Reform Coalitions Research Articles

Reforming the United Nations Security Council: cross-country analysis of a G-4 potential permanent membership

The paper uses methods of historical and comparative analysis and studies the functioning of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) since its establishment. It finds out, that the debate on the institutional performance is characterized by a consensus, i.e. the lack of reforms has led to the lack of its effectiveness. Nowadays, such a finding is even more evident, the aggressive war that one of the permanent members, Russia started against Ukraine, added new arguments of the same logic. The paper draws on secondary data to explore the weaknesses of the UNSC with a particular emphasis on the negative impact of the veto right. It highlights the limits of the UNSC and the attempts of state coalitions to overcome them. It elaborates on criteria for legitimate right to accede to UNSC permanent membership and justifies the relevance of four of them on the grounds of their current appropriateness. Further on, the paper introduces outcomes of a cross-country analysis of a G-4 (Germany, Japan, Brazil and India), the most influential state coalition for UNSC reform. The results of the comparison illustrate legitimate potential of states to become permanent members of the UNSC. The discussion includes policy recommendations for UNSC reforms: adopting criteria for legitimacy of permanent UNSC membership; change in the structure of the permanent UNSC membership; abolition of the veto right and introducing the method of qualified majority voting.

Alliance-building for equity and justice: An inter-organizational perspective

Cultivating alliances between specific sectors or fields with unrealized synergies is a promising strategy for systems change. Social network analysis is a useful tool for assessing whether such alliances build relationships between these previously disparate organizations. Two waves of valued network data were collected from the members (N = 25) of a justice system reform coalition composed of two types of community-based organizations: those involved in restorative justice practice and those involved in grassroots community organizing. Social network homophily analyses were employed to characterize the impact of alliance participation on relationships over time across three domains: working together, doing impactful work together, and sharing a philosophy about justice system reform. Results indicate marked increases in the prevalence of relationships between restorative justice and community organizing organizations across all domains, with the greatest increases occurring in perceptions of shared philosophy. Network structures at each time point differed by relational domain and organization type. Findings suggest that the alliance strengthened relationships between restorative justice and community organizing organizations, particularly in perceptions of shared philosophy, but that the magnitude of these changes varied depending on pre-existing interorganizational relationships and organization type. Findings challenge the idea that close working relationships between diverse members is critical to coalition effectiveness, pointing instead to the value of ambidextrous networks and alignment in members’ philosophy and vision.

District government as a policy entrepreneur: Understanding policy experimentation in China’s Wujin District

ABSTRACT Inconsistent policy implementation has been widely observed in Chinese institutional reforms. The central government has experimented with policymaking in a strategic way against tensions between inherited regulatory deficiencies and ongoing development. And, despite the central government’s authority over local governments, the latter operate with a remarkable degree of discretion. By synthesizing policy experimentation theories and policy entrepreneurship, we consider the Wujin District government, as a policy entrepreneur that identified and acted within a “policy window” and explore how it interpreted and actualized policy tasks set by the central government in relation to the rural land reform. The central government designated 33 county-level administrations as testbeds for removing institutional obstacles to coordinated urban-rural land governance. The Wujin District was granted greater administrative autonomy pertinent to local reform initiatives. Further, the Wujin District reorganized its inter-governmental relations by delegating power downward to forge a reform coalition. Critically, Wujin succeeded in aligning local development priorities with central policy goals. Taking an agent-centric perspective, we also examine historical and contextual factors relevant for behavioral changes. The findings indicate that the Wujin District government acted as an effective policy entrepreneur and on this basis made crucial contributions to policy innovation.

Keine Reform des konstitutionellen Parlamentsrechts: Kenias gescheiterte Building Bridges Initiative als eine institutionenpolitisch verpasste Chance?

Following the handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and his main contender Raila Odinga in 2018, the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) was launched to unite the country and improve governance. As a main outcome, a proposal to amend the 2010 constitution was introduced in 2020. However, on 31 March 2022 the Supreme Court declared the BBI unconstitutional since Kenyatta had opted to alter Kenya’s highest law by means of a popular initiative under Article 257 which is the preserve of ordinary citizens. Against the background of this failure for procedural reasons, the paper evaluates the initiative’s most important proposals in the realm of constitutional parliamentary law, i.e. the introduction both of a prime minister and the office of the leader of the opposition. For that purpose, the reform coalition’s own claims and intentions serve as a yardstick. The analysis yields mixed results. While the court’s verdict plainly provides proof that the rule of law prevails, it is more difficult to speak of a missed opportunity to readjust the political system’s design. The executive extension hardly mitigates the winner-takes-all principle that centres around the presidency. It neither shows real interest in more inclusive politics. Constitutionalizing the chief opposition post might be more welcomed even though its selection rule holds potential for conflict. It reduces the stakes of elections by giving greater weight to this office which might serve as consolation prize but also stands as symbol of democratic tolerance. In general, failed attempts to revise the supreme law merit more attention since they are part and parcel of a country’s constitutional politics and, hence, form the background for future reforms.

The contribution of reform coalitions to inclusion and equity: lessons from urban social movements

ABSTRACT Coalitional politics is being used by multiple urban social movements – and agencies that support their work – to address the scale and nature of disadvantage in towns and cities of the Global South. To advance our understanding about how coalitions might form and function effectively, this paper introduces and analyses four diverse exemplars that illustrate the approaches used. We find that coalitions have the potential to improve the relational capital of disadvantaged residents, increasing the legitimacy of their claims, advancing their interests and leading to pro-poor reforms. Coalitions enhance existing political opportunities and potentially improve the political opportunity structure. However, context matters, particularly the nature and extent of local democracy, and coalitions must operate in a space that is circumscribed and contested.

Lindsay Mayka, Building Participatory Institutions in Latin America: Reform Coalitions and Institutional Change (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2019), pp. xviii + 304, £75.00 hb.

Lindsay Mayka, Building Participatory Institutions in Latin America: Reform Coalitions and Institutional Change (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2019), pp. xviii + 304, £75.00 hb. - Volume 54 Issue 2

The state of American democracy after Trump

Democracy is retreating worldwide. As Freedom House reports, the US has not escaped this trend. The system of checks and balances of American democracy managed to thwart Trump’s assault on democracy. But together with longstanding institutional and structural defects, his presidency clearly indicates that American democracy is on the verge of political decay. Political polarisation, inequalities, identity politics and the inability of the two political parties to reach compromises are further testing the American democratic institutions. To avert decay, the US needs a reform coalition to bring about institutional changes; and more importantly, to establish inclusive economic policies and a renewed focus on citizenship, duty and a shared purpose.

The tobacco industry’s tort reform campaign to avoid liability in Louisiana

We analyze the tobacco industry’s “tort reform” campaign in Louisiana, which marked its first takeover of a state tort reform coalition, and interpret the strategies using the Policy Dystopia Model. We searched internal tobacco industry documents in the UCSF Truth Tobacco Industry Documents Library and searched news archives of state and local periodicals between 1985 and 2000. Using alliances, the tobacco industry clandestinely secured legislation in 1988 limiting manufacturer liability for inherently dangerous products. The industry took over a coalition in 1992 to defend its gains, minimize its publicly visible role, and pursue policies it likely could not directly advocate for after Louisiana’s government became more hostile to tort reform. The industry defended gains but failed to secure legislation eliminating liability for inherently dangerous products after its involvement was exposed. This case study expands the applicability of the Policy Dystopia Model. The industry passes laws harmful to the public interest by cloaking its involvement and motivations behind allies, front groups and generalized messaging. Exposing the industry’s role can help public health advocates protect against pro-industry legislation.

Policy Feedback and Interdependence in American Federalism: Evidence from Rooftop Solar Politics

Scholars have long understood the American states as “laboratories of democracy,” exploring how mechanisms of learning and competition lead to the diffusion of successful state policy experiments across the federal system. Drawing from policy feedback literature, I develop a new framework for studying policy interdependence in American federalism. I argue that state policies can, in addition to promoting learning and competition, also feed into the interest group politics in other states. Broadly speaking, the organized interests that benefit from, and are strengthened by, particular policy reforms might apply newfound strength to propagate them. Empirically, I study rooftop solar policy, an area in which state-level decisions have been fundamental to industry growth and the emergence of installers as political actors. Bringing together a variety of administrative, lobbying, and policy data, I demonstrate that solar installers used resources accumulated in early adopter of favorable rooftop solar policies to influence policy decisions elsewhere. For reformers, I suggest that subnational policy can be a crucial ingredient in building coalitions for (geographically) broader policy reform.

Judicial activism, populism and counterterrorism legislation in Kenya: coalition for Reform and democracy (CORD) & 2 others v Republic of Kenya & 10; others [2015

ABSTRACT This article examines the relationship between populism and judicial activism in Kenya’s Security Laws (Amendment) Act, No 19 of 2014 High Court Case determined in 2015. The article defines populism as a political strategy rather than as a thin-ideology, and adopts majoritaianism and deference to elected branches, and judicial aggrandisement as indicators of judicial activism. The Act, which aims at, among others, augmenting counterterrorism, amended the provisions of 22 other security and security-related Acts of Parliament. The omnibus Act is an expression of penal populism. It is these amendments that precipitated the petition. The populism of both coalitions manifested itself in the issues raised for determination. Kenya’s parliamentary opposition Coalition for Reform and Democracy, the key petitioner, challenged the constitutionality of the Act on issues of legislation and human rights. The governing coalition Jubilee defended the Act on issues of justiciability and national security. Though judicial activism was apparent in relation to judicial aggrandisement, and majoritarianism and deference, both coalition’s populism, however, did not critically impact upon judicial decision making in the case. The implications for the integrity, independence and role of the judiciary in Kenya are offered in the conclusion.

Europeanization and language: the impact of EU language status on Maltese

ABSTRACT This article explores an area of Europeanization literature not studied before, namely the impact of EU language status on a state language. Using Maltese, the Union’s only Semitic language, as a case study, the article explores how that status, the resources allocated to EU languages as well as the EU’s language programmes have impacted the Maltese language, its domestic status, use, corpus and its relationship with Malta’s other official language, English. Using a series of semi-structured interviews with the members of the National Council for the Maltese Language, we explore how the EU has impacted Maltese, noting that membership has enabled Maltese to gain greater prominence both within the country and beyond its shores, to strengthen its corpus with a rapid increase in available terminology and facilitate the use of the language through EU translation tools. That said, any long-term impact of ‘Brussels’ Maltese’ is unclear and the EU’s language programmes have had a negligible influence. As in many areas of socialisation, a key element has been the empowering of domestic reform coalitions which, in the case of Maltese, have been a significant factor in the language’s increased prominence and use post-membership.

“Thinking and Working Politically”: The case of donor‐supported reform coalitions in the Philippines

AbstractMotivationReform coalitions represent a potential means for donors to support macro‐political reform in developing countries, enabling them to avoid the limitations of micro‐political or public sector reform where appropriate circumstances exist. Donor support for reform coalitions, however, is difficult to engineer and fraught with political risk, including the risk of partisan taint.PurposeThis article therefore explores the efforts of Australian Aid and the World Bank to promote reform coalitions and constituencies in the Philippines during the presidency of Benigno S. Aquino III (2010–2016) and to institutionalize the reform agenda of his administration.Approach and MethodsIt draws on a range of sources including programme design documents, mid‐term and end‐of‐term reviews, and contextual policy documents. It also draws on economic and governance data sets to explore relevant correlations.FindingsIt finds that second‐generation reform coalitions brought together stakeholders from government, the private sector and civil society and promoted economic and other reforms. These donor strategies arguably failed, however, with the election of Rodrigo Duterte in May 2016. He was critical of Aquino’s record in office and ostensibly committed to reverse engineering many of the Aquino administration’s achievements. The article critiques a governance‐centric explanatory chain of causation and proposes an expanded politics‐centric chain.Policy ImplicationsIn conceptual terms, planning of reform coalition activities must better account for dominant coalitions and the political settlements which they underpin, and must set out explicit theories of change, specifying distinct political pathways to change. In operational terms, donors must work to avoid traditional “transactional” relationships in favour of more innovative “transformative” ones and must balance “strategic opportunism” with strategic retreat and adaptation where necessary.

Building Participatory Institutions in Latin America: Reform Coalitions and Institutional Change. By Lindsay Mayka . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019. 320p. $99.99 cloth.

Building Participatory Institutions in Latin America: Reform Coalitions and Institutional Change. By Lindsay Mayka . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019. 320p. $99.99 cloth.

‘When Rescuers become Refoulers: Closing Kenya’s Refugee Camps amid Terrorism Threats’ and leaving vulnerable groups out in the cold

Kenya’s counter-terrorism measures, following entry into Somalia, relocated refugees to designated camps. However, by violating a refugee’s freedom of movement, mass relocation contravenes the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR). Regional jurisprudence informed the Kenyan High Court’s Kituo cha Sheria v Attorney General decision holding that mass refugee relocation is indeed refoulement. It necessarily discriminates, punishes disproportionately, and may amount to a ‘failure to protect’ refugees against torture, a crime against humanity. However, the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (Refugees Convention) merely prohibits hosts from returning escapees to countries where they are targeted for persecution. Conversely, refugees who are either reasonably regarded as threatening national security or reasonably suspected of serious crimes are deemed to ‘waive’ their non-refoulement right. Nonetheless, the court’s legal moralism insisted that states should prove ‘waiver’ and never torture refugees. Invoking an ‘individual criminality’ principle required proof of a refugee’s dangerousness. Suspects can furthermore not be condemned unheard. Therefore, establishing whether ‘mass waiver’ is possible, is problematic. Are blanket relocation directives justifiable simply because proving ‘reasonable belief’ of refugees committing terror acts or serious crimes are difficult? Although Samow Mumin Mohamed v Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Interior Security and Co-Ordination condoned mass refugee relocation Refugee Consortium of Kenya v Attorney did not. Curiously, to clarify the ambiguity Kenya National Commission on Human Rights v Attorney Genera elevated the required standard of proof for ‘waiver’ under the Refugees Convention to one of ‘beyond reasonable doubt.’ Previously, in Coalition for Reform and Democracy (CORD) v Republic of Kenya legislative caps on refugee numbers were rejected. Subsequently, a new Refugee Bill (2019) proposes to legalise confining refugees to designated camps. This article applies common-law principles of the duty on rescuers to evaluate whether mass refugee relocation refoules.

Reaction or Reform? Subnational Evidence on P.R. Adoption from Canadian Cities

ABSTRACTWhile national electoral reforms in the early twentieth century have received considerable attention, subnational adoption of P.R. systems in otherwise ‘non-adopting’ countries such as Canada have generally been overlooked. The strategic contexts in which these subnational reforms occurred, involving absent or emerging party systems and limited strategic knowledge, provides a new opportunity to test recent arguments about electoral reform, focused on normative ideas and strategic contexts, against an older ‘left threat’ thesis. Drawing from analyses of new electoral, archival, and news- paper data, this article offers a comparative explanation of urban electoral reform in four of the most important subnational instances of P.R. adoption in Canadian history (Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, and Winnipeg). I argue that the ‘left threat’ thesis cannot explain these cases; instead, P.R. was adopted as a result of a reform coalition for whom electoral reform was an immediate policy objective. I suggest that two recent challenges to the ‘left threat’ thesis, fit together into a persuasive alternative interpretation of early-twentieth-century electoral reform in the North American subnational context..

Populism and Backlashes against International Courts

International courts, like domestic courts, protect liberal limits on majoritarianism. This sometimes puts these courts in a position to protect the property rights of the “corrupt elites” that are targeted by populists or the civil liberties of those who are targeted in domestic populist identity politics. Moreover, populism offers an ideology to attack the authority of a court rather than just its individual rulings. An empirical examination illustrates the plausibility of this argument. A large number of backlashes against international courts arise from judgments that reinforce local populist mobilization narratives. Populist backlashes against international courts are not just about sovereignty but often follow efforts to curb domestic courts, usually for similar reasons. Yet populist backlashes do not always succeed, either because populist leaders do not follow up on their exit threats or because populism is too thin an ideology for creating successful multilateral reform coalitions.

Protesting Smoke: A Social and Political History of Vancouver Air Pollution in the 1950s and 1960s

Growth-oriented local businesses and the city of Vancouver initiated efforts in the late 1940s and early 1950s to address the city’s air pollution problem. Despite generally improving dustfall measurements due to changing fuel use, industrial relocation, and steady city management of the issue, the coalition of air-quality reformers did not obtain broader regional or provincial government support until the late 1960s. Rather, public interventions prompted the provincial government to acknowledge air pollution as a formal political issue, and finally to take action. This article provides an account of air pollution in Vancouver and British Columbia in the 1950s and 1960s, highlighting the roles of social and economic groups and their interactions with political structures.

The Symbiosis of Sectarianism, Authoritarianism, and Rentierism in the Saudi State

AbstractSaudi Arabia provides a compelling example of how sectarianism sustains the dynamics of authoritarianism, especially when bolstered by a rentier political economy. In this paper, I investigate three claims about the link between Saudi authoritarianism and sectarianism, as follows: (1) Governing with a sectarian ideology impedes political reform, since it disrupts cross‐sectarian reform coalitions by attacking the sectarian outgroup. (2) The presence of multiple sects, as well as hydrocarbon wealth, allows regimes like that of al‐Saʿud to use divide‐and‐rule tactics to maintain control; it also enables the funding of media and education outlets with the purpose of perpetuating authoritarianism, especially when the authoritarian dynamics are underpinned by a rentier political economy. (3) Despite the authoritarian and rentier dynamics in play, the Saudi government has at times sought at least a degree of inclusion of the Shia minority, depending on the political economy and the relative influence of Shia and Sunni Islamists. Using the existing literature on the Saudi state and historical examples, I aim to clarify the link between sectarianism and authoritarianism in a state in which the Sunni/Shia division, bolstered by a rentier political economy, has emerged as a powerful means of maintaining the political status quo.

Populism and Backlashes Against International Courts

International courts do not just constrain governments but they also protect liberal limits on majoritarianism. This sometimes puts these courts in a position to protect the property rights of the ‘corrupt elites’ that are targeted by populists or the civil liberties of those who are targeted in domestic populist identity politics. Moreover, populism offers an ideology to attack the authority of a court rather than just its individual rulings. An empirical examination illustrates the plausibility of this argument. A large number of backlashes against international courts arise from judgments that reinforce local populist mobilization narratives. Populist backlashes against international courts are not just about sovereignty but often follow efforts to curb domestic courts, usually for similar reasons. Yet, populist backlashes do not always succeed, either because populist leaders do not follow up on their exit threats or because populism is too thin an ideology for creating successful multilateral reform coalitions.

Explaining variation in the implementation of global norms: Gender mainstreaming of security in the OSCE and the EU

Why do regional security organizations choose different approaches to implementing global gender norms? To address this question, we examine how the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the European Union (EU) integrated requirements derived from UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325) on women, peace and security into their security policies. We identify differences in scope and dynamics between the change processes in the two organizations. The OSCE simply adapted its existing gender policy and has not changed it since, whereas the EU introduced a new, more extensive and specific policy, which it has already amended several times. Drawing on historical institutionalism and feminist institutionalism, we found that, first, reform coalitions prepared the ground for gender mainstreaming in the organizations’ respective security policies; and that, second, embedded policy structures, including rules and norms about external interaction as well as existing policy legacies, were responsible for the different approaches of the EU and OSCE with respect to UNSCR 1325.