Regional Institutions as Bypasses of States in the Provision of Public Goods: The Case of West Africa
The idea of “West Africa” encompasses a medley of countries with diverse historical, political, and cultural features. However, their governance and development profiles are distinctly similar: the United Nations recognizes eleven of the fifteen members of the Economic Community of West African Stat...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press
2017-01-01
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| Series: | AJIL Unbound |
| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2398772317000642/type/journal_article |
| _version_ | 1811157337261473792 |
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| author | Edefe Ojomo |
| author_facet | Edefe Ojomo |
| author_sort | Edefe Ojomo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The idea of “West Africa” encompasses a medley of countries with diverse historical, political, and cultural features. However, their governance and development profiles are distinctly similar: the United Nations recognizes eleven of the fifteen members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) as least developed countries. In this context, regional institutions are usually established to strengthen state capacity by providing resources to address national capacity deficits. Above all, they serve as systems of support that are supplementary to state institutions with distinct governance roles. However, regional institutions can—and should—play a second role: serving as alternatives to weak or fragile state institutions that are deficient in the supply of different public goods. By performing this second role, regional arrangements become international institutional bypasses. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T05:04:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2e18db1eb74d49b79522503b71deb421 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2398-7723 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T05:04:32Z |
| publishDate | 2017-01-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | AJIL Unbound |
| spelling | doaj.art-2e18db1eb74d49b79522503b71deb4212023-03-09T12:27:10ZengCambridge University PressAJIL Unbound2398-77232017-01-0111124725110.1017/aju.2017.64Regional Institutions as Bypasses of States in the Provision of Public Goods: The Case of West AfricaEdefe Ojomo0Lecturer, Faculty of Law, University of Lagos; JSD Candidate, New York University School of Law.The idea of “West Africa” encompasses a medley of countries with diverse historical, political, and cultural features. However, their governance and development profiles are distinctly similar: the United Nations recognizes eleven of the fifteen members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) as least developed countries. In this context, regional institutions are usually established to strengthen state capacity by providing resources to address national capacity deficits. Above all, they serve as systems of support that are supplementary to state institutions with distinct governance roles. However, regional institutions can—and should—play a second role: serving as alternatives to weak or fragile state institutions that are deficient in the supply of different public goods. By performing this second role, regional arrangements become international institutional bypasses.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2398772317000642/type/journal_article |
| spellingShingle | Edefe Ojomo Regional Institutions as Bypasses of States in the Provision of Public Goods: The Case of West Africa AJIL Unbound |
| title | Regional Institutions as Bypasses of States in the Provision of Public Goods: The Case of West Africa |
| title_full | Regional Institutions as Bypasses of States in the Provision of Public Goods: The Case of West Africa |
| title_fullStr | Regional Institutions as Bypasses of States in the Provision of Public Goods: The Case of West Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | Regional Institutions as Bypasses of States in the Provision of Public Goods: The Case of West Africa |
| title_short | Regional Institutions as Bypasses of States in the Provision of Public Goods: The Case of West Africa |
| title_sort | regional institutions as bypasses of states in the provision of public goods the case of west africa |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2398772317000642/type/journal_article |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT edefeojomo regionalinstitutionsasbypassesofstatesintheprovisionofpublicgoodsthecaseofwestafrica |