Publication: Four Cardinal Questions (and Answers of a Sort): Toward Just Development in FCS
Loading...
Published
2014-01
ISSN
Date
2018-10-10
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
Justice and the rule of law are regularly cited as fundamental to addressing so many development challenges: poor investment climate, conflict and insecurity, gender inequality, poverty, and low human development outcomes. The role of justice institutions in underpinning development has especially come to the fore in fragile and conflict-affected situations. The authors suggest that there is quite a lot, but it requires starting with different questions. Drawing from the Bank’s justice strategy new directions in justice Reform and the experience in the justice for the poor program, especially in fragile and conflict-affected situations, the authors have distilled an answer, or rather a process. Four simple questions to guide toward the not so simple path of promoting just development are: question 1: what is the justice problem?; question 2: how is the justice problem being managed?; question 3: under what conditions will more effective and legitimate institutions to manage the justice problem emerge?; and question 4: what is the appropriate role for external assistance?
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Berg, Louis-Alexandre; Isser, Deborah; Porter, Doug. 2014. Four Cardinal Questions (and Answers of a Sort): Toward Just Development in FCS. Just Development;No. 1. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/30548 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Digital Object Identifier
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Toward More Effective and Legitimate Institutions to Handle Problems of Justice in Solomon Islands(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-03)This policy note summarizes key lessons and conclusions from the World Bank's engagement in Solomon Islands under the justice for the poor program, which has been active in that country since 2009. It interprets what has been learned in connection with a question posed at the start of this program: what can be done to support more effective and legitimate institutions to handle problems of justice in Solomon Islands?. To answer this question, the note is organized around a set of three questions. First, what are Solomon Islanders' main justice concerns? Second, how are these concerns being handled today, to what extent are people satisfied, and why? Third, what can Solomon Islanders and their development partners do to improve justice outcomes? This note is an effort to shift the standard discourse on building justice institutions to a problem driven approach that seeks to grapple with the contextual peculiarities of Solomon Islands. The approach, which this note aims to illustrate, begins with an assessment of how problems are experienced by citizens and then examines how these issues are being handled by public authorities, whether secular, religious, chiefly, or kastom in nature. It then considers the conditions under which these authorities may work differently and also the likelihood that powerful players and citizens will invest in the forms of institutions needed to incrementally, but appreciably, deliver better results.Publication Conflict in Melanesia(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2010-11-02)This case study examines contemporary experiences of conflict in four contexts: Papua New Guinea, with particular reference to the island of Bougainville and the Highlands region; Solomon Islands; and Vanuatu. We find common themes in these experiences, despite the regions famous sociolinguistic diversity, fragmented geography and varied experience of globalization. Melanesia offers distinctive lessons about how conflict may be understood, promoted and avoided. The paper is organized in two broad parts. The first part is contextual. It provides a brief account of conflict and violence in social life before and after colonization. It then tracks, largely chronologically, through the local, national and transnational dimensions of contemporary conflict, how it was avoided, how it has changed, and how it has been managed in different contexts. Particular attention is given to global and regional influences, and to how governments, local people, and external security, development and commercial actors, have worked to mitigate and, at times, exacerbate conflict. The second part of the case study is more analytical. It steps back from the particulars to address themes and propositions in the overall conceptual framing of World Development Report (WDR) 2011 about the nature of conflict, and the underlying stresses and interests that may render it more likely. Part two draws lessons from the histories and contexts discussed in part one. The report organizes these around three themes that reflect views shared with us by people during consultations. The first highlights the need to recognize conflict as an inherent part of social change and thus the need to distinguish between socially generative social contest, and forms of conflict that are corrosive and destructive. The second examines how the ways people 'see' and understand the world directly shapes systems of regulation and 'the rules of the game' and thus directly affect responses to conflict. The third theme argues that capable and legitimate institutions to regulate social contest requires not just capable state institutions, but as much, relationships with local and international agents and organizations operating below and above the state.Publication Social Protection in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Countries(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-04)This study examines the role of social protection programming, and programming design and implementation features, that are prominent in fragile and conflict-affected states. The main objective is to build on existing, available information from a sample of fragile and conflict-affected countries and develop operational guidance that addresses policy, design, and implementation issues and offers operational solutions for social protection programming and policy making in different fragile settings. The analysis showcases the universe of social protection objectives that are evident in these countries as well as the programming trends, types, coverage, and expenditure patterns. The paper also examines dimensions specific to fragile and conflict-affected settings in implementing social protection and labor programs, such as social cohesion, the role of community-driven development, and postwar benefits. Finally, the study highlights social protection and labor program delivery in seven different country contexts, and discusses the country-specific programming options chosen to achieve the objectives and overcome capacity and operational constraints.Publication A Comparative Analysis of Financial Sector Reforms and Policies in Countries Exiting Fragility(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-07-18)Financial sector reforms are part of the strategies that countries follow to exit from fragility, but the content and focus of these reforms and the priority they are given relative to other policies vary from country to country. Based on an archival search of publicly available World Bank and the International Monetary Fund country documents, this paper investigates and compares the experiences of seven countries (Armenia, Benin, Cambodia, the Dominican Republic, Rwanda, Senegal, and Viet Nam) that successfully and sustainably exited fragility during the 1980s and 1990s, focusing on the financial sector reforms that were implemented around the time of the exit. The review suggests a few broad patterns. Regardless of the original causes of fragility, successful exit strategies always included financial sector reforms, which invariably focused on short-term goals: stopping bank losses, establishing monetary control, and re-starting the engine of financial intermediation and the flow of credit to the economy. Longer-term financial development goals, such as financial deepening, were recognized as important, but the requisite policy interventions came later, after the financial sector had been restored to health and was able to discharge its basic functions. Crucially, substantial, hands-on, long-term technical assistance and capacity building were in all cases necessary to ensure the long-term success of these reforms.Publication Legal Pluralism and Equity(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2008-04)Institutional reforms in contemporary Cambodia are being undertaken in an environment characterized by pervasive legal pluralism the not uncommon situation in which numerous, contradictory and competing sets of rules and norms regulate social, economic and political relationships. The international development community has a long and unhappy history of engagement with such environments. This is not simply because the links between substantive policy and institutional arrangements in the 'transition to democracy' are many, uncertain and highly contingent. It is also the case because the formal precepts of liberal democracy as codified in new laws and regulations are often inconsistent with prevailing social norms and administrative practices. In fact, they may be fundamentally at odds with the interests of economic and political elites who have an interest in contesting, neutralizing or capturing institutions created under the new legal framework.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Community Development in the Lao Mining Sector(Washington, DC, 2011-09)The purpose of this Briefing Note is to provide background information and analysis on the new legal requirement and relevant information and experience pertaining to community development funds in the mining sector internationally and in Lao PDR. This Briefing Note is intended to inform discussion at the Conference on Mining and Community Development in Lao PDR: Community Development Funds to be held in Vientiane and Phu Kham, 19-23 September 2011. The Briefing Note draws heavily on information from a number of existing World Bankpublications including: Lao PDR Development Report - Natural Resource Management for Sustainable Development: Hydropower and Mining and relevant background papers which examine themes of social impact mitigation andbenefit sharing. Mining Foundations, Trusts and Funds A Sourcebook which reviews developing country experience of mining sector foundations, trusts and funds. Sharing Mining Benefits in Developing Countries: the experience with foundations, trusts and funds a publication from the World Bank Oil, Gas, and Mining Policy Division (SEGOM) that summarises developing country experiences.The Briefing Note also draws on a number of interviews conducted with key government agencies including the Department of Mines (DOM), Ministry of Energy and Mines; Department of Environment Impact Assessment (DESIA), Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment; Department of International Cooperation (DOIC), Ministry of Planning and Investment; Department of External Finance, Ministry of Finance; Poverty Reduction Fund (PRF) as well as the two largest mining operators: Phu Bia Mining (PBM) and Lane Xang Minerals Limited(LXML). The intended audience of this note is policy makers, members of the development community and representatives from the private sector (mining companies and consultants).Publication Digital Africa(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-03-13)All African countries need better and more jobs for their growing populations. "Digital Africa: Technological Transformation for Jobs" shows that broader use of productivity-enhancing, digital technologies by enterprises and households is imperative to generate such jobs, including for lower-skilled people. At the same time, it can support not only countries’ short-term objective of postpandemic economic recovery but also their vision of economic transformation with more inclusive growth. These outcomes are not automatic, however. Mobile internet availability has increased throughout the continent in recent years, but Africa’s uptake gap is the highest in the world. Areas with at least 3G mobile internet service now cover 84 percent of Africa’s population, but only 22 percent uses such services. And the average African business lags in the use of smartphones and computers as well as more sophisticated digital technologies that catalyze further productivity gains. Two issues explain the usage gap: affordability of these new technologies and willingness to use them. For the 40 percent of Africans below the extreme poverty line, mobile data plans alone would cost one-third of their incomes—in addition to the price of access devices, apps, and electricity. Data plans for small- and medium-size businesses are also more expensive than in other regions. Moreover, shortcomings in the quality of internet services—and in the supply of attractive, skills-appropriate apps that promote entrepreneurship and raise earnings—dampen people’s willingness to use them. For those countries already using these technologies, the development payoffs are significant. New empirical studies for this report add to the rapidly growing evidence that mobile internet availability directly raises enterprise productivity, increases jobs, and reduces poverty throughout Africa. To realize these and other benefits more widely, Africa’s countries must implement complementary and mutually reinforcing policies to strengthen both consumers’ ability to pay and willingness to use digital technologies. These interventions must prioritize productive use to generate large numbers of inclusive jobs in a region poised to benefit from a massive, youthful workforce—one projected to become the world’s largest by the end of this century.Publication Regional Poverty and Inequality Update: Latin America and the Caribbean, October 2025(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-10-23)This brief summarizes recent facts related to poverty and inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) using the latest wave of harmonized household surveys from the Socio-Economic Database for LAC (SEDLAC). This brief was produced by the Poverty Global Practice in the LAC Region of the World Bank.Publication Mauritania Student Assessment : SABER Country Report 2013(Washington, DC, 2013)In 2013, Mauritania joined the Russia Education Aid for Development (READ) trust fund program, the goal of which is to help countries improve their capacity to design, carry out, analyze, and use assessments for improved student learning. As part of the READ trust fund program, and in order to gain a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of its existing assessment system, Tajikistan participated in a formal exercise to benchmark its student assessment system under The World Bank's Systems Approach for Better Education Results (SABER) program. SABER is an evidence-based program to help countries systematically examine and strengthen the performance of different aspects of their education systems. SABER-student assessment is a component of the SABER program that focuses specifically on benchmarking student assessment policies and systems. The goal of SABER-student assessment is to promote stronger assessment systems that contribute to improved education quality and learning for all. The importance of assessment is linked to its role in: providing information on levels of student learning and achievement in the system; monitoring trends in education quality over time; supporting educators and students with real-time information to improve teaching and learning; and holding stakeholders accountable for results. The SABER-student assessment framework is built on the available evidence base for what an effective assessment system looks like. The framework provides guidance on how countries can build more effective student assessment systems. The framework is structured around two main dimensions of assessment systems: the types/purposes of assessment activities and the quality of those activities. Assessment systems tend to be comprised of three main types of assessment activities, each of which serves a different purpose and addresses different information needs. These three main types are: classroom assessment, examinations, and large scale, system level assessments. This report focuses specifically on policies in the area of student assessment.Publication Special Economic Zones(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2017)Policy-makers across developing economies are implementing different forms of special economic zones (SEZs): programs intended to catalyze economic growth. The SEZ program is aimed at attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) to increase firm-level investment and improve firm-level productivity by enhancing firm-level coordination, networks, and innovation. The purpose of this operational review is to inform and to identify and document lessons from the application of these policies across countries and across the World Bank’s project portfolio. The report reviews the SEZ programs, and the characteristics and contexts that are associated with the success of SEZ policies. The report also adds to the general SEZ debate of whether the benefits generated by SEZs are restricted to the firms within the walls of the SEZs with limited social benefit; or whether SEZs eventually lead to spillovers that support structural change generating high social benefits. The report is structure as follows: chapter one gives introduction. Chapter two, provides a brief literature review of SEZ theory and performance. Chapter three provides an overview of the dataset developed for this work. Chapter four presents the econometric estimation using the dataset (for the explanatory variables) and nighttime lights data over 5 years as a measure of success (and dependent variable). Finally, chapter five focuses on the World-Bank-Group-funded projects that contain an SEZ component and assess the factors determining success and failures of SEZs.