Patchwork Leviathan

Auteurs

• Erin Metz McDonnell

Paramètres

• 304 pages
• 11 heures de lecture

• Affaires & Gestion
• Commerce
• Manuels
• Manuels universitaires
• Nonfiction

En savoir plus sur le livre

Corruption and ineffectiveness are often associated with public servants in developing countries, yet some groups within these states demonstrate remarkable effectiveness and public orientation. Patchwork Leviathan explores how a few highly effective state organizations thrive amidst general institutional weakness. Erin Metz McDonnell draws on the Hobbesian concept of the state as Leviathan, arguing that many seemingly weak states possess diverse administrative capacities. These states function as patchworks, loosely stitched together from limited resources, creating a facade of unity. McDonnell emphasizes the importance of resource distribution, noting that when bureaucratic resources are scarce, their allocation is crucial. Often, these resources are dispersed across the state, resulting in minimal impact. However, a concentrated distribution within specific areas can lead to the emergence of effective organizations amid widespread ineffectiveness. This book provides a thorough analysis of successful governance in challenging institutional contexts, using case studies from contemporary Ghana and Nigeria, mid-twentieth-century Kenya and Brazil, and early twentieth-century China. Based on nearly two years of fieldwork in West Africa, it offers insights into how these effective pockets differ from Western bureaucracies, shedding light on the shortcomings of well-funded global capacity-building reforms and suggesting paths for i

Achat du livre

• Année de publication: 2020
• Reliure: (souple)