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22. Digital services for e-government: opportunities for a future 2.5 billion African demographic market
- Author:
- Nii Simmonds
- Publication Date:
- 06-2024
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Atlantic Council
- Abstract:
- In partnership with Africa Development Solutions (ADS) Group, the Africa Center released a report on “Digital services for e-government: Opportunities for a future 2.5 billion African demographic market” by Atlantic Council, GeoTech Nonresident Senior Fellow, Nii Simmonds. This report argues that e-government solutions have the potential to revolutionize service delivery across the African continent. E-government services refers to the process of providing technology-enabled public services. With Africa’s population projected to reach 2.5 billion people by 2050, nearly one-quarter of the world’s population, countries like Egypt, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Kenya, and the Democratic Republic of Congo will need to strengthen their government and infrastructure to manage the administration of critical services. As the middle class continues to expand, so will the demand for access to everyday services such as healthcare, renewing a driver’s license, and filing tax returns. This report highlights the potential for growth in African markets through e-governance and the importance having strong policies and frameworks in place to secure data. Additionally, the report offers case studies on Estonia, Canada, and India, three countries that have made tremendous commitment to bridging the gap between citizens and government through digital service delivery. With key recommendations for institutions ranging from African governments and regional bodies to DFIs and private sector companies, it is clear that each have an important role to play in the digitization of public services in Africa.
- Topic:
- Government, Markets, Economy, Business, and E-Government
- Political Geography:
- Africa
23. Reforming the Centre of Government
- Author:
- Caroline Slocock and Ray Shostak
- Publication Date:
- 03-2024
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
- Abstract:
- Ahead of a potential change of government in the United Kingdom during this year, this webinar examines the reform of the centre of government across the world. Chaired by Professor Patrick Diamond, this webinar saw Professor Ray Shostak, Martin Alessandro, and Caroline Slocock explore the lessons that could be learned by British policy practitioners. In every government, the centre of government performs a set of crucial functions: the institutions and units working at the centre provide managerial direction and coherence to the complex governing machinery, not least in accelerating the delivery of priority objectives. In the UK, the operation in Number 10 Downing Street has become the focus of much attention in recent years with its leadership and oversight role increasingly questioned. Over the last decade, crises, and shocks - including global pandemics, climate hazards, economic crises, technological developments, and global conflicts - have enhanced the value of anticipatory governance and foresight, cross-ministerial planning and policy design, alongside real-time performance monitoring and intervention all provided through the centre of government.
- Topic:
- Government, Reform, Crisis Management, and Institutions
- Political Geography:
- United Kingdom and Europe
24. Disentangling Government Responses: How Do We Know When Accountability Work Is Gaining Traction?
- Author:
- Jonathan Fox, Brendan Halloran, Alta Fölscher, and Rosie McGee
- Publication Date:
- 01-2024
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Accountability Research Center (ARC), American University
- Abstract:
- Advocacy for public accountability aims to produce certain reactions from government officials or service providers. However, the reactions can be many and diverse, and it is not always clear to advocates how to interpret them and decide on next steps—whether to intensify efforts or back off; continue the same strategy or make adjustments. This paper presents a framework to help accountability advocates and practitioners interpret government reactions to their efforts and move forward appropriately. The framework arises from learning and reflection in the context of the International Budget Partnership (IBP)’s Strengthening Public Accountability with Results and Knowledge (SPARK) program. SPARK seeks to bolster the collective agency of marginalized communities and coalitions to advance democratic and equitable fiscal governance systems that channel public resources to services that address the priority needs of these historically excluded groups.
- Topic:
- Government, Governance, Accountability, and Financial Management
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
25. Wuhan: How the COVID-19 Outbreak in China Spiraled Out of Control
- Author:
- Dali Yang, Qin Gao, Junyan Jiang, and Xiaobo Lü
- Publication Date:
- 03-2024
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
- Abstract:
- The Covid-19 pandemic, which began as an outbreak in Wuhan in late 2019, has claimed millions of lives and caused unprecedented disruptions. Despite its generation-defining significance, there has been a surprising lack of independent research examining the decisions and measures implemented in the weeks leading up to the Wuhan lockdown, as well as the missteps and shortcomings that allowed the novel coronavirus to spread with minimal hindrance. In this book talk, Wuhan: How the COVID-19 Outbreak in China Spiraled Out of Control, Dali L. Yang scrutinizes China's emergency response to the Covid-19 outbreak in Wuhan, delving into the government's handling of epidemic information and the decisions that influenced the scale and scope of the outbreak. Yang's research reveals that China's health decision-makers and experts had an excellent head start when they implemented a health emergency action program to respond to the outbreak at the end of December 2019. With granular detail and compelling immediacy, Yang investigates the political and bureaucratic processes that hindered information flows and sharing, as well as the cognitive framework that limited understanding of the virus's contagiousness and hampered effective decisions and enabled the outbreak to spiral out of control.
- Topic:
- Government, Crisis Management, Bureaucracy, COVID-19, Decision-Making, Zero-COVID, and Emergencies
- Political Geography:
- China and Asia
26. Testing Taiwan’s Democracy
- Author:
- Dimitar Gueorguiev
- Publication Date:
- 07-2024
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- East-West Center
- Abstract:
- Dr. Dimitar D. Gueorguiev, an associate professor of political science at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and director of Chinese studies at Syracuse University, asserts that “Taiwan’s new government faces rough seas ahead” and with the loss of the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) legislative majority, new President Lai Ching-te “needs to seek compromise with a divided government...”
- Topic:
- Government, Elections, Democracy, and Lai Ching-te
- Political Geography:
- Taiwan and Asia
27. Government, State, and National Wars in Africa
- Author:
- Nathaly Silva Xavier Schütz and Hernán Olmedo González
- Publication Date:
- 03-2024
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Brazilian Journal of African Studies
- Institution:
- Brazilian Journal of African Studies
- Abstract:
- To what extent were internal wars in African countries after World War II conditioned by their limited levels of governmental entrenchment and statehood? This is the central issue guiding the following research, which focuses on African countries in the post-World War II period, a period in which the system of sovereign States — with its origins in modernity and formally in Europe with the Peace of Westphalia treaties of 1648 — reached the vast majority of the international system. To achieve this objective, the following article is structured as follows.The first section aims to present, in the first instance, empirical information about the relative weight that internal national wars had on the international system in general and in Africa in particular, followed by a presentation of the different propositions about the conditioning factors of this type of war in the international system and African States, and, finally, establish guiding hypotheses for the empirical research of the study. The second section describes the methodological project followed to test the hypo-theses defined in the first section. The third section presents the empirical results of the research and the data analysis. Finally, the article develops a conclusion that systematizes the main aspects of the study.
- Topic:
- Government, History, State, World War II, and International System
- Political Geography:
- Africa
28. Tax Avoidance, Tax Evasion and Trade Misinvoicing: Risks to Senegal’s Mining Sector
- Author:
- William Davis
- Publication Date:
- 09-2024
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Natural Resource Governance Institute
- Abstract:
- Tax evasion, trade misinvoicing and multinational companies’ efforts to avoid tax are important risks in the extractive sector, especially in developing countries, including Senegal. Senegal’s extractive governance arrangements are strong in many areas, including in preventing multinational tax avoidance. However, there is cause for concern in two areas: misinvoicing of international trade (imports and exports), and cost inflation by subcontractors in the extractive industries. Quantitative estimates of trade misinvoicing suggest the former is a significant problem for Senegal (including for its mining sector), which could lead to the loss of 1–3 percent of the country’s tax revenues. Authorities in Senegal should address such risks, especially before the country begins large-scale oil and gas production. Unless they do so, revenues from the country’s hydrocarbon resources will be at risk. Measures that Senegal can take include strengthening the tax authorities—especially customs and auditing accounts of extractive industry suppliers.
- Topic:
- Corruption, Government, Gas, Mining, Minerals, Tax Evasion, and Public Finance
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Senegal
29. Political and Economic Dimensions of the Dominance of Selected Asian Recycling Yards in the World
- Author:
- Malgorzata Kamola-Cieslik
- Publication Date:
- 01-2024
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Polish Political Science Yearbook
- Institution:
- Polish Political Science Association (PPSA)
- Abstract:
- India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan have dominated the global ship recycling market in the 21st century. A recycled ship provides steel and other metals for industrial reuse. In addition to economic gains, ship recycling affects the environment and workers’ health. The article compares the changes in the policies of the governments of India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan regarding recycling shipyard operations from 2009-2022 in the context of international and EU law standards. It also shows the impact of international organizations, shipbuilding trade unions, Shipbreaking Platform non-governmental, Maersk shipping company, and Norway on the decisions of South Asian countries to make them ratify the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships. Analysis of the collected research material allows us to conclude that the governments of India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan have shown varying degrees of understanding of introducing legal regulations for safe ship recycling.
- Topic:
- Government, International Law, Recycling, and Trade Unions
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, and Asia
30. Is the West Wobbling on its Democratic Pedestal?
- Author:
- William Harrison
- Publication Date:
- 06-2024
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Political Studies
- Institution:
- Department of Political Science, University of the Punjab
- Abstract:
- The West has been arguing for decades that the Developing World and Post-Soviet World should be democratic. It argues that democracy is the best form of government and that countries around the world should embrace democracy or face certain kinds of punishment such as a reduction in development aid. It is not the purpose of this paper to argue the benefits of democracy over other forms of government but instead to argue that, with democratic norms under attack in much of the West, that the West is no longer in a moral position to claim to be the promoters of democracy internationally. This paper will discuss events, laws, and actions by Western Countries that are inimical to democracy and argue that if the West wants to regain what it sees as the democratic moral high ground it must alter its policies to being more democratic itself.
- Topic:
- Development, Government, Law, and Democracy
- Political Geography:
- Europe and North America