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SupportINg the DevelopmeNt of INStItutIoNS – formAl AND INformAl ruleS – utv WorkINg pAper 2005:3
the linkages between them would be particularly important. Support for development of property rights
would seem to be an area of emerging interest at Sida where a network for women’s property rights was
recently established. It would seem then, that a formative/learning evaluation could extract knowledge
and contribute to the development of policy and practice.
Local/Decentralised Institution Building
Issues of institutional development concerning collective action within civil society, partnerships with
public and private actors, polycentric governance, governance of common pool resources, natural
resources and common property etc. might be an area to explore further.
Rule of Law
The rule of law is another institutional ‘factor’ – or consequence, rather – that is found to be of central
importance for economic growth. The concept may be more or less broadly defined, but in its simplest
sense, it means that formal rules are valid, which means they are mostly adhered to and enforced. The
fact that the law (and other formal rules) actually rules – instead of discretion – reduces uncertainty
and increases predictability. This creates stability, which is beneficial – not least to investors. The estab-
lishment and development of the rule of law has been the subject of donor support – and not only for
economic development. It is an important element in Sida’s support for democratic governance and
considered central for poverty reduction from a rights perspective. It might be another area where
there is substantial scope for a formative evaluation to contribute to development of policy and prac-
tice. Whereas the focus might be on support for the judicial system, broader socio-cultural aspects,
beliefs and values as well as the interaction between the formal system and traditional law and enforce-
ment could be incorporated.
Democratisation
Support for democratisation and related formal political institutional change is an important part of
Sida’s work for democratic governance, increasingly stressed in the new Swedish policy for global devel-
opment and one of the most central issues in several Swedish government country strategies. One pos-
sible evaluation topic would be support for democratisation, with a specific focus on the extent to which
informal political rules and relationships have been taken into account, and the implications for support
and its outcome in terms of actual democratisation and change and/or reinforcement of political powers..
Possible points of departure for African case studies might be offered by Chabal (2003), in the case of
Kenya, and Sarah Vaughan and Kjetil Tronvoll (2003), for Etiopia. However, other country cases may be
equally or more relevant.
Corruption
Preventing and combating corruption is one of Sida’s three strategic priorities for 2005–2007. What does
Sida (and other donors) do in order to counter corruption in partner countries – not only in terms of dealing
with the symptoms, by securing their own procedures, but also in terms of addressing the causes of corrup-
tion through various kinds of support? Corruption is a truly institutional phenomenon – informal in char-
acter, but which in turn may be influenced by incentives shaped by other formal and informal political,
economic and socio-cultural rules, as well as by such factors as resource availability. Research on the causes
and mechanisms of corruption would appear to be substantial, which might motivate a literature survey as
the first step. More specifically, questions might concern what donors know about the causes of corruption
– how is it analysed and understood? How do donors try and manage to influence the prevalence and causes
of corruption, in terms of both intended and unintended effects? A point of departure might be Sida’s rules
and guides to anti-corruption work. Other potential questions concern whether donors in fact may contrib-
ute to corruption themselves, and if so: how, to what extent and why?
SupportINg the DevelopmeNt of INStItutIoNS – formAl AND INformAl ruleS – utv WorkINg pAper 2005:3
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