Institutional Pluralism Research Articles

Institutional pluralism in public administration and politics: applications in Bolivia and beyond

AbstractIn their book Administrative Decentralization: Strategies for Developing Countries, John Cohen and Steven Peterson construct a model they call ‘institutional pluralism’, which they contend is superior to more traditional modes of decentralization. It is characterized chiefly by multiple channels of service provision, thus inducing accountability into a sphere where previously there has been very little. While they restrict their analysis to the administrative realm, this article argues that the institutional pluralist model makes at least as much sense in political decentralization. Bolivia, which recently launched political reforms offering three separate structures linking citizen to state, serves as an excellent illustration of institutional pluralism in politics. This approach shows considerable promise for implementation in other settings, as can be seen in El Salvador, and a case can be made for its replication potential elsewhere as well. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Delivering Microfinance in Developing Countries: Controversies and Policy Perspectives

The article reviews three major controversies in the microfinance field: vehicles, technologies, and performance assessments for financial service delivery. Then it proposes that these controversies be resolved by a perspective emphasizing institutional plurality and external and internal efficiencies for individual programs. Questions for further research are discussed in the conclusion.

The European policy-making machinery in the Berlin republic: hindrance or handmaiden?

This article examines European policy-making in the Berlin Republic. The basic puzzle explored is whether the policy machinery is able to facilitate the projection of a ‘new European policy’, characterised by greater emphasis upon national interests. In order to suggest answers, the article reviews the origins of the policy machinery and the changes made in the pre-unification period. It then explores the current situation in the Berlin Republic. It argues that the legacies of the past – institutional pluralism and the post-war adoption of a European identity – are not easily cast off. Although the machinery has been reorganised since 1990, notably under the Schröder/Fischer coalition, and there have been some adjustments to bilateral relations, a new European policy has not yet emerged, although it is a possible future scenario.

How Ought Liberal Democracies to Treat Theocratic Communities?

Previous articleNext article No AccessHow Ought Liberal Democracies to Treat Theocratic Communities?*Lucas A. SwaineLucas A. Swaine Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Ethics Volume 111, Number 2January 2001 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/233475 Views: 42Total views on this site Citations: 9Citations are reported from Crossref © 2001 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:William Sims Bainbridge Recording Contemporary Family History Through Social Media, (Nov 2018): 267–299.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01063-8_9MATTHEW J. NELSON ‘Dealing with Difference: Religious Education and the Challenge of Democracy in Pakistan’, Modern Asian Studies 43, no.33 (May 2009): 591–618.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0026749X07003423Matt A. Barreto, Karam Dana The Political Incorporation of Muslims in America: The Role of Religiosity in Islam, SSRN Electronic Journal (Jan 2008).https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1492791Lucas Swaine THE BATTLE FOR LIBERALISM: FACING THE CHALLENGE OF THEOCRACY, Critical Review 19, no.44 (Jan 2007): 565–575.https://doi.org/10.1080/08913810801892929F. M. Frohock An Alternative Model of Political Reasoning, Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 9, no.11 (Feb 2006): 27–64.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10677-006-7906-4Andrew K. Wahlstrom Liberal Democracies and Encompassing Religious Communities: A Defense of Autonomy and Accommodation, Journal of Social Philosophy 36, no.11 (Mar 2005): 31–48.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9833.2005.00256.xLucas Swaine Political Theory and the Conduct of Faith: Oakeshott on Religion in Public Life, Contemporary Political Theory 4, no.11 (Feb 2005): 63–82.https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.cpt.9300123Avigail Eisenberg, Jeff Spinner-Halev Minorities within Minorities, 15 (Sep 2009).https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511490224Veit Bader Religious Diversity And Democratic Institutional Pluralism, Political Theory 31, no.22 (Aug 2016): 265–294.https://doi.org/10.1177/0090591702251012

Institutional plurality: A way out of the Basque conflict?

The aim of this article is to analyse the possibilities for a peaceful solution to the 'Basque question'. In particular, we will explore whether the concept of institutional plurality might be a suitable framework within which to identify a political solution to one of the most enduring and violent nationalistic conflicts in Western Europe. Institutional plurality is described in a previous article (Van Amersfoort 1995). Basically institutional plurality can be found in two forms in modern democracies, a territorial one and a non-territorial parallel organisation of basic institutions. Switzerland and the Netherlands are the classical examples of states in Western Europe with a high degree of institutional plurality; Switzerland in a territorial form, the Netherlands in a non-territorially defined form. Even a first general analysis of Basque nationalism makes clear that the Basque problem is very complicated. A territorial form of pluralism is (just as complete separatism) hampered by the geographical distribution of the Basque and non-Basque segments of the population and by the involvement of two states. The only chance of finding a solution would appear to be a combination of territorial and non-territorial forms of institutional plurality. However such a solution will not necessarily be acceptable to all parties concerned.

Foreign Aid and Institutional Plurality: The Domestic Water Sector in Nepal

This paper discusses the role of foreign aid in the evolution of the domestic water sector in Nepal. Through the case study of the domestic water sector, the paper examines how the prioritization of sectors for investment as well as implementation modalities within sectors in Nepal is influenced by development discourses in the international arena. The creation of the Department of Drinking Water and Sewerage during the early 1970s, its rapid expansion during the 1980s and contestation regarding its role in the domestic water sector in the 1990s are traced to the dominant discourses of the times.

Markets, Firms, and the Process of Economic Development

We develop a framework to describe value creation as a process comprising resource combinations and exchanges and use the framework to show how organizations in general, and business firms in particular, interact with markets to create economic value for themselves, for their members, and for society. The theory offers an explanation of why neither a market nor a firm, by itself, can achieve adaptive efficiency and why institutional pluralism contributes to the process of economic development.

Changements récents dans le champ religieux brésilien

The ongoing process of transformation of religion in Brazil is marked by two apparently contradictory tendencies. Whereas, on the one hand, there is an institutional pluralism with a multiplication of evangelical churches, there is a concomitant religious deinstitutionalization: one section of the population is abandoning its institutional religious identity to live a religiosity detached from all institutions. To understand these phenomena better, in this article, the authors analyse, on the one hand, the discourses of Pentecostal and neo-Pentecostal churches and charismatic Catholic groups against other religions, as well as these groups' institutional development projects and their search for visibility within the public sphere; and on the other hand, the language of isolated individuals who, generally, do not identify themselves with any religion properly speaking and adopt a religious “eclecticism and/or hybridism”.

A Model and Typology of Government-NGO Relationships

This article develops a model and typology of government-nongovernmental organization (NGO) relationships to enable both a rapid appraisal of government-NGO relationships in a particular context and to identify the characteristics and possible structure of alternative relationship types. Building on the literature on the subject, the model defines eight possible relationship types based on several dimensions: government's resistance or acceptance of institutional pluralism, the relative balance of power in the relationship, and the degree of formality and—by extension—the level of government linkage. The model and typology are designed to assist governments, NGOs, donors, and other development practitioners to identify and promote the most productive government-NGO relationship for a particular context.

When parties matter: A review of the possibilities and limits of partisan influence on public policy

AbstractThis essay explores the possibilities and limits of partisan influence on public policy in democratic nations. It will be pointed out, that differences in party composition of government, in general, matter in public policy in constitutional democracy. However, the extent to which parties influence public policy is to a significant extent contingent upon the type of democracy and countermajoritarian institutional constraints of central state government. Large partisan effects typify majoritarian democracies and states, in which the legislature and the executive are ‘sovereign’. More complex and more difficult to identify is the partisan influence on public policy in consensus democracies and in states, in which the political‐institutional circumstances allow for co‐governance of the opposition party. Narrowly circumscribed is the room to manoeuvre available to incumbent parties above all in political systems which have been marked by countermajoritarian institutional pluralism or institutional ‘semi‐sovereignty’. The article suggests, that it would be valuable if direct effects and interaction effects of the party composition of government and state structures featured more prominently in future research on comparative public policy.

The negotiated economy: state and civic institutions in Denmark

As the tide of opinion turns against neo-liberal forms of economic goverance on grounds of both efficiency and equity, academic and policy interest is returning to more interventionist alternatives. Interrestingly, however, the interest appears not to lie with a blind return to old and familiar statist forms of intervention, but with a ‘third way’ beyond market and plan, involving the democratization and decentralization of decision making, the preservation of collective solidarities, emphasis on inter-institutional dialogue, and the shift of the state towards relations of reciprocity and trust with other governance institutions. This article examines the recent political economy of Denmark, as a good example of ‘negotiated economic goverance’ based on the principle that economic success, social solidarity and institutional pluralism can be combined within an overall policy context in which the state assumes a strategic and development role in the economy.

Institucionální pluralita: Problém, či řešení pro multietnický stát?

Institucionální pluralita: Problém, či řešení pro multietnický stát?

The Economic Organization of Science, the Firm, and the Marketplace

Among the various institutional structures of an economy like the firm and the marketplace is one that is like no other. Science is unique. This uniqueness raises an important question: why does science exist? From an economic perspective, there are two potentially meaningful approaches to the existence of science. They both encompass institutional pluralism. A substitutes theory of comparative institutions presupposes the primacy of the commercial marketplace over firms—that firms substitute for the market when markets fail. This theory has not been used to explain the existence of science. A complements theory postulates that many simultaneous institutional responses, including science, are necessary for creating an efficient and equitable economy. The economic function of science is to produce fundamental theoretical abstractions about our world. Scientific theories are public goods that would not likely be produced within the governance structures of commercial markets and firms. The aim is to complement but not supplant traditional philosophical answers that science exists to discover truth and knowledge.

Institutional Pluralism: The Incomplete Differentiation of Health Care in Nepal

Prior research on the presence of medical pluralism and factors affecting utilization patterns within such societies/systems have been able to provide only variable oriented explanations. This paper draws on differentiation theory to provide a theoretical framework for understanding the context of medical pluralism in the developing countries. For the purpose, the South Asian country of Nepal is selected as a basic example. It is inferred that the arguments/theory presented in the paper will be applicable to other third world societies which have medical pluralism as well. This paper suggests that differentiation in these third world societies has not resulted in the formation of a single formal health care complex as in most developed countries. For example, in Nepal three overlapping and competing health care systems (folk, traditional, modern) have evolved producing a pattern we call “incomplete differentiation” in which there are no clearly demarcated boundaries separating the responsibilities of each health care system. Furthermore, in this incompletely differentiated system, modern medicine faces stiff competition with the folk/traditional health care systems over cultural legitimation.

Bounded Rationality and Organizational Learning

Abstract : If organization theory finds it useful to draw upon some of the ideas that have emerged in cognitive psychology, it will be advantageous to borrow also the terminology used in discussing these ideas. Without working toward a higher level of consistency in terminology than prevails in organization theory today, it will be difficult or impossible to cumulate and assemble into a coherent structure the knowledge we are gaining from individual case studies and experiments. We will be continually reinventing wheels. That is a luxury we cannot afford. The happy band of researchers on organization theory is sufficiently small to be kept fully occupied discovering and verifying the theory just once. (Author) (kr)

Spectacle, Attention, Counter-Memory

Whether or not the term spectacle was originally taken from Henri Lefebvre's Critique de la vie quotidienne, its currency emerged from the activities in the late 1950s and early 1960s of the various configurations now designated as presituationist or situationist.1 The product of a radical critique of modernist art practice, a politics of everyday life, and an analysis of contemporary capitalism, its influence was obviously intensified with the publication of Guy Debord's Society of the Spectacle in 1967.2 And twenty-two years later, the word spectacle not only persists but has become a stock phrase in a wide range of critical and not-so-critical discourses. But, assuming it has not become completely devalued or exhausted as an explanation of the contemporary operation of power, does it still mean today what it did in the early '60s? What constellation of forces and institutions does it designate? And if these have mutated, what kind of practices are required now to resist their effects? One can still well ask if the notion of spectacle is the imposition of an illusory unity onto a more heterogenous field. Is it a totalizing and monolithic concept that inadequately represents a plurality of incommensurable institutions and events? For some, a troubling aspect about the term spectacle is the almost ubiquitous presence of the definite article in front of it, suggesting a single and seamless global system of relations. For others, it is a mystification of the functioning of power, a new opiate-of-the-masses type of explanation, a vague cultural-institutional formation with a suspicious structural autonomy. Or is a concept such as spectacle a necessary tool for the figuration of a radical systemic shift in the way power functions noncoercively within twentieth-century modernity? Is it an indispensable means of revealing as related what would otherwise appear as disparate and unconnected phenomena? Does it not show that a patchwork or mosaic of techniques can still constitute a homogenous effect of power?

A Market Policy for Socialists?

Socialists ought to welcome the efficiency and freedom of choice that markets bring, and be wary of the deficiencies of the state, according to lan Forbes, lecturer in Politics at Southampton University. But the freedom of choice claimed by the ‘New Right’ thinkers for their economic system would itself be attenuated by the operation of markets. Market socialism thus requires an institutional pluralism of both market and non‐market elements.

8503678 Vehicle body tilting mechanism : Edmund Francis Neville JEPHCOTT, Fern Hill, Fairwarp, Uckfield, Sussex TN22 3BU, United Kingdom

Whether and how defence investment in the industrialised economies contributes to high technology transfer by moderating national science and technology into high economic products is the exploratory question posed in this paper as part of a comparative analysis of OECD economies. Based on defence dollar investments, we perform two analyses. For the first analysis, we assess moderating effects of defence dollars dedicated to national science (articles) and technology (patents) on high technology exports. For the second analysis, we assess the moderating role of defence dollars on individual economies regarding their comparative advantages/disadvantages relative to the US as the leading economy of the OECD. A panel analysis covering 23 years (1993 to 2015) presents three sets of findings. First, defence dollars positively correlate with national science productivity in articles but are not correlated with national patents. Second, defence dollars positively moderate patent technologies but negatively moderate the application of scientific articles for the development of economic products. Third, in the moderation analysis of defence dollars, the US appears to be at a comparative disadvantage relative to the most developed OECD economies. This finding may imply that (a) there is a plurality of institutions in national innovation systems and that (b) not all economies are equally emulating American institutional development. We propose several avenues for future research and policy-making.

4537126 Automatic peel control mechanism : Henry Bubley assigned to American Screen Printing Equipment Co

Whether and how defence investment in the industrialised economies contributes to high technology transfer by moderating national science and technology into high economic products is the exploratory question posed in this paper as part of a comparative analysis of OECD economies. Based on defence dollar investments, we perform two analyses. For the first analysis, we assess moderating effects of defence dollars dedicated to national science (articles) and technology (patents) on high technology exports. For the second analysis, we assess the moderating role of defence dollars on individual economies regarding their comparative advantages/disadvantages relative to the US as the leading economy of the OECD. A panel analysis covering 23 years (1993 to 2015) presents three sets of findings. First, defence dollars positively correlate with national science productivity in articles but are not correlated with national patents. Second, defence dollars positively moderate patent technologies but negatively moderate the application of scientific articles for the development of economic products. Third, in the moderation analysis of defence dollars, the US appears to be at a comparative disadvantage relative to the most developed OECD economies. This finding may imply that (a) there is a plurality of institutions in national innovation systems and that (b) not all economies are equally emulating American institutional development. We propose several avenues for future research and policy-making.

Psychiatric pluralism in Bengal, India

By examining the pluralistic nature of the psychiatric domain in Bengal, India, the paper critically analyzes the concept of medical pluralism. Three varieties of pluralism are identified: the social institutional pluralism of the diverse specialists, the cultural cognitive pluralism of the client's conceptual frameworks, and the pluralism resulting from the divergent perspectives of clients and specialists. The paper argues that all three forms of pluralism can be better understood if pluralism is conceptualized in terms of actors' structuring activities and thus as an emergent product of social interaction.