;176
7.5;6.5 Concluding Remarks;179
8;7. Myths and Ambiguities in the Local Political Reforms;181
8.1;7.1 Institutional Changes in the Local State: How Much Difference in Outcomes?;182
8.1.1;7.1.1 When local state institutional reforms matter to constituents;183
8.1.2;7.1.2 The proximate state: seeing the central through the local state;186
8.2;7.2 ‘Unfulfilling Expectations’: Rhetoric of Participation and Change in the Local State;188
8.2.1;7.2.1 Competing perspectives on local level participation and development;188
8.2.2;7.2.2 Illusions of local democratic institutions and participatory development;192
8.2.3;7.2.3 Local-central relations and blueprints for local institutional reforms;198
8.3;7.3 Institutional Reforms and Everyday Practices of the Local State;202
8.3.1;7.3.1 Financial resources for daily public goods in the local state;203
8.3.2;7.3.2 External financial inducement and local state institutional expectations;210
8.3.3;7.3.3 Myths of funding assessments and everyday ‘tactical responses’ from the local state;212
8.3.4;7.3.4 Local state institutional change and legitimacy practices;221
8.4;7.4 Policy Outcomes and Sub-Optimality in the Local Institutional Reforms;223
8.5;7.5 Concluding Remarks;227
9;8. Perceptions and Reactions to Local State Institutional Reforms;231
9.1;8.1 The Provision of Local Public Goods and Public Opinion;232
9.1.1;8.1.1 Civil servants’ attitudes towards the local state bureaucracy;234
9.1.2;8.1.2 Local politicians’ responses to reforms and provision of local public goods;239
9.2;8.2 A Tale of Two Institutional Ideas: Competing Views on District Substructures;242
9.3;8.3 Reaction of the Local Public to the Institutional Changes in the Local State;248
9.4;8.4 Concluding Remarks;252
10;9. Local State Institution-Building and Strategic Decoupling;255
10.1;9.1 Multi-level Embedded Interests and Agency in Local State Institutional Change;256
10.2;9.2 Embedded Interests but Divergent Commitments to Institutional Goals;258
10.3;9.3 Strategically Decoupling Local State Institutional Reforms;260
10.4;9.4 Constructed Legitimacy of Local Institutional Change: The Rhetoric of Development;264
10.4.1;9.4.1 Text production and credibility narratives;266
10.4.2;9.4.2 Texts and metrics in the chain of legitimizing indices;272
10.5;9.5 Local Institution-Building Paradox: Strategy and Trap;275
10.6;9.6 Concluding Remarks;280
11;10. Conclusions: Institutional Change and the Rhetoric of Development;283
11.1;10.1 Looking Back: What We Learn from the Analysis So Far;284
11.2;10.2 Conclusions: Towards a Multi-Level Model of Institutional Reform Analysis;287
11.3;10.3 Contribution to Theory and Research;290
11.4;10.4 Practical Insights, Policy Relevance and Future Research;292
12; References;299
13; List of Tables;319
14; List of Figures;321
15; List of Images;323
16; Acronyms and Abbreviations;325
17; Appendixes;327