Comparative
Analysis Model
Underlying Principle
Comparative Knowledge Model
is one of the least-used but a highly significant model for developing
country which is now gradually
gaining acceptance. The model can be used for empowering people by
matching cases of bad governance with those of good governance, and then
analyzing the different aspects of bad governance and its impact on the
people.
The model is based on using
ICT to explore information available in the public or private domain and comparing it with
the known information sets. The outcome is strategic learnings and
arguments, for instance, if a given amount of money can build '5'
schools in village 'A' then why does the same amount of money build only
'2' schools in village 'B'?
Essentially,
the model continuously assimilates Best Practices in the areas of
governance and then uses them as benchmark to evaluate other governance
practices. It then uses the result to advocate positive changes or to
influence 'public' opinion on these governance practices. The comparison could be made over a time scale to get a snapshot
of the past and present situation or could be used to compare the
effectiveness of an intervention by comparing two similar
situations.
The strength of this model
lies in the infinite capacity of digital networks to store varied information
and retrieve and transmit it instantly across all
geographical and hierarchal barriers.
Applications/
Possible Projects
This
model could be applied in the following possible ways:
-
To learn from
past
policies and actions and derive learning lessons for future
policy-making.
-
To evaluate the
effectiveness of the current policies and identify key learnings in
terms of strengths and flaws in the policies.
-
To effectively establish
conditions of Precedence, especially in the case of Judicial or
legal decision-making (example for resolving patent-related
disputes, public goods ownership rights), and use it to influence/ advocate future
decision-making.
-
To enable informed
decision-making at all levels by enhancing the background knowledge
and also providing a rationale for action.
-
To evaluate the
performance and track-record of a particular decision-maker/
decision-making body.
Organisations / Projects
based on such models
-
Global:
Human Development
Indicators - The Human Development Report of UNDP makes use of
archived Statistical information pertaining to literacy, health,
national income etc. as a benchmark to assess the progress made by
different countries with regards to their Human Development Index
and suggests policy recommendations based on that.
http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2002/en/indicator/indicator.cfm?File=index.html
Many
countries now also prepare national level indicators to compare
progress made in different states in a country.
http://hdr.undp.org/reports/view_reports.cfm?type=3
-
India:
Comparative
Learning from Disasters : In the wake of
earthquake in Kutch in India (January 2001), there was a lot
of comparative learning relating to disaster management drawn from a
high intensity earthquake which shook Latur in India in 1993. The
extensive information available on internet on both these
earthquakes open up vast scope of comparison by all segments of the
society.
http://www.cddc.vt.edu/digitalgov/Latur-Gujarat.htm
(a
presentation by Mr.Praveen Singh Pardesi- Indian Administrative
Service (IAS) officer of the Maharashtra cadre and currently Joint
Secretary to the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, India)
Comparison
of different Disasters can make people realise that damages to life
and property incurred are not just a factor of intensity of the
disaster but also dependent on the preparedness of the Government
machinery and conducive government policies to handle that
disaster.
Also
see: Comparative
Damages from Disasters in 1999 http://www.guycarp.com/pdf/nathaz_99.pdf
-
Philippines
: Vote.ph
is the non-partisan, non-sectoral online directory and quick
reference center on Philippine elected government officials and
election candidates for both the national and the local levels. As
such, it has a dual purpose of helping the voters know who are
running in their respective area and who their incumbent elected
officials are.
http://www.vote.ph
-
Green
Rating of Ministers (India) : The Centre for Science and
Environment in India in 1999 started an online
and offline survey of how Green its Chief Ministers are. The results
of it are published in print and partially on the website to enable
public to keep track of environmental performance of their Chief
Ministers.
http://www.cseindia.org/html/au/au4_022099.htm
-
France
: Opening of a Platform for Comparison of programs of
Electoral Candidates
- The site compare according
to 15 topics the principal proposals of the electoral candidates for
the town hall of Paris. The
platform also presents the electoral system of the capital, the
biographies of the candidates to the town hall of Paris as well as a
list with accompanying notes of links relating to the local
elections. In addition to information which it will offer to the
Parisian voters, this experimental project has as an ambition to
open a discussion on the interest for the democratic life of
comparative electoral sites. Its users are invited to make share of
their comments and reactions for the development of the site for the
next elections.
http://www.sciences-po.fr/etudiants/electionsM/index.htm
http://www.foepac.org/
In
the recent US presidential election, FoEPAC endorsed Gore because of
his better environmental track record. More details at http://www.foepac.org/pacpresident.html
Discussions
Developing
countries could very effectively use this comparative model as
ICT opens their access to the global and local knowledge products at a relatively low -cost. The model is very much based on
the existing sets of
information but requires the ability to analyse and bring out strong arguments
which could then be used to catalyze existing efforts towards self
governance.
There is a vast scope of application of
this model for Judicial advocacy as Landmark/Key Judgments of the past could be used
as precedence for influencing future decision- making. Further, watch-guard
organizations and monitor-groups can use this model to continuously track the governance past record and performance and
compare with different information sets. The model however becomes ineffective in
absence of a strong civil society interest and public memory which is
essential to force
decision-makers to improve existing governance practices.
Source
: Vikas Nath, Networking Networks
for Empowerment and Governance
Presented
at the Global Development Network 2000, World Bank, Japan.
Vikas
Nath, Conceiver, Digital
Governance and KnowNet Initiative
Inlaks
Scholar, London School of Economics, UK
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