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Anders Uhlin

Anders Uhlin

Professor | Excellent Teaching Practitioner

Anders Uhlin

National democratization theory and global governance: Civil society and the liberalization of the Asian Development Bank

Author

  • Anders Uhlin

Summary, in English

Contributing to a growing literature on democracy beyond the nation-state, this article draws on aspects of national democratization theory in order to analyse empirical processes of democracy. By combining insights from transition theory and the theory of political opportunity structures, the article examines the case of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). While the ADB for a long time has been described as a closed, unresponsive and unaccountable international organization, a recent evaluation praised the Bank for its good practices concerning transparency, participation and accountability. The article uses the analytical framework to highlight the interaction between hard-liners and soft-liners within the ADB and explores the role of different transnational civil society actors in the processes that seem to have strengthened the democratic credentials of the ADB. While finding significant divisions within the ADB as well as amongst civil society actors targeting the Bank, overall the article argues that transnational civil society actors, interacting with soft-liners within the ADB, have contributed to the implementation of reforms, which in turn create political opportunities for further civil society activism. The reform processes, however, are best described as processes of liberalization – rather than democratization.

Department/s

  • Department of Political Science

Publishing year

2011

Language

English

Pages

847-871

Publication/Series

Democratization

Volume

18

Issue

3

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Topic

  • Political Science

Keywords

  • political opportunity structures
  • accountability
  • transition theory
  • transnational civil society
  • liberalization
  • democratization
  • international organizations
  • Asian Development Bank

Status

Published

Project

  • Democracy Beyond the Nation State? Transnational Actors and Global Governance

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1351-0347