Journal Article

Permanent link for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10535/5

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Accountable Representation and Power in Participatory and Decentralized Environmental Management
(1999) Ribot, Jesse C.
"Elected local government is the appropriate institution to entrust with representation of local populations in matters of public resource use. Decentralization and participation are both means of bringing a broader section of a given population into public decision-making processes - in a role of informing and/or controlling those processes."
Decentralisation and Devolution in Nicaragua's North Atlantic Autonomous Region: Natural Resources and Indigenous Peoples' Rights
(2012) Larson, Anne; Lewis-Mendoza, Jadder
"A number of governments, particularly in Latin America, have begun to recognise the rights of indigenous peoples and traditional communities to the lands on which they live. Recognition has often taken the form of constitutional provisions or laws that grant use rights in perpetuity or provide land titles. These provisions usually establish rights for multiple communities over a large territory, at a scale that may be ideal for promoting broader, ecosystem management approaches. At the same time, however, indigenous communities often do not have existing territorial governance structures at these scales. Nicaragua’s North Atlantic Autonomous Region provides a rich setting in which to study issues of multilevel natural resource governance. In addition to the devolution policies that have created official indigenous territories, the central government has decentralised important powers over natural resources to the regional autonomous authority, while municipal authorities still exist but have been marginalised. At the same time, however, the community scale is the one at which local people have traditionally managed resources. This paper examines these issues in light of efforts to establish democratic governance institutions at the territory level and argues that communities continue to lose out under multilevel governance regimes without concerted efforts to level the playing field. The findings are based on several years of research in the region, emerging research on newly titled territories and a six month training and dialogue with territory leaders, organised by a consortium of international and local NGOs."
Deliberative Democracy and Co-management of Natural Resources: Snowmobile Regulation in Western Sweden
(2010) Zachrisson, Anna
"Deliberation is an understudied aspect of co-management institutions and common pool theory that can be improved by a closer connection to deliberative democratic theory. Analyses of co-management arrangements provide needed empirical insights to deliberative democratic theory, although such arrangements are group-based and not readily accepted as examples of deliberative democracy. A framework is developed to analyze to what degree co-management arrangements incorporate deliberative elements and how they contribute to improved decision-making. To test its usefulness, a case study of a co-management process in Sweden is analyzed. In Funäsdalsfjällen, a mountainous area of western Sweden, a conflict-ridden situation caused by expanded use of snowmobiles eventually led to the establishment of a municipal regulation area. Central and regional authorities initially failed to resolve the conflict, but when the municipality started working directly with relevant interest groups, agreement was reached. Deliberative elements are shown to have been central to the success of the co-management process, and it is concluded that co-management and deliberative democratic approaches cross-fertilize one another."
Derivation Principle Dilemma and National (Dis)Unity in Nigeria: A Polycentric Planning Perspective on the Niger Delta
(2011) Akinola, Samson Ranti; Adesopo, Ayo
"Military incursion into Nigerian politics unilaterally abrogated derivation principle that existed before the discovery of oil in commercial quantities and imposed an authoritarian and centralized fiscal system. The paper traces the poverty and human misery in the Niger Delta to three factors: (1) unresponsive government policy, (2) inadequate finance and (3) corruption and low public morality among government officials operating in the Niger Delta. The centralized fiscal system has acted as a set back on the progress of the Niger Delta where most of the countrys revenues are derived. As expected, agitations for inclusiveness on the part of the people has led to several crises. In order to resolve the challenge of derivation and governance crisis in the Niger Delta, this paper derives some lessons from American federalism, Alaskas oil experience and Eastern and Southern African wildlife conservation programmes. Recent indications show that there exists robust and resilient associational life in the Niger Delta, which are imperative for igniting a shared community of understanding, and for valorizing the process of true federalism and democratisation in the region. Using polycentric institutional mechanism, this paper, therefore, proposes African Community-Initiatives and Development (ACID) Model for streamlining the activities and operations of formal institutions and self-governing institutions in the Niger Delta."
Dilemmas of Democratic Decentralisation in Mangochi District, Malawi: Interest and Mistrust in Fisheries Management
(2008) Hara, Mafaniso
"To establish participatory fisheries management, in 1993 Malawis Fisheries Department constituted elected Beach Village Committees (BVCs) with village headmen as ex-officio members. But, struggles between elected BVC members and traditional authorities (TAs) over benefits from fisheries undermined the authority of elected members. Legal ambiguity on who should make decisions facilitated the takeover by headmen. Further, the BVC was elected by the population as a whole, representing more than just the fishers, whom these committees were designed to control. This resulted in the sabotaging of the BVCs activities by the fishers. Under these conditions, representing the whole population undermined the effectiveness of the BVCs. In 1998, decentralisation reforms placed community inclusion in fisheries management under Village Development Committees (VDCs), whose members would be appointed by elected District Assemblies (DAs). This reform is likely to unleash a struggle over BVC-VDC relations. But, different visions of decentralisation, shared mistrust of local democracy, higher level battles for authority among the government, politicians and TAs stalled the decentralisation process. Donors supporting these reforms were also mistrustful of representative local institutions. The institutions chosen and recognised by the government under donor pressure are the sites of political struggles in which representation, a sense of belonging and downward accountability are losing ground."
Governance of Aquatic Agricultural Systems: Analyzing Representation, Power, and Accountability
(2013) Ratner, Blake D.; Cohen, Philippa; Barman, Benoy; Mam, Kosal; Nagoli, Joseph; Allison, Edward H.
"Aquatic agricultural systems in developing countries face increasing competition from multiple stakeholders over rights to access and use natural resources, land, water, wetlands, and fisheries, essential to rural livelihoods. A key implication is the need to strengthen governance to enable equitable decision making amidst competition that spans sectors and scales, building capacities for resilience, and for transformations in institutions that perpetuate poverty. In this paper we provide a simple framework to analyze the governance context for aquatic agricultural system development focused on three dimensions: stakeholder representation, distribution of power, and mechanisms of accountability. Case studies from Cambodia, Bangladesh, Malawi/Mozambique, and Solomon Islands illustrate the application of these concepts to fisheries and aquaculture livelihoods in the broader context of intersectoral and cross-scale governance interactions. Comparing these cases, we demonstrate how assessing governance dimensions yields practical insights into opportunities for transforming the institutions that constrain resilience in local livelihoods."
Planning and Corrupting Water Resources Development: The Case of Small Reservoirs in Ghana
(2011) Venot, Jean-Philippe; Andreini, Marc; Pinkstaff, Crossley Beth
"Agricultural (water) development is once again at the fore of the development agenda of sub-Saharan Africa. Yet, corruption is seen as a major obstacle to the sustainability of future investments in the sector but there is still little empirical evidence on the ways corruption pervades development projects. This paper documents the planning and implementation processes of two specific small reservoir programmes in the north of Ghana. We specifically delve into the dynamics of corruption and interrogate the ways they add to the inherent unpredictability of development planning. We argue that operational limitations of small reservoirs such as poor infrastructure, lack of managerial and organisational capacity at the community level and weak market integration and public support are the symptoms -- rather than inherent problems -- of wider lapses in the planning processes that govern the development of small reservoirs in Ghana and worldwide. A suite of petty misconduct and corrupt practices during the planning, tendering, supervision, and administration of contracts for the rehabilitation and construction of small reservoirs results in delays in implementation, poor construction, escalating costs, and ultimately failures of small reservoirs vis-à-vis their intended goals and a widely shared frustration among donor agencies, civil servants, contractors, and communities. Such practices hang on and can only be addressed through a better understanding of the complex web of formal decisions and informal rules that shape the understanding and actions of the state."

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