Multi-stakeholder promotion of civic participation: assessing the Open Government Partnership’s influence on national policy
Year: 2019
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Global multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs) leverage collaboration between government and civil society to improve public sector governance in participating countries.Noting the prominence of public governance MSIs in international policy discourse, and the lack of longterm data against which to assess their impact, this doctoral research proposes three alternative strategies for evaluating their effectiveness and influence.Defining the causal mechanisms through which MSIs aim to influence national policy allows testing of effectiveness prior to long-term outcomes.Measuring effects in adjacent policy areas allows for a more nuanced assessment of MSIs' institutional influence.Lastly, more rigorous quality metrics can be applied to the norms promoted by MSIs, in order to evaluate their potential impact.These strategies are applied in multi-method analysis of the Open Government Partnership's (OGP) promotion of civic participation to member countries.Causal mechanisms related to argumentation and policy learning are demonstrated to drive OGP's policy influence, and OGP is found to have a modest institutional effect on countries' public governance outside of OGP-specific policy fora, including the informal institutionalization of policy.OGP's effect is most pronounced in countries that already enjoy strong traditions for civic participation, and in regard to more progressive norms related to collaborative decision-making.The application of quality metrics suggests, however, that if adopted, the norms and policies promoted in an OGP context are not likely to contribute to the OGP's end goal of more responsive and accountable governance.This analysis validates the three evaluation strategies proposed above and adds nuance to current discourse on MSI effectiveness.After presenting the full scope of research, this cover chapter closes with implications for MSI advocacy strategies and theories of global norm promotion.
Author: Christopher Wilson
Language: English
Subfield: Public Administration
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3033056688