How (Not) to Fix Problems that Matter : Assessing and Responding to Malawi's History of Institutional Reform

Malawi can be understood as a microcosm of institutional reform approaches in developing countries more broadly. A common feature of such approaches, whether implemented by government or donors, is reform initiatives that yield institutions that &q...

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Main Authors:	Bridges, Kate, Woolcock, Michael
Format:	Working Paper
Language:	English
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2017
Subjects:	CAPACITY BUILDING INSTITUTIONS PUBLIC SECTOR GOVERNANCE REFORM LEGITIMACY PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION CIVIL SERVICE DEVELOPMENT EFFECTIVENESS
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/349361513957973588/How-not-to-fix-problems-that-matter-assessing-and-responding-to-Malawis-history-of-institutional-reform http://hdl.handle.net/10986/29111

id	okr-10986-29111
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-291112021-09-05T12:14:04Z How (Not) to Fix Problems that Matter : Assessing and Responding to Malawi's History of Institutional Reform Bridges, Kate Woolcock, Michael CAPACITY BUILDING INSTITUTIONS PUBLIC SECTOR GOVERNANCE REFORM LEGITIMACY PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION CIVIL SERVICE DEVELOPMENT EFFECTIVENESS Malawi can be understood as a microcosm of institutional reform approaches in developing countries more broadly. A common feature of such approaches, whether implemented by government or donors, is reform initiatives that yield institutions that "look like" those found in higher-performing countries but rarely acquire the same underlying functionality. This paper presents a retrospective analysis of previous institutional reform projects in Malawi, as well as interviews with Malawi-based development practitioners. The paper finds a plethora of interventions that, merely by virtue of appearing to be in conformity with "best practices" elsewhere, are deemed to be successful yet fail to fix underlying problems, sometimes in contradiction to internal and public narratives of positive progress. This unhappy arrangement endures because a multitude of imperatives, incentives, and norms appear to keep governments and donors from more closely examining why such intense, earnest, and long-standing efforts at reform have, to date, yielded so few successes. This paper seeks to promote a shift in approach to institutional reform, offering some practical recommendations for reform-minded managers, project teams, and political leaders in which the focus is placed on crafting solutions to problems that Malawians themselves nominate, prioritize, and enact. 2017-12-29T15:36:13Z 2017-12-29T15:36:13Z 2017-12 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/349361513957973588/How-not-to-fix-problems-that-matter-assessing-and-responding-to-Malawis-history-of-institutional-reform http://hdl.handle.net/10986/29111 English Policy Research Working Paper;No. 8289 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Africa Malawi
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
language	English
topic	CAPACITY BUILDING INSTITUTIONS PUBLIC SECTOR GOVERNANCE REFORM LEGITIMACY PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION CIVIL SERVICE DEVELOPMENT EFFECTIVENESS
spellingShingle	CAPACITY BUILDING INSTITUTIONS PUBLIC SECTOR GOVERNANCE REFORM LEGITIMACY PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION CIVIL SERVICE DEVELOPMENT EFFECTIVENESS Bridges, Kate Woolcock, Michael How (Not) to Fix Problems that Matter : Assessing and Responding to Malawi's History of Institutional Reform
geographic_facet	Africa Malawi
relation	Policy Research Working Paper;No. 8289
description	Malawi can be understood as a microcosm of institutional reform approaches in developing countries more broadly. A common feature of such approaches, whether implemented by government or donors, is reform initiatives that yield institutions that "look like" those found in higher-performing countries but rarely acquire the same underlying functionality. This paper presents a retrospective analysis of previous institutional reform projects in Malawi, as well as interviews with Malawi-based development practitioners. The paper finds a plethora of interventions that, merely by virtue of appearing to be in conformity with "best practices" elsewhere, are deemed to be successful yet fail to fix underlying problems, sometimes in contradiction to internal and public narratives of positive progress. This unhappy arrangement endures because a multitude of imperatives, incentives, and norms appear to keep governments and donors from more closely examining why such intense, earnest, and long-standing efforts at reform have, to date, yielded so few successes. This paper seeks to promote a shift in approach to institutional reform, offering some practical recommendations for reform-minded managers, project teams, and political leaders in which the focus is placed on crafting solutions to problems that Malawians themselves nominate, prioritize, and enact.
format	Working Paper
author	Bridges, Kate Woolcock, Michael
author_facet	Bridges, Kate Woolcock, Michael
author_sort	Bridges, Kate
title	How (Not) to Fix Problems that Matter : Assessing and Responding to Malawi's History of Institutional Reform
title_short	How (Not) to Fix Problems that Matter : Assessing and Responding to Malawi's History of Institutional Reform
title_full	How (Not) to Fix Problems that Matter : Assessing and Responding to Malawi's History of Institutional Reform
title_fullStr	How (Not) to Fix Problems that Matter : Assessing and Responding to Malawi's History of Institutional Reform
title_full_unstemmed	How (Not) to Fix Problems that Matter : Assessing and Responding to Malawi's History of Institutional Reform
title_sort	how (not) to fix problems that matter : assessing and responding to malawi's history of institutional reform
publisher	World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate	2017
url	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/349361513957973588/How-not-to-fix-problems-that-matter-assessing-and-responding-to-Malawis-history-of-institutional-reform http://hdl.handle.net/10986/29111
_version_	1764468523295309824

How (Not) to Fix Problems that Matter : Assessing and Responding to Malawi's History of Institutional Reform

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