Recommended
Recommended
More Related Content
What's hot
What's hot (20)
Similar to Directed Improvisation Enables Effective Adaptation
Similar to Directed Improvisation Enables Effective Adaptation (20)
Recently uploaded
Recently uploaded (20)
Directed Improvisation Enables Effective Adaptation
- 1. Directed Improvisation Yuen Yuen Ang Harvard Comparative Politics Workshop, September 15, 2016
- 3. My Argument 1) By first building markets with “weak” institutions—that is, institutions that defy norms of good governance 2) By creating the right conditions for adaptation through “directed improvisation”
- 4. Today’s Focus 1) By first building market with “weak” institutions—that is, institutions that defy norms of good governance 2) By creating the right conditions for adaptation through “directed improvisation” [Chapter 2 of book]
- 5. A Theory of Adaptation References to adaptation What is adaptation? Problems of adaptation Application: China
- 6. Experimentation Evolve Innovate Muddling through Incrementalchange Syncretism Flexible Positivedeviance Local solutions for local problems
- 7. Adaptation is Widely Invoked Prescribed by policy advisors Described by social scientists Credited as a cause of performance and authoritarian resilience by China scholars
- 8. USAID Learning Lab Adaptive Management _______________ “It’s all about interaction and change: change is emergent and contextual”
- 9. Adaptation is Widely Invoked Prescribed by policy advisors BUTprescription ≠ practice Described by social scientists Credited as a cause of performance and authoritarian resilience by China scholars
- 10. Adaptation is Widely Invoked Prescribed by policy advisors Described by social scientists Credited as a cause of performance and authoritarian resilience by China scholars
- 11. Syncretism (combination and recombination of parts) __________________ “Creative action is not the exception but the very process through which all political formations are built”
- 12. Adaptation is Widely Invoked Prescribed by policy advisors Described by social scientists BUT description ≠ explanation Credited as a cause of performance and authoritarian resilience by China scholars
- 13. Adaptation is Widely Invoked Prescribed by policy advisors Described by social scientists Credited as a cause of performance and authoritarian resilience by China scholars
- 14. “Resilience depends on the ability of regimes to adapt”
- 15. “But why has China alone benefited from such [adaptive] institutions?”
- 16. Adaptation is Widely Invoked Prescribed by policy advisors Described by social scientists Credited as a cause of performance and authoritarian resilience by China scholars BUT what explains the ability to adapt?
- 17. A Theory of Adaptation References to adaptation What is adaptation? Problems of adaptation Application: China
- 20. Holland defines adaptation as “the process where an organism fits itself to the environment”
- 21. What to Know About Adaptation Adaptation as bundle of mechanisms: variation, selection, and niche creation. Collectively, these adaptive mechanisms drive process of evolution. Evolution ≠ gradual change Biological adaptation ≠ social adaptation
- 22. Most important of all, know that – Adaptation does not automatically occur and indeed often fails.
- 23. A Theory of Adaptation References to adaptation What is adaptation? Problems of adaptation Application: China
- 24. Effective adaptation is something we all love to have, but how do we get it? (pp. 48)
- 25. In order to adapt effectively, we must first tacklecertain problems that are inherent in the adaptive process. What are they?
- 26. Three Problems of Adaptation VARIATION SELECTION NICHE CREATION balance variety and uniformity clearly define and reward success turn heterogeneity into a collective advantage
- 27. Directed Improvisation VARIATION SELECTION NICHE CREATION how to balance variety and uniformity how to clearly define and reward success how to turn heterogeneity into a collective advantage
- 28. A Theory of Adaptation References to adaptation What is adaptation? Problems of adaptation Application: China
- 29. VARIATION Central leaders wants local governments to exercise flexibility when implementing goals, but too much flexibility can lead to chaos. How to balance variety and uniformity in policy implementation?
- 30. VARIATION My answer: By issuing commands in varying degrees of clarity
- 31. “National policies emphasize broad principles rather than specific instructions.” “These slogans direct the flow policy implementation at all levels” (Rawski & Brandt, China’s Great Economic Transformation)
- 32. “a grand but marvelously vague expression” ~ On Deng’s famous slogan of “socialism with Chinese characteristics” ~
- 33. But… are political commands in China really always broad and vague? No, they are not.
- 34. Three Varieties of Commands Clearly forbids a particular action Deliberately unclear, permits bounded experimentation Clearly sanctions a particular action Example: Land quotas Guidelines on commune & brigade enterprises (1979) Guidelines on rural work (1984)
- 35. A Theory of Adaptation References to adaptation What is adaptation? Problems of adaptation Application: China CONCLUSION
- 36. A Theory of Adaptation Real key to development lies in promoting adaptation, not in copying particular policies or institutions. Adaptation does not automatically occur. Prescription ≠ practice. Promote adaptation: address problems inherent in adaptive processes (variation, selection, niche creation).
- 37. Applications of Theory China escaped poverty trap by creating right conditions for adaptation directed improvisation Aid agencies: How to internally reform aid agencies to promote localization (“Making details matter”) A new research program on strategies for enabling effective adaptation Center for Global Development panel on “What should tomorrow’s aid agencies look like?”
- 38. Where to Get the Book Buy the book at Amazon or B&N (Hardcover, US$27.95). Also available in Kindle and Nook format. For bulk sales and exam copies, visit Cornell University Press.
- 39. Thank You!