• This project will examine attempts to establish policy frameworks and institutional mechanisms at a global level to deal with issues of governance within developing economies.
• It will address the contending ideas, forces and interests currently shaping the agendas for global governance in this sphere and the different emphasis placed on institution building, democratic transition, administrative decentralisation, market reform and social change as frameworks within which governance objectives might be achieved.
• Effectiveness of existing global efforts to deal with problems arising from state failure and the absence of rule of law, arbitrary and/or predatory rule, regime change, social conflict and the absence of rule of law will be assessed in comparative case studies.
• In the context of recent revisions and debates about institutional change and nation building we will develop conceptual frameworks in which the effectiveness of different agendas for global governance are assessed and draw larger theoretical conclusions from these as well as more practical lessons for programme design.
• The project will use the critical mass of the Network of Excellence to generate new ideas about policy opportunities and new visions of the way Europe might define innovative policy approaches and play a cohesive and central role in dialogue and policy implementation.
• Finally, we will generate through the integrated activities of the network, a more cohesive and focused research capacity on problems of governance in developing economies and an institutional framework that will sustain ongoing activities in innovative research, collaboration between academic and non-academic groups and the active dissemination of research products.

• This will be a project that will deal with the problems of establishing effective governance in developing economies and also with the associated dynamics of policy formulation and institution building at the global level to achieve these objectives. Work will begin in early 2005, negotiating details with the research team from across the network and also from the developing economies to work with ISS team members on the project. Core concept framework will be prepared by the team leader and sent to participants for feedback.
• At an initial workshop in September 2005, the team members will present drafts of specific studies. These will be discussed in relation to the coherence of the larger project by the research team and selected participants from policy and development institutions. The workshop will set further agendas and refine the central research questions, set timetables, plan publications and decide on associated exchanges, integration of post-graduates and institutional linkages as well as mechanisms of disseminating research progress.
• This workshop will be integrated with a short programme for post graduate students working in association with the project and with selected participation from across Europe and the developing economies aimed at discussing the substance of the project and developing approaches to research design in global governance and development.
• Fully developed research papers discussed at a conference in August/September 2006 after which the papers will be edited and prepared for revision and subsequent publication.
• A structured dialogue workshop with policy and development practitioners in the public and private sector will be integrated with this workshop to discuss outcomes and seek responses and to develop agendas for future research directions and collaboration in policy related activities.
• These events will be embedded in ongoing consultations across research teams and associated exchanges with researchers from developing economies.

• Follow this link to read project reports

• Richard Robison, Institute of Social Studies

• University of Warwick
• Universiteit van Amsterdam
• Universiteit Leiden
• United Nations University - Comparative Regional Integration Studies
• Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London