 |
|
Research stream on Parliamentarians
This research stream was initiated by Dr Staffan I. Lindberg of the University of Florida and is now being led by Prof E. Gyimah-Boadi, Center for Democratic Development, Accra. It has the following rationale.
In their day-to-day conduct, African parliamentarians face a variety of formal and informal institutional pressures to supply public, collective and private goods. The conventional wisdom among political scientists is that in most countries of the region, informal pressures to provide private goods (rewards to individual supporters and clients) take precedence over both public and collective goods provision, with particularly damaging effects on MPs’ performance as legislators. While this is accurate as a general description, we know much less than we should about variations within the general pattern, and hence about possible avenues for ameliorating the way MPs perform within the actual socio-political contexts in which they work.
Research in this stream promises to contribute to a better understanding of what sort of governance reforms are feasible within the context of actually existing political systems in Africa. Until we have this kind of understanding, policies and projects designed to strengthen the ‘capacity’ of parliamentarians will continue to figure among those that produce limited real improvements.
An information sheet providing additional description and contact details for the stream is downloadable from here (
English 300KB). Downloadable publications particularly relevant to the stream include the Research Progress Report and Working Papers 1, 2, 5 and 6.
Latest Downloads
 |
APPP Working Paper 8, 'Some evidence on the demand side of private-public goods provision by MPs, Staffan I. Lindberg, Feb 2010 Eng More Info |
|
APPP Working Paper 7, Variations among MPs, Feb 2010, Lindberg Eng More Info |
|
APPP, Working Paper 6, 'Political accountability in Africa: is the glass half-ful or half-empty? by Goran Hyden, January 2010 Eng More Info |
|
Les Parlementaires Fr More Info |
