IRG’s major programs in 2007-2008

In 2007 and 2008, the IRG will focus on four major themes:

• Legality/legitimacy of power

How can we rethink governance based on formal institutions but also on more traditional forms of authority which govern, de facto, a vast proportion of social relations?

• Functioning and reform of public institutions Why and how can we measure the level of citizen confidence in public institutions? How are people trained in public affairs throughout the world? How can we reform the state in the context of major international change? What kind of actors are involved in this process?
  • initiatives: publications, international survey on training in public affairs.
  • partners: the Lausanne Institute of Advanced Studies in Public Administration (IDHEAP), the Ash Institute (Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University), Leiden University, Warwick University.

• Role and impact of civil society in public decision-making How can we evaluate the abilities and limits of civil society? How can we identify the instruments of its influence on public decision-making?
  • initiatives: publications, international meetings, academic research award.
  • partners: the Ford Foundation, Coordination Sud – the Federation of French NGOs, the Paris Institute of Political Studies (IEP) .
• Diversity of concepts and indicators of governance Comparison of the institutional approaches to governance at the World Bank, the UNDP, the European Union etc. How relevant and adaptable are these approaches to the various national contexts?
  • initiatives: preparation of an international meeting to be held in 2009.
  • partners envisaged: UNDP, World Bank Institute, IEP.

Furthermore, the IRG team will be holding a geographical Forum on governance: the Latin-American Forum on Governance (FLAG).