Donor-contractor-bureaucrat networks in the Western Balkans

Despite the limited research on aid effectiveness institutions and mechanisms introduced by the OECD following the Paris Declaration of 2005, the recent academic debates tend to fuse two areas of literature: foreign (or... [ view full abstract ]

Despite the limited research on aid effectiveness institutions and mechanisms introduced by the OECD following the Paris Declaration of 2005, the recent academic debates tend to fuse two areas of literature: foreign (or international) aid policy studies. A specific stand of literature, specifically the policy transfer literature (Dolowitz and Marsh 1996, Evans and Common 2009) where international (aid) organizations and bureaucrats are highlighted as key actors in the policy diffusion and transfer processes in both developed and developing country contexts seems to effectively cognate the aforementioned areas. However, from a theoretical perspective, the policy transfer framework identifies other actors including consultants and epistemic communities/ networks (Stone 2004). Yet, the evidence on the role of the latter in policy transfer processes is somewhat anecdotal and as such, it continues to remain under-researched.

Drawing on the above theoretical assumptions, the paper will look at the implications of what are referred to as ‘formal and informal’ networks toward an enlarged European administrative space in the Western Balkans not simply as agents of policy transfer but naturally, through their role in the implementation of capacity building policies, programs and projects – another essential element in the policy transfer theoretical framework – toward the political goal of EU accession and integration in the Western Balkans. Thus, rather than discussing the role of such networks as a development ‘phenomenon’, the paper will seek to unpack the complexities of the networks between donors, bureaucrats and contractor in the implementation of capacity-building programs funded by for the former, of which the EU remains a lead donor. As the paper will discuss, both the literature and the ‘Opinion or Progress Reports’ reports of the EU fail to adequately address the role of the aforementioned networks in the implementation of capacity-building projects in the given context. At best, such reports are either silent or vague about the existence of such networks and their “power” in the progress toward EU accession.

While previous academic work has focused on the unintended consequences of global aid institutions and mechanisms for administrative capacity building in the research context, this paper will draw on qualitative field research which comprises elite interviews, focus groups and documentary analysis in the Western Balkans region following and introduction of the EU’s IPA (Instruments of Pre-Accession) programme from 2007 to date. By specifically looking at the interaction of donors and public servants in administrative capacity building through policy learning, the paper will explore both the formal and informal nature of 'wicked problems' surrounding what the paper refers to as ‘donor-bureaucrat-contract’ networks. Essentially, the paper will argue that: a) the role of such networks as part global aid effectiveness mechanisms are predominantly concerned with EU accession rather than development processes; b) overreliance on such networks and more specifically NGOs might be conductive to the ‘acquis’ process but not necessarily to the success of donor-funded policy learning in the long run; c) the “powerful nature’ of such networks may have both affected donor behavior and ultimately resulted in non-occurrence of policy transfer.