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4 - The Power of Indicators in Global Development Policy

The Millennium Development Goals

from Part I - Ratings, Rankings, and Regulatory Behavior

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2020

By
Helena Hede Skagerlind
Edited by
Judith G. Kelley  and
Beth A. Simmons
Judith G. Kelley
Affiliation:
Duke University, North Carolina
Beth A. Simmons
Affiliation:
University of Pennsylvania
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Summary

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) established the practice of indicator-based governance in international development. Yet, knowledge about their effectiveness in re-steering domestic policy remains limited. This chapter explores the extent and pathways of domestic policy adjustment to MDG 3, intended to promote gender equality. The study combines a comprehensive mapping of gender policy adoption in 15 Sub-Saharan African countries over 15 years with two case studies of the causal mechanisms of MDG adjustment in Kenya and Ethiopia. The principal findings are threefold: (1) there was considerable policy adjustment to MDG 3 across countries, pointing to the effectiveness of GPI-based development governance in re-steering policy priorities. (2) Despite the significant effects on policy goal-setting, further implementation remained limited, suggesting superficial behavioral change. (3) Process-tracing of the Kenyan and Ethiopian policy processes shows that behavioral change was primarily driven by the causal mechanisms of aid conditionality, social influence, and civil-society mobilization, all enabled through MDG intense performance monitoring. The decisive role of incentive-based mechanisms in generating policy change, and the limited elite socialization, explains why MDG 3 implementation was slow and contested. These findings have implications for debates about development GPIs and gender equality change and the reproduction of global power structures.

Keywords

Millennium Development Goalsgender equalityhuman rightsperformance indicatorsUnited NationsSub-Saharan AfricaKenyaEthiopiaeconomic conditionalitysocial influence
Type
Chapter
Information
The Power of Global Performance Indicators , pp. 98 - 136
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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