Alternative Institutions Research Articles

The Retreat to Method: the Aftermath of Elite Concession to Civil Society in India and Mexico

The literature on democratic accountability assumes that alternative institutions can make state practices more transparent and thus enhance accountability. In this paper, we problematize the celebration of alternative institutions by comparing the cases of Mexico and India. Why, we ask, given the popular support for a caste census and a rights-based approach to poverty alleviation in India and Mexico, respectively, did these initiatives lose steam soon after political elites conceded to civil society demands? In answer, we argue that alternative institutions may become conduits to undercut accountability under the guise of expertise through a mechanism that we call the “retreat to method,” in which political elites channel substantive public debate into abstruse disputes over methodology. As the task of measuring poverty and caste retreats into backrooms, vertical accountability between the state and civil society in our two cases has weakened. Horizontal accountability mechanisms—in which one arm of the state (e.g., the bureaucracy) provides checks and balances on another (e.g., the legislature)—may be exploited to undercut vertical accountability in cases where expertise is valued over democratic deliberation.

DUALISME PENYELESAIAN SENGKETA KONSUMEN DI SEKTOR JASA KEUANGAN

The estabilishment of alternative dispute settlement institutions in the financial service sector by financial services authorithy as if it wants to compete with the existence of consumer dispute settlement agency. The estabilishment institutions of alternative dispute settlement in the financial service sector on the basic of financial service authority regulatory law number 1 year 2014 on the financial service authority, while consumer dispute settlement agency formed by the law number 8 year 1999. Verdict generated by these two institutions are final and binding, however against the verdict institutions of alternative dispute settlement in the financial service sector cannot be impelemnted if the consumer does not accept the verdict, giving rise to the possibility for financial service businesses to submit district court (of justice). Another case with verdict of the consumer dispute settlement agency it can be objected in district court (of justice) by one of the parties does not accept the verdict. The prosecuting authority (competence) of the institutions of alternative dispute resolution financial service sector and consumer dispute resolution has not been regulation, so that dualism in handling consumer disputes settlement agency. This is evidenced by the many disputes between the consumer banking or non-banking and non-financial services businesses were marked by consumer dispute settlement agency. Therefore need for strict regulation regarding the authority or competence of an absolute judge of these two institutions and needs for improvement of the legislation to get around this legal weaknes shortcomings.

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Micro finance intervention and peoples’ perception- A study on NGOs MF programme

Access credit without physical collateral and as bottom up model of development approach, micro finance gets worldwide acceptance as powerful instrument of poverty alleviation programme in new economy. Numbers of micro finance institutions in various entity entered as alternative micro finance institutions to fulfil the needs of underprivileged classes. This research article depicts the perception of the clients and non clients of Sonitpur and Lakhimpur districts of Assam regarding the changes they feel about micro-finance services of NGOs. Two NGOs namely, Institute of Integrated Resource Management (IIRM) and Gramin have been purposively selected from Sonitpur and Lakhimpur districts of Assam and sample size comprises 945 numbers of women clients of selected NGOs and 945 numbers of non clients from same area selected randomly through lottery. Survey method was applied to gather the information. Features like, low interest rate in comparison of other non-institutionalised sources, micro finance service at their doorstep plays an important factors in accepting the NGOs micro finance services in the study area. It is widely perceived by the clients, that NGOs microfinance is helping in employment creation and thus increases household income. It is also believed by both clients and non-clients that, access to financial services are likely to make both qualitative and quantitative changes.

Madrasah Unggulan Berbasis Pesantren

In the context of rapid social changes, can be considered alternative and outstanding Indonesian Islamic education institution. This article is aimed at analyzing opportunities and threats faced in the development of the madrasah, especially, those are located in pesantren, and so called pesantren-based madrasah. It is recommended that the development of pesantren-based madrasah have to fit the criteria of alternative education. It must be directed toward the creation of excellent and competitive Islamic school that will produce qualified human resources, who master not only religion but also science and technology inspired by Islamic values. Pesantren has become a center of excellence for human resources development that emphasizes morality for society development. Thus, the idea to realize a high-ranking madrasa in the boarding school is directed toward the integration of excellent intellectualism and skill with the excellent religious knowledge, including the excellence of personality, faith and piety.

The Function of Financial Services Authority (FSA) in Dispute Settlement Banking Customers in Indonesia

The Financial Service Authority (FSA) in the development of the financial sector in Indonesia is expected to help the activities of financial service institutions, so that the regulation of financial services activities can be implemented and has a positive impact on economic development in Indonesia. The weakness of bank supervision is one of the main causes of bank mismanagement that ultimately lead to the failure of the bank (bank failure). Bank has a special institution of trust (trust) as its main business is to collect funds (funding) from and lend (lending) to the public. The problem of this study is how the function of the FSA as a banking supervisory agencies in the settlement of disputes in Indonesia. The method used in this study is normative juridical approach, the approach of examining the rules, norms, rules, related to the issues to be examined, further analysis of the data used is qualitative juridical. Based on the results of study show that, the purpose of the FSA as an institution of banking supervisors in the banking dispute settlement is as a watchdog and mediator and facilitate the customer or banking institutions to resolve disputes through Alternative Dispute Resolution Institute of the FSA position as mediator in the settlement of disputes in order to get win-win solution, so that neither party feels aggrieved.

The making of burnout

The concept of burnout has become ubiquitous in contemporary discussions of work stress in the post-industrial, service economy. However, it originated outside of the market, in the counter-cultural human service institutions of the San Francisco Bay Area and New York City. This article explores the first decade of the development of the burnout concept, demonstrating how it represented a reaction against the counter-culture and the alternative institutions that emerged alongside it. Focused in particular on the work of psychoanalyst Herbert Freudenberger and social psychologist Christina Maslach, this article demonstrates how the burnout phenomenon inspired professional helpers to engage in self-care and reduce their commitment to clients. As burnout migrated from the human services into the broader business environment in the early 1980s, the dedication to social change through helping others would largely vanish, to be replaced by the idea that the best way to ‘serve’ customers and co-workers was by pr...

The ‘Ombuds Watchers’

This article examines the phenomenon of the ‘ombuds watchers’. These are groups of dissatisfied users of public service ombuds schemes who engage in legal protest against the current system of redress for citizen-state complaints. Through the lens of legal consciousness scholarship we propose a framework that conceptualizes the collectivized protest of the ombuds watchers. Based on an empirical dataset, our analysis shows that the ombuds watchers meet each of the defining characteristics of dissenting collectivism and demonstrates the existence of forms of legal consciousness which present ‘opportunities to build alternative imaginaries and institutions’. Our case study provides an insight into the potential for dissenting collectives to challenge the hegemonic structures of state law, while at the same time emphasising the continuing power of legal ideology in shaping popular understandings of justice. The article also suggests a pathway for future empirical research into user experiences of justice systems.

Property-owning democracy as an alternative to capitalism

Alan Thomas’ Republic of Equals: Predistribution and Property-Owning Democracy sets itself the ambitious task of synthesising neo-republican political theory and Rawlsian justice as fairness. It is an important and challenging work that will set the stage for a great deal of the discussion not only on justice and republicanism, but also on property-owning democracy, market socialism and broader discussions of alternative economic institutions to come. After reconstructing the argument of the book, this review article turns to some specific points it raises that warrant further discussion. More precisely, it examines Thomas’ critique of market socialism, arguing that it fails to do what it sets out to do: show that market socialism is incompatible with justice as fairness. Having discussed and rejected his critique of the main other model that Thomas considers, I then turn to questions of the feasibility of POD as a feasible alternative to familiar forms of capitalism.

Analysis of food retail patterns in urban, peri-urban and rural settings: A case study from Lebanon

Existing evidence on food retail expansion in developing countries is largely based on cross-country studies. This may be excellent to provide general pictures but less relevant for development planners to tailor context-specific interventions. We apply a meso-level analysis to address three questions: (i) Are modern food retail formats impeding the expansion of the traditional ones? (ii) What is the pattern of food retail expansion into urban, peri-urban, and rural areas? (iii) What factors influence observed food retail patterns? The study was carried out within the geographic landscape of Lebanon, a commercial link between the Middle East and Europe. Historical analysis shows increased growth both in the modern and traditional food retail sales, with the former modestly outpacing the latter. However, data from the last five years indicate the gap being reduced to 2 percentage points, displaying a clear leveling-off as compared to the preceding decade. Thus, we find insufficient evidence to conclude that modern food retail formats are definitively replacing traditional ones. An extremely high spatial disparity in food retail concentration is observed across governorates and districts, suggesting a need for flexible policies for viable food system development in various contexts. Expansion of modern food retail formats is limited by geography or socioeconomic groups, while traditional formats are equally present in urban, peri-urban and rural settings, including high poverty areas. This suggests a need for recognizing the latter as alternative institutions to address specific needs of consumers, particularly in poorer neighborhoods or rural areas. The findings are relevant for international, regional, and domestic food retailers to understand food retail patterns in Lebanon, for development planners to tailor specific interventions in areas where food establishments are least developed, and for researchers to investigate the impact of such patterns on nutritional transformations among the Lebanese urban, peri-urban and rural populations.

Gandhi, Lawyers, and the Courts' Boycott during the Non-Cooperation Movement

AbstractThis article analyses the role of the legal profession and the evolution of aspects of Indian nationalist ideology during the Non-Cooperation Movement of 1920–22. Very few legal professionals responded to Gandhi's call to boycott the British courts despite significant efforts to establish alternative institutions dedicated to resolving disputes. First identified by leading legal professionals in the movement as courts of arbitration, these alternative sites of justice quickly assumed the name ‘panchayats’. Ultimately, this panchayat experiment failed due to a combination of apathy, repression, and internal opposition. However, the introduction of the panchayat into the discourse of Indian nationalism ultimately had profound effects, including the much later adoption of constitutional panchayati raj. Yet this discourse was then and remains today a contested one. This is largely a legacy of Gandhi himself, who, during the Non-Cooperation Movement, imagined the panchayat as a judicial institution based upon arbitration and mediation. Yet, after the movement's failure, he came to believe the panchayat was best suited to functioning as a unit of village governance and administration.

Levels and Factors of Transitional Crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Serbia

IntroductionBosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Montenegro are on a bumpy road to joining the European Union. For them, it has been the most important political and economic long-term goal. However, that road had and still has numerous obstacles, which are manifested as negative factors of influence on the social and economic realities. They generate and determine the low level of social and economic development. In fact, despite some positive processes and advances (in business, tourism, liberalization, civil society, civil and political rights, democracy, freedom of the media, the development of a knowledge society, environment for investments, etc.), the social, political and economic crisis have been reproducing and intensifying for the last 25 years. It is manifested through a number of indicators, including:- Social, unsuccessful and palliative reforms, weak rule of law, poor governance, absence of formal and informal institutions, strong alternative institutions, criminalization of society, poverty, large social stratification, high administrative barriers, slow progress towards the European Union, gender inequality, systemic corruption, etc..- Political, dominance of politics over the economy, the fight for the preservation of government, street protests, strikes, incidents in the assembly, political corruption, political privileges, the conviction of high political officials for criminale, charges of election fraud and dictatorship, turbulent political events, etc.- Economic, underdevelopment (Montenegro has 41%, Serbia has 35%, Bosnia and Herzegovina has 29% of the EU-28 development), high unemployment (27% in BiH, 16% in Montenegro, 23% in Serbia), high public debt (70% of GDP - about €3 billion) with a tendency of rapid incrfease, high level of gray economy, inadequate economic policy (neoliberal), heavy dependence on foreign direct investment and its tendency to fall, collapsed economic infrastructure, weak competitiveness, etc (CBCG, 2014; Vlada Crne Gore, 2014).It is difficult to empirically determine the real level (degree) of those indicators. Therefore, but also because of the heterogeneity of these indicators, it is impossible to objectively determine the real and the overall level of crisis. Due to partial evaluations, we have decided to present the survey of 1500 respondents (500 respondents per country). They spoke about their perception of the socio-economic crisis level as a dependent variable, and the five key factors of influence, that we selected as independent variables, a) path dependence - factors inherited from the crisis of socialism, b) globalization, geopolitical and geo-economic impacts, c) the responsibility of governing structures, d) deficit of realistic and pluralistic institutional changes, and e) the neoliberal economic policy. Understandably, all these factors have acted synergistically, although, they had various degrees of influence on the level of crisis, both individually, and together in all three countries that have been the subject of the research. In addition, the crisis has been constantly intensifying and increasing throughout the whole transitional period, but again is differently observed in the monitored countries. Therefore, the main task of the above research is to show the perceptions of respondents about the level of the current crisis and the degree of the certain factors of influence, both individually and as a whole (average) for all three countries.1.Theoretical frameworkThese three countries are relatively small and underdeveloped in terms of their geographical size and population, geopolitical importance, market size and aggregate demand, production, investment, export, and technological potential. According to many non-economic indicators (political stability, democratization, liberalization and institutionalization of society, law, infrastructure development, safety, security, investment, compliance with environmental and social standards, efficiency of the legal system, human rights respect, etc. …

The Public Protector as a Mechanism of Political Accountability: The Extent of its Contribution to the Realisation of the Right to Access Adequate Housing in South Africa

This paper is premised on the concept of political accountability which aims to hold accountable government for its action and or omission. Political accountability encompasses a number of mechanisms such as the judiciary and the ombudsman. Courts have been instrumental in enforcing the realisation of the right to access to adequate housing in South Africa. This paper argues, however, that the judiciary is not the only enforcing avenue because other mechanisms of political accountability may also contribute to the realisation of the right to housing. The paper, therefore, explores the extent of the Public Protector's contribution to the realisation of the right to access to adequate housing. The paper then argues that it is through its functions that the Public Protector exercises its accounting role in the realisation of the right to access to adequate housing. The paper, however, cautions that the Public Protector is not an alternative dispute resolution institution parallel to courts. But that the Public Protector complements the role played by courts by offering another medium through which such right may be realised.

Anatomy of forest-related corruption in Tanzania: theoretical perspectives, empirical explanations, and policy implications

ABSTRACTThe majority of studies on natural resources management in both developed and developing countries are silent on the issue of analysis of corruption – or they treat it tangentially, as an annoying anomaly, or simply deviance from the rules. As a result, the issue has hardly been subjected to in-depth characterisation or reforms. This study employed and integrated mainstream principal-agent theory and more recently developed collective action theory to enhance our understanding – in different but complementary ways − of the socio-political underpinnings of corruption. A supposed ‘best case’ participatory forest management scheme in Tanzania reveals significant forest-related corrupt undertakings, which led to forest encroachment in the form of charcoal and timber exploitation. The findings point to contextual grounds for corruption, namely: undermined assumptions of the mainstream principal-agent institutions; the presence of alternative informal principal-agent institutions; the presence of immediate and substantial benefits that flow to such alternative institutions; and the huge market demands for their forest products and services. Through such a nuanced approach that blends the two above-mentioned theories in meaningful ways, more appropriate options for policy formulation and implementation are proposed.

The role of institutions in finance curse: Evidence from international data

This paper investigates the effect of banking sector development on economic growth in a panel of 87 countries, paying particular attention to the role of institutions in reducing the finance curse phenomenon. The dynamic generalized method-of-moments (GMM) results indicate that institutions play an important role in mediating the positive relationship between banking sector development and growth. This suggests that the marginal impact of financial development on growth depends on institutional quality. Using the four-way partition of institutions classified by Rodrik (2005), we also find that resilient market-regulating, market-stabilizing, and market-creating institutions act as mediators to the financial market in facilitating growth. The results are robust to using alternative institutions indicators, estimation strategies, and stopping the sample before the 2007-2008 global financial crisis.

Beyond IP The Cost of Free - Informational Capitalism in a Post IP Era

The frame is gradually becoming a key term in the political economy of intellectual property. It captures the social costs of legal ordering through intellectual property and offers alternative institutions and regulatory options. is not just a frame for mobilization but also a descriptive term that summarizes a growing number of contemporary information and cultural institutions, which rest upon concepts of free content and free access as their building blocks. The purpose of this essay is to question the conventional wisdom of critical copyright scholarship which tends to pair proprietary intellectual property protection with informational capitalism and the commodification of culture. I argue that tensions and dichotomies that we are accustomed to attribute to IP-centric regimes are tensions and dichotomies which may appear, or even be stimulated, also by copyright's negative spaces and certain beyond IP legal regimes. Beyond IP market realms tend to conflict with the values of cultural democracy, informational privacy and creative diversity. This essay offers the first novel critical examination of the political economy of information markets that operate beyond the boundaries of IP. This analysis bears significant normative implications on the desirability of contemporary approaches, which support mobilization towards beyond IP legal regimes.

Resources for hope: Ideas for alternatives from heterodox higher education institutions

This report describes my field visits to Berea and Deep Springs Colleges in the U.S.A. and explores their forms of ownership/control, governance, financing and organisational structure. Berea and Deep Springs are small, liberal arts colleges, distinctive in American higher education, in which students actively participate in a spirit of democracy. This report highlights the relationship between these heterodox organisational forms and student outcomes. It examines the practical significance of these two colleges for education policy and how certain features could be resources for hope used in constructing heterodox higher education institutions in other parts of the world. This report complements that of Wright, Greenwood and Boden (2011) on Mondragón University – a cooperative in the Basque country of Spain – by adding to the body of knowledge on alternative models of higher education institutions.

Too Much of a Good Thing? Assessing Access to Civil Justice in Russia

Belying the public perception of widespread distrust of the courts, Russians have been flocking to the courts in recent years. Judges and court officials consistently complain about the resulting burden. The official caseload data confirm that judges are handling an extraordinary number of cases. This paper explores whether this open door policy makes sense. The procedural codes governing the Russian courts reflect a conscious choice to make it as easy as possible for Russian individuals and companies to gain access to the courts. Courts are a unique institutional resource. Ideally, access to courts should be limited to cases in which there is a genuine dispute that has proven resistant to the parties' efforts to resolve on their own. The author's field work suggests that both the courts of general jurisdiction and the arbitrazh courts are being flooded by simple cases in which the results are a foregone conclusion. Yet judicial resources are expended in an effort to give these parties their day in court. The Russian judicial system now finds itself at a cross-road. Its policy of increasing the capacity of the system (through building new courthouses and adding more judges) to accommodate the increased caseload has reached the limit of its usefulness and feasibility. The author lays out alternative policy options, including diverting empty cases to mediation, empowering judges to discipline lawyers when they fail to live up to their responsibilities, reenforcing the power of judges to dismiss cases when the parties show up empty-handed or fail to show up at all, and creating alternative institutions to handle the empty cases.

Organic Struggle: The Movement for Sustainable Agriculture in the United States by Brian K. Obach

Reviewed by: Organic Struggle: The Movement for Sustainable Agriculture in the United States by Brian K. Obach Amrys O. Williams (bio) Organic Struggle: The Movement for Sustainable Agriculture in the United States. By Brian K. Obach. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2015. Pp. 327. $32. The growth of organic food has been one of the signature changes in American agriculture in recent decades. Brian Obach has made a valuable contribution with this exploration of organic farming’s move from hippie fringe to Wal-Mart. Obach, who teaches sociology at SUNY New Paltz, has had a front-row seat for this transformation, interviewing organic farmers, representatives of organic associations, and policymakers along the way. The result is a detailed account of the process by which a philosophy of farming became a regulated phase of the agricultural industry. Obach treats organic agriculture as a social movement—not just a means of growing crops and raising animals, but a philosophy of land use. Organic farming developed in the early twentieth century as a critique of industrial farming practices and the state and corporate infrastructure supporting them. The movement adopted a “prefigurative” approach to social change through personal choices and alternative institutions that would have long-term consequences. Seen by the mainstream as health-faddism for most of the century, organic practices received little support from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Organic farmers likewise shunned the state, creating their own regional associations to share ideas and establish standards by the 1970s. The movement’s alternative infrastructure and aversion to state control was an asset and a liability as consumers, worried about the environmental and health consequences of conventional agriculture, flocked to organic produce, and were willing to pay a premium for it. Organic farmers grew concerned that they would lose their market niche to conventional growers moving into the field to make a profit, and their quality reputation to producers who were not organic but were marketing organic products. Debates over quality control and the threat of fraud, combined with rising [End Page 895] consumer interest in the wake of food scares, led to state legislation in the 1980s, and eventually prompted organic farmers to invite federal help in creating a national organic standard. The Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 marked the first step in this process. The heart of the book charts the creation of the National Organic Program (NOP), administered by the Department of Agriculture, which established the now familiar green-and-white “USDA Organic” label in 2002. The “organic struggle” of the title is not just the movement’s fight for sustainable agriculture, but the conflict involved in establishing “organic” as a legal category. Obach’s communications with key players in the development of the NOP enliven a story in which the individual and institutional actors are many. He should be congratulated for making sense of a complex process, though a reference page of acronyms would have been helpful. Obach shows that the NOP was the result of a long negotiation among competing aims—of growers, consumers, food processors, and policymakers—in which organic farmers were often the weakest and least politically mature constituency. Fissures within the organic community—between “spreaders,” who saw the expansion of organic agriculture of any kind as a benefit, and “tillers,” who sought to maintain the purity of organic farming outside of the dominant food system—and between organic farmers and their allies in the consumer and environmental movements were reflected in the NOP’s design, and paved the way for what some saw as the cooption of organic by big corporations. In fact, Obach argues, state regulation did not represent a rupture in the organic movement, but simply bolstered its existing market-based approach to reform. These rules and regulations helped create the organic marketplace and the food movement we know today. While Obach sees the “organic struggle” as a necessary step toward a more sustainable food system, he recognizes the limits of market-based reform. Historians of technology, agriculture, business, and capitalism will be interested in this study of standards-in-the-making. The story of industry groups seeking government regulation they can control is a familiar one in business history, so...

How Efficient are Alternative Financial Institutions? An Empirical Investigation of Islamic REITs in Malaysia

The literature shows that despite Sharia-compliant restrictions, Islamic real estate investment trusts (REITs) exhibit higher financial returns than conventional trusts. However, efficiency analysis that directly assesses the effect of Sharia-compliant is lacking. This paper provides the first such analysis of Malaysian REITs from 2007 to 2015. The findings show that Malaysian REITs can reduce their inputs consumption by 35.8% without reducing outputs, implying a significant potential for improvement. Nevertheless Islamic REITs achieve higher efficiency levels than conventional REITs, indicating that the Sharia-compliant effect is positive. The findings suggest that REITs can increase efficiency through good governance, capitalization, and diversification.