Institutions, Incentives, and Interests: Inspiring Ideas about Governance, Reforms, and Development Partner Roles in the Asia and Pacific Region

Abstract

Governance is important for development, although it has been a challenge for development agencies to address it appropriately. This brief explores emerging alternative ways of addressing governance and institutional challenges. New approaches in governance include dealing sensibly with power, incentives, and interests, and they build on how reform and change processes tend to develop. Applying these approaches in practice implies an everyday way of thinking about the issues of politics at different levels. It leads to an adaptive way of approaching problems and stakeholders, which is not always easy for development agencies to adopt. The space for working differently is, however, bigger in most agencies as assumed. It may require bold initiatives, innovative approaches, and challenging deeply embedded conventions. But that is, after all, what development is all about.