The World Bank as a norm-broker : knowledge, funds and power in governance reforms in Argentina

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Abstract

This study explores the role of the World Bank in the promotion of two governance
reforms in Argentina, judicial reform and anti-corruption policies. It argues that when the
World Bank is able to draw on both its financial and knowledge power to build and
consolidate 'pro-reform networks' with local actors it is more likely to ensure the
implementation of governance reforms in its client countries. This argument is built on
the premise that whatever the leverage of the World Bank as a financial institution or as a
Knowledge Bank, and despite this leverage, it cannot implement programmes by itself in
developing countries. A loan and its conditions may be negotiated and approved with
government officials, yet the materialisation of projects into policies and institutions is
embedded in complex policy process in which the interplay between Bank staff and local
actors (beyond government officials) can favour or inhibit policy change. In this context,
it is argued that the dominance of a particular actor or paradigm vis-a-vis other
contending actors or ideas is not reinforced simply by the coercive position of the lender
over the borrower, but rather by its capacity to integrate contesting impulses into broader
consensus for policy change. In this capacity, the World Bank is defined as a 'normbroker'.
Through a framework that combines critical perspectives in International Political
Economy and institutional analysis, this thesis explores different patterns of intervention
of World Bank units that acted either as a mere 'conveyor' in the transfer of funds and
knowledge or as a 'broker' by integrating the normative agenda grounded in Bank's
knowledge with country-based knowledge for the design, negotiation and implementation
of governance reforms in Argentina.
The theoretical and empirical study of judicial reform and anti-corruption in Argentina
contribute to the understanding of reform implementation in which the Bank only
succeeds in achieving effective institutionalisation when it engages with local actors, in
particular with local experts, in pro-reform networks. By analysing different patterns of
involvement of Bank units, this thesis also identifies knowledge/policy dynamics as a
critical aspect of policy-making. From this perspective, this thesis departs from traditional
studies that focus on one-way coercive leverage of lending institutions and offers a
critical approach to the analysis of power, knowledge and policy change in developing
countries. It also sheds light on the complexities of international organisations as they
expand their roles towards new areas of involvement that fall into the domain of domestic
policy-making.

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