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How Do Governments Get Great?

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  • Andrews, Matt

    (Harvard University)

Abstract

Governments can play great roles in their countries, regions, and cities; facilitating or leading the resolution of festering problems and opening new pathways for progress. Examples are more numerous than one might imagine and raise an important question: How do governments get great? This paper identifies ten cases of great governments to answer four dimensions of this question: What kinds of interventions or changes help governments achieve greatness? Who leads these interventions or changes, and how? When do the interventions occur, and why? How are these changes sustained and implemented to ensure they yield results? The paper suggests two sets of answers to these concerns, combining such into rival theories that could explain how governments get great: 'Solution and leader driven change' (sldc) and 'Problem driven iterative adaptation' (pdia). It proposes using these two theories in future research about how governments foster the kinds of achievements one could call great and argues this research should employ a version of Theory Guided Process Tracking (TGPT) called systematic process analysis.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrews, Matt, 2013. "How Do Governments Get Great?," Working Paper Series rwp13-020, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    • Handle: RePEc:ecl:harjfk:rwp13-020
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    File URL: https://research.hks.harvard.edu/publications/workingpapers/citation.aspx?PubId=9026&type=WPN
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Andrews, Matthew, 2008. "Is Black Economic Empowerment a South African Growth Catalyst? (Or Could It Be...)," Working Paper Series rwp08-033, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    2. Andrews,Matt, 2013. "The Limits of Institutional Reform in Development," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107016330, October.
    3. Andrews, Matthew, 2008. "Creating Space for Effective Political Engagement in Development," Working Paper Series rwp08-015, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    4. Andrews, Matthew R., 2009. "Isomorphism and the Limits to African Public Financial Management Reform," Scholarly Articles 4415942, Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
    5. David Brady & Michael Spence, 2010. "Leadership and Growth : Commission on Growth and Development," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 2404.
    6. Benjamin F. Jones & Benjamin A. Olken, 2005. "Do Leaders Matter? National Leadership and Growth Since World War II," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(3), pages 835-864.
    7. Andrews, Matthew R. & McConnell, Jesse & Wescott, Alison, 2010. "Development as Leadership-led Change," Scholarly Articles 4449099, Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
    8. Matt Andrews, 2008. "Is Black Economic Empowerment a South African Growth Catalyst? (Or Could it Be...)," CID Working Papers 170, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    9. Andrews, Matt, 2009. "Isomorphism and the Limits to African Public Financial Management Reform," Working Paper Series rwp09-012, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
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    Cited by:

    1. Andrews, Matt, 2015. "Explaining Positive Deviance in Public Sector Reforms in Development," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 197-208.
    2. Andrews, Matt, 2013. "Explaining Positive Deviance in Public Sector Reforms in Development," Working Paper Series rwp13-040, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    3. Andrews, Matt, 2014. "Can One Retell a Mozambican Reform Story through Problem Driven Iterative Adaptation?," Working Paper Series rwp14-018, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    4. Matt Andrews, 2014. "Can One Retell a Mozambican Reform Story Through Problem-Driven Iterative Adaptation?," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2014-094, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    5. Matt Andrews, 2014. "Can one retell a Mozambican reform story through Problem Driven Iterative Adaptation?," CID Working Papers 278, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    6. Matt Andrews, 2013. "Explaining Positive Deviance in Public Sector Reforms in Development," CID Working Papers 267, Center for International Development at Harvard University.

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