Governance, Civil Society & Participation

• Politics of Domestic Resource Mobilization for Social Development (2011 - 2015)
  The project seeks to contribute to global debates on the political and institutional contexts that enable poor countries to mobilize domestic resources for social development. It will examine the processes and mechanisms that connect the politics of resource mobilization and demands for social provision; changes in state-citizen and donor-recipient relations associated with resource mobilization and allocation; and governance reforms that can lead to improved and sustainable revenue yields and services.
• When and Why Do States Respond to Women's Claims? Understanding Gender-Egalitarian Policy Change in Asia (2013 - 2015)
  This UNRISD research project aims to contribute insights into the complex processes through which advocates for women’s rights articulate their demands, and strategize with other actors both within and outside the state realm, and transnationally, to bring about policy change; the "blind spots"— issues on which there has been little advocacy, or where advocacy does not enter policy debates, despite their centrality to women’s lives and well-being; and the proactive role of other actors, nationally and transnationally, in triggering policy change.
• South-South Migration and Development: What Role for Social Policy and Regional Governance (2012 - 2014)
  This UNRISD research looks at the role of regions, and multiple actors such as governments, regional and international organizations and civil society, in the governance of migration between developing countries. It builds on previous UNRISD research on Social Policy and Migration in Developing Countries, which took place from 2007-2010.
• Social and Political Dimensions of the Global Economic Crisis 2009 (2009 - 2010)
  Social and Political Dimensions of the Global Economic Crisis 2009
• Social Responses to Inequalities and Policy Changes (2006 - 2008)
  As part of the Institute’s 2005-2009 research agenda, a new research project is being developed to i...
• Global Civil Society Movements: Dynamics in International Campaigns and National Implementation (2003 - 2008)
  The objective of the research is to emphasize both the strengths and weaknesses of major civil society movements and networks and their attempts to popularise and implement global issues of concern and specific initiatives.
• UN World Summits and Civil Society Engagement (2003 - 2006)
  This project aims to examine the impact of United Nations summits on civil society activism at globa...
• Ethnic Structure, Inequality and Governance of the Public Sector (2002 - 2005)
  This project examines the complex ways ethnic cleavages and inequalities affect social cohesion or consensus in the public sector under conditions of democratization. It challenges the undifferentiated treatment of ethnicity in development studies, in which scholars tend to see ethnicity as pathological regardless of the way it is configured in a country's social structure.
• Social Policy and Democratization (2002 - 2005)
  This project examines the complex ways democratisation and social policy can be mutually reinforcing.
• Public Sector Reform and Crisis-Ridden States (2000 - 2004)
  This project examines public sector reforms in developing and transition countries, especially those that have been exposed to protracted economic and political crises. Two main reform initiatives constitute an essential backdrop for organizing the project. The first deals with efforts to introduce market-based incentives in the recruitment, retention and reward of individuals who work in the public service. The second is concerned with issues of diversity, inequality, representation, cohesion and consensus in the public sector.
• Civil Society Strategies and Movements for Rural Asset Redistribution and Improved Livelihoods (2000 - 2003)
  This project examines how civil society groups work to promote policy changes and institutional reforms that improve resource distribution and livelihoods in rural areas.
• Technocratic Policy Making and Democratization (2000 - 2003)
  This project studies the effects of technocratic styles of economic policy making on the consolidation of democratic institutions, especially in developing and transition societies.
• Gender Justice, Development and Rights (2000 - 2002)
  The end of the Cold War signalled a more confident assertion of economic and political liberalism, but also a greater emphasis on human rights. In the 1990s a wave of UN Summits sought to place issues of democracy, justice and rights on the development agenda. In the context of the worldwide process of democratic consolidation that characterized the decade, a transnationalized women's movement was able to focus its attention on issues of rights and democracy and sought to take advantage of a favourable policy environment to press for a greater measure of equality between the sexes.
• Grassroots Movements and Initiatives for Land Reform (2000 - 2001)
  This project aims to identify and document valuable cases of civil society involvement in land redistribution and titling, and securing rights to land and other productive assets by small farmers, landless agricultural workers, indigenous populations, women and other marginalized groups.
• Urban Governance (2000 - 2001)
  UNRISD's work on urban governance seeks to identify emerging processes for incorporating the voices ...