Jennifer M Brinkerhoff

George Washington University | GW

Data on Black Ambassadors from 1949 to 2020, presented as data visualizations inspired by W.E.B. Du Bois, supplemented with interview data, establish a record of historical discrimination in the U.S. State Department. The analysis confirms the State Department exhibits the features of a racialized organization. Institutional theory illuminates leve...

Data on Black Ambassadors from 1949 to 2020 presented as WEB Du Bois-inspired data visualizations, and a historical review of Black Americans in the US State Department confirm the State Department has not achieved diversity reflective of American society. The theory of racialized organizations helps to explain why, and the lens of institutional th...

This study explores the valued-added of USAID/Senegal's Governance for Local Development (GOLD) project's integrated approach to working with four sector projects: two in health, one in water and sanitation, and one in nutrition. The study builds on a partnership evaluation framework that identifies practices related to preconditions, factors linke...

Why are there diminished returns at increasing levels of leadership on seemingly good-faith efforts to recruit a diverse public service? Data on African American Ambassadors from 1949 to 2020 presented as W.E.B. Du Bois-inspired data visualizations, and a historical review of African Americans in the US State Department confirm the State Department...

We examine the relevance of suggestive findings and assumptions about immigrant philanthropy to a diaspora from a high-income country of origin, whose members are generally highly educated and professionally employed: the Lithuanian diaspora. We investigate whether this immigrant group's voluntary sector participation, despite these differences, ma...

Stanford Social Innovation Review

Diaspora diplomacy encompasses diasporas as: agents in their own right; instruments of other's diplomatic agendas; and/or intentional or accidental partners with other actors pursuing shared interests. Diaspora diplomacy is not territorially bound, and agendas are fluid. Three important features of diaspora diplomacy distinguish it from public dipl...

Much of the literature on diaspora policy frameworks assumes states are monolithic, with exclusively centralised decision-making and political and administrative capacity spread across decentralised units. Yet, decentralised units of government do engage directly with diasporas; and many countries seeking to engage their diasporas suffer from limit...

Interview for Our American Discourse, a podcast of the USC Price School Bedrosian Center on Governance, March 2017. See: https://soundcloud.com/uscbedrosian/migrant-entrepreneurs-the-in-between-advantage?in=uscbedrosian/sets/our-american-discourse Or download here. Runtime is 42 minutes.

Background: Global health partnerships have grown rapidly in number and scope, yet there has been less emphasis on their evaluation. Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, is one such public-private partnership; in Gavi-eligible countries partnerships are dynamic networks of immunization actors who work together to support all stages and aspects of Gavi suppo...

Supplementary Files 1 and 2 contain sample data collection tools.

Externally-promoted institutional reform, even when nominally accepted by developing country governments, often fails to deliver lasting change. Diasporans-immigrants who still feel a connection to their country of origin-may offer an In-Between Advantage for institutional reform, which links problem understanding with potential solutions, and enco...

Acceptance speech delivered at the 2016 American Society for Public Administration Conference, Seattle. Published in the newsletter of the Section on International and Comparative Administration, July 2016.

With the passage of time and the accumulation of experience, the hegemony of the New Public Management (NPM) (now no longer new) as the dominant approach to public sector reform has weakened, particularly as applied to developing countries. What alternative frameworks for theory and practice offer insights and guidance beyond the NPM orthodoxy? Thi...

The role of agents and agency in institutional reform literature has largely been underplayed and decontextualized, even being described as a “black box.” Despite calls for linking individual agency with organizational and societal analysis, the specific contours of agency remain under-theorized. This paper presents and illustrates a framework for...

With the passage of time and the accumulation of experience, the hegemony of the New Public Management (NPM) (now no longer new) as the dominant approach to public sector reform has weakened, particularly as applied to developing countries. What alternative frameworks for theory and practice offer insights and guidance beyond the NPM orthodoxy? Thi...

JB): The role for partnerships in development can be quite significant, but in some cases their function has been overplayed and they have been used like a blunt instrument in contexts where partnerships may not be the most appropriate mechanism. Their potential lies in capitalizing as much as possible on the unique contributions of the range of ac...

Washington, DC: GW Diaspora Research Program, February 21, 2012.

Washington, DC: GW Diaspora Research Program, February 2014.

Washington, DC: GW Diaspora Research Program, June 3, 2014.

Washington, DC: GW Diaspora Research Program, June 19, 2014.

Many first generation immigrants share a concern for retaining their heritage culture, though they still aspire to successfully assimilate into the country of residence society. Assimilation theories suggest facilitating factors for positive assimilation but differ in terms of whether the loss of heritage culture is inevitable. The Coptic diaspora...

Highlights of forthcoming book. Presentation is available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxX4V0TyjKM

Research on diaspora philanthropy is in its infancy, primarily focused on individual country case studies, and often prone to over-generalization. Based on an extensive survey of the Coptic diaspora in three countries of residence (CORs), this article analyzes the experience and potential of a minority and faith-based diaspora. The survey findings...

Diasporas contribute to their homeland’s development through remittances, philanthropy, skills transfer, business investment, and advocacy. This paper focuses on actions that homeland governments can take to create an enabling environment for diasporas’ contributions. Part I addresses the diaspora phenomenon and the homeland government-diaspora rel...

This article examines power implications of digital diasporas and the identity negotiation processes they afford. Members of diasporas are potentially socially and psychologically disempowered by two sources: the majority society into which they are dispersed; and the traditional social structures and culture from which they emerged. This potential...

Diasporans are migrants and their descendants who maintain a relationship to their country of origin (Safran, 1991). Diasporans who establish new ventures in their countries of origin comprise a special case of international ethnic entrepreneurship.In countries of settlement, diasporans confront institutional environments that often are quite diffe...

This technical guidance is intended to assist the analyst in understanding when a particular group or individual might be an asset or a hindrance to conflict mitigation, peacebuilding, and ultimately stability and development, as well as what types of interventions and contributions—positive and negative—diasporans may make at different times in th...

This paper summarises our state of knowledge regarding diaspora engagement in conflict socieities. It presents a map of possible diaspora contributions and their specific potential positive and negative impacts in societies experiencing or recovering from conflict. Following a discussion of diasporas and their motivations for engagement in their pl...

Public–private partnerships (PPPs) have long been advocated and analyzed as organizational solutions to pressing societal problems that call for the comparative advantages of government, business, and civil society. However, ongoing questions remain about how to design, manage, and assess PPPs. The large literature on PPPs suffers from conceptual i...

Diasporas are a potential resource for development and are receiving more attention from governments, international donors, and other development actors. Increasing rapprochement among these actors for the purpose of development may yield a mix of costs and benefits, depending on how it evolves. This article draws lessons from NGOs' experience; ide...

Public–private partnerships (PPPs) have long been advocated and analyzed as organizational solutions to pressing societal problems that call for the comparative advantages of government, business, and civil society. However, ongoing questions remain about how to design, manage, and assess PPPs. The large literature on PPPs suffers from conceptual i...

This article reviews international development management (DM) from a Northern (primarily though not exclusively US-based) perspective, identifies lessons learned from experience, and discusses new challenges. The primary data sources are an on-line survey of DM scholars and practitioners, and the results of a focus group discussion. Survey respond...

As other chapters in this volume illustrate, diasporas' use of the Internet yields important consequences beyond cyberspace. Diasporas are increasingly recognized for their potential contributions to homeland socioeconomic development. These contributions include economic remittances, diaspora philanthropy, knowledge transfer, diaspora investment a...

This article examines a little-studied component of public administration existing in most countries around the world and particularly important for developing countries: national investment promotion agencies (IPAs). Diasporas are an increasingly important and relatively untapped resource for development and many homeland governments view diaspora...

Internet scamming strategies associated with West Africa typically involve the creation and deployment of fictional narratives depicting political turmoil, corruption, violence, poverty, and personal tragedy set in a variety of African nations. This ...

This article begins to address the need to better understand the motivation that leads some diaspora members to engage in violent activities and, from that understanding, to identify those most vulnerable to succumbing to its recruitment. The identity-mobilization framework is intended as a set of hypotheses to stimulate dialogue as well as empiric...

This article seeks to answer two questions: How can the potential gains from diaspora philanthropy be extended beyond individual households and sustained beyond one generation? And how can these gains be mobilized for poverty alleviation, justice, and development, especially in at-risk countries? Following reviews of potential diaspora contribution...

This volume and the conference that set it in motion were conceived as a means to more fully account for, and to understand the role of, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a global policy initiative of historic scope and scale. We anchor our collective interest in NGOs and poverty alleviat...

This chapter examines the real and potential roles of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) with respect to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and targets related to health, education, environment, and gender. It builds on the commissioned practitioner and researcher sectoral contributions from the George Washington University conference and sy...

Citizen-sector agents in the fields of development and poverty reduction are more often labeled by what they are not—“nongovernmental” or “nonprofit” organizations—than by what they are. Although, indeed, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) do not fit comfortably within either the public or the private sector, the terminology reflects the broader...

This book examines general Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) roles and comparative advantages in the broad fight to end global poverty, as well as roles and opportunities specific to particular Millennium Development Goals sectors. © Jennifer M. Brinkerhoff, Stephen C. Smith, and Hildy Teegen, 2007.

Tracking global trends has evolved into an analytic and prognostic industry in and of itself, and we do not pretend to offer a comprehensive overview of global trends and globalization. We offer a selective catalog of what we see as the major global trends that impact upon public managers in developing and transitional nations.

Conventional wisdom holds that globalization, and its specific contributing factors such as immigration, information technology, and the emergence of universal values that inform international law, poses a challenge to state sovereignty. This article analyzes this assertion by examining one case, which encompasses each of these factors. Following a...

Recent research on the Internet and terrorism confirms the Internet's enabling features for terrorist activities, including its ease of access, anonymity, and international character. While the Internet can serve as a tool for nefarious purposes, little research has focused on whether and how the Internet can be used to prevent conflict and, ultima...

There is emerging evidence that overseas professionals can benefit their home countries even without return. Factors conducive to such diaspora contributions include: 1) their ability to mobilize (e.g., the existence of social capital or networks that link diaspora members to each other through formal or informal associations); 2) opportunity struc...

This article explores the potential role of diasporas and information technology (IT) in fostering good governance in semi-authoritarian states. Following a review of the literature on good governance and information technology, the case of the Egyptian Copt community and its diaspora is explored, focusing on the activities of the U.S. Copt Associa...

Increasingly, students express a desire to take an active role in addressing the economic, social, healthcare and other problems facing the world, and they seek a path leading to international or domestic public service.The field of public administration has been a major route to public service, as has the growing nonprofit management specializatio...

Digital diasporas, diasporas organised on the Internet, offer potential to contribute relevance, representativeness and responsiveness in meeting development needs. Following a brief overview of thorny dilemmas faced by the changing international development industry, the article discusses diasporas and their current role in international developme...

This article explores how information technology affects the forms and possibilities of voluntary efforts. Specifically, the authors examine the emergence of grassroots organizations in cyberspace. An analysis of two cyber-grassroots organizations (CGOs), Afghanistan Online and Rebuild-Afghanistan, highlights CGOs’ similarities, differences,and rel...

This article examines partnerships between international donors and non-governmental development organizations (NGDOs). Following a discussion of partnership’s rationale and presumed benefits, the article provides a general overview of selected donors’ partnership experience and describes four illustrations of donor– NGDO partnership. Opportunities...

This article presents the collective findings and implications of the International Public Management Journal symposium on emerging trends in development management. Each of the five articles emphasizes a particular type of change in international development: changing definitions of development; new tools, processes, and actors; new agendas; and n...

The paper explores donors' efforts to promote government—NGO partnership for the purpose of improving public services. Following a brief discussion of partnership, two illustrations support a relative definition of partnership and its added value. The examples represent alternative approaches to improving public services through partnership work, t...

This article examines the potential for partnership to address two major challenges in public service: (1) the evolving sociopolitical context of public service, that is, the increasing incidence and intensity of conflict among diverse stakeholders; and (2) the formulation of acceptable and feasible global public policy. The partnership approach, i...

This article investigates the multifaceted nature of governance reforms in failed states, and the complex interplay of technical and political factors. It examines three questions: (1) What do the theory and practice of international assistance in public administration tell us about building and/or repairing governance systems? (2) What are the cha...