Governance Beyond the State: Social Institutions and Service Delivery

• The past two decades have seen a “good governance” agenda gain prominence among both scholars and practitioners. When the state performs well, a number of positive consequences are expected to follow as a result. However, state institutions are not the sole determinants of development outcomes. This chapter takes an expanded view of governance, highlighting the role of nonstate, or social, institutions. Such an expanded view can help account for the variation we observe across and within countries in the quality of service delivery. Specifically, we show how social institutions can affect the targeting of public goods and services, the information that citizens have about the quality of service delivery, and their willingness and ability to make demands for improved services. We conclude by reflecting on the research agenda that emerges if we take social institutions more seriously, and the policy implications that may result.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Statsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Political Science (hsv//eng)

Keyword

governance

service delivery

comparative politics

developing countries

public services

social institutions

nonstate actors

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

kap (subject category)