My Beauty Best Teacher

Francisco Noguera at Next Billion writes:

Collier and Ghani/Lockhart emphasize the importance of engaging citizens in tackling the issue of governance in the developing world. Collier calls it "building a mass of informed citizens" without which "politicians will continue to get away with gestures," calling for the help of his techie TED audience to build ways for that to occur.
Ghani and Lockhart, on the other hand, go deep into describing what, in their opinion, should be the key functions developed by the state and a framework to spread this model across the world, acknowledging from the very beginning that "... the common people of failing states have no real stake in the success or failure of their countries" although, thanks to technological advance, "they can now truly become principals in state-building by making an agenda for accountability and transparency concrete".

Image via WikipediaFrom the website of the ISE founded by Ashraf Ghani and Clare lockhart:

The Institute for State Effectiveness (ISE) uses a citizen-centered perspective to rethink the fundamentals of the relationship between citizens, the state and the market in the context of globalization. Stability and prosperity in our interdependent world demand a new global compact to ensure that the billions of people currently excluded become stakeholders in the emerging political and economic order.

WorldChanging reports on Afghanistan's National solidarity program:

Ashraf Ghani has worked to establish partnerships between communities, national and international NGOs, and government, most pointedly through the establishment of the National Solidarity Program, which promotes village-level, community-run development programs, and networks Afghanistan's many villages -- through community development councils -- with one another and with agencies and organizations that can grant them access to resources.

Ashraf Ghani on TEDTalks presents a case for Mobilising Capital to enable State Building:

Full disclosure, Emeka Okafor publisher of Timbuktu Chronicles and Africa Unchained is the co-producer for the TED Global Arusha event.

Ashraf Ghani and Clare Lockhart ask

What functions need to be performed by a state if it is to have internal legitimacy and external credibility?

We have proposed a framework of the 10 most critical functions the modern state must perform, which was endorsed by a group of leaders of post-conflict transitions last year. The functions include maintenance of a monopoly on the legitimate means of violence, the nurturing of human capital, and creation and regulation of the market. We have also proposed that state-building or sovereignty strategies be devised to meet the goal of having the state perform each of the 10 functions -- strategies backed by compacts between the leadership of countries and the international community on the one side and citizens on the other to create capable states that deliver value to their citizens. And instead of thousands of reports, there should be a single global report on state effectiveness, compiled with the involvement of global and local civil societies and issued by a credible international organization.

Ashraf Ghani and Clare Lockhart write in OpenDemocracy:

Zimbabwe might be entering into an "open moment". After what has turned out to be a presidential election with just one candidate, the situation could swiftly move from the coronation of the incumbent, Robert Mugabe, to a transition beyond him. The accumulating criticism of the unaccountable power and brutality of the regime he leads, particularly (as Roger Southall outlines in openDemocracy) from Zimbabwe's neighbours and Mugabe's erstwhile allies, is creating momentum for a post-Mugabe order: one where Zimbabweans are offered the opportunity of genuine citizenship, where they will become bearers of rights and obligations specified in a stable regime of laws.