Improving Governance from the Outside in

Posted: 21 May 2014

See all articles by Stephen D. Krasner

Stephen D. Krasner

Stanford University - Department of Political Science

Jeremy M. Weinstein

Stanford University - Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies; Center for Global Development

Date Written: May 2014

Abstract

The variation in the efficacy of governance-related authority structures is stunning. The focus among scholars primarily on domestic conditions, and only secondarily on the external environment, to explain patterns of political development conforms to the prevailing assumptions of comparativists, international relations scholars, and international lawyers. Over the past decade, however, some scholars have studied the possibility that political institutions within states can be influenced or determined not only by internal factors and the external environment but also by the explicit policies of foreign actors. An emerging body of scholarship examines the efficacy of different policy tools that external actors might use to change the structure of domestic institutions in target states. We review this literature and reach the following conclusions. First, contracting often works, coercion sometimes works, and imposition rarely works. Second, the motivation of initiators matters: to be effective, intervening states must be committed to institutional change. Third, conditions in the target state are consequential: higher levels of development facilitate institutional change, and elite motivations must be aligned with the goals of external actors.

Suggested Citation

Krasner, Stephen D. and Weinstein, Jeremy M., Improving Governance from the Outside in (May 2014). Annual Review of Political Science, Vol. 17, pp. 123-145, 2014, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2439673 or http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev-polisci-120611-231838

Stephen D. Krasner (Contact Author)

Stanford University - Department of Political Science ( email )

Stanford, CA 94305
United States

Jeremy M. Weinstein

Stanford University - Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies ( email )

Stanford, CA 94305
United States

Center for Global Development

2055 L St. NW
5th floor
Washington, DC 20036
United States

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