Management Program Policy and Governance - CAF / GSPM
Executive Summary
Background
For the past nine years, the GSPM has conducted a program for Latin American leaders focused on improving communication and governance through policy management. The program is unique. It is the pioneer in establishing a balance of social, economic, and political development in countries of constant transformation. This program is based on a Solid Base, and it harnesses the knowledge and experience acquired by the GSPM from its more than 20 years of training political operatives.
The Management Program is sponsored by the Andean Development Bank, Corporación Andina de Fomento (CAF). To date more than five thousand elected officials and top aides have benefited from the trainingprogram. Most of these leaders are from local institutions and government agencies, which allows the program to impact governance in Latin America. Program participants, representing all sides of the political spectrum, are the leaders of the next generation and as such occupy positions that will make a positive democratic change throughout Latin America. As such, the program facilitates an international exchange of best practices.
Program participants - from countries like Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador - examine how political management, strategic thinking, mobilization, political marketing and communications, leadership, and how the transformative affect of information technology can help build alliances, govern in a more transparent way, and promote democratic change. The courses are based on practical, applied learning methodology. Program participants are required to submit a project that examines a problem in their community and develop a solution.
The program may expand to Dominican Republic, Brazil, and Panama in 2009.
Program Components
This six-month program combines distance education as well as in-person courses. The classroom courses are conducted through the cooperation of prestigious local universities like the University of San Andres and Rosario in Argentina, the Autonomous University of Mexico, the University of Veracruz in Mexico, the realistic universe in Mexico, the Universidad Catholica del Peru, Universidad del Valle in Bolivia, the Universidad Catolica Santiago de Guayaquil, Universidad del Rosario in Colombia, the University of Bucaramanga in Colombia, the Universidad Francisco de Paula Santander in Colombia, Quito's Catholic University and Catholic University of Venezuela. The academic program is coordinated by the School of Political Management at George Washington University in collaboration with local universities and selected by CAF and GSPM. Partnering educational institutions are required to provide access to their facilities in different parts of the country for all program participants.
The curriculum of Program Management and Governance Policy is structured in three major modules, along with five sections on governance and political management, three sections on technology management, and four sections on communication and social management.This includes:
Module I: Governance and Management Policy Management Policy and Governance
The political environment
Strategic planning for public policy
Leadership skills for transformation and
Politics and ethics
Political Marketing
Module II: Management of Technology
Management budget policies of the information and communication technology development projects Development and
Module III: Communication and Social Management Social Project Management Strategic communication in government political mobilization bases Marketing
FINANCING PROGRAM
The Andean Development Corporation financed 80 percent of the total program cost and disburses about $ 50,000 U.S. to each country. This amount covers the salaries of teachers, travel expenses and salaries of local program coordinators. The remaining 20 percent of the costs are covered by the tuition fee (about 300 U.S. dollars) paid to all students enroll in the program. The CAF is also responsible for the operational costs of the program internationally, and these salaries and travel expenses of international teachers are invited to teach courses in the participating countries of the program. CAF's total investment in each country the program is around 50,000 dollars.
TIME TABLE
After obtaining the final approval of the Andean Development Corporation, all parties signed an agreement in March of 2009.After a period of one month focused on program publicity and selection of participants, the activities will begin in late May.
COURSES
The following list of courses comprises the Policy Management Program and Governance curriculum:
Public Administration and Finance
Every government agency needs to carry out the planning, implementation, and control of their financial resources in a way that creates favorable conditions for good governance. In this way, government budgets become a tool for good governance. Participants in this course learn budget management and the political component of the budget process. How do political actors struggle to influence a budget? What is the relationship established between the central government tax income distribution? Special attention will be given to maintaining fiscal balance and political aspects related to tax increases. Students will also explore the tools used in financial administration.
Political Environment of Public Policy
The political dimension plays a crucial role in the success of any reform. However most reforms focus primarily on economics. Governance emphasizes a balance between political, technical and social. Every public policy has an impact on multiple stakeholders -- both for and against it. Students in this program explore tools that will help them examine these players, their positions and interests, and how they can begin a process of building alliances.
Social Management
World Bank studies show that low levels of good governance are linked to economic policies. Economic growth without social justice is incompatible with satisfactory levels of governance. This course on social management will teach its participants tools to not only identify indicators of poverty, but more importantly to initiate strategies that combine political and social elements to improve inclusion and participation in politics. The issue is not only to fight for resources for the excluded sectors of society but also to manage resources in an efficient way. It is undeniable that in recent years the social aspect of governance have been extremely important in democratic governmental systems.
Management and Information Technology: Electronic Government
In a changing world it is impossible to advance democratic change and development with old tools. Today's leaders need to understand the role of changing communications technology for politics and society. This program will present practical examples of the use of ICT in the fields of governance and political management. Participants will be introduced to the themes transparent management and using technology to increase citizen participation. The topic of e-government was presented as a vision that will give impetus to greater social interactivity.
Leadership for Transformation
In the course on transformational leadership, students will learn that leadership is not only charismatic but that leadership skills can be learned. The best leader is one who effectively persuades others to engage in problem solving and in new situations. Learn the tools of transformative leadership.
Mobilizing Bases of Support
Creating change requires participation from all levels of an electorate. Organizations achieve sufficient support by building social bases that support and mobilize around the issue. This program teaches participants the most effective tactics for mobilization. Participants will learn from how to build a plan for direct contact and mobilization. This includes not only government but also practical examples of corporate mobilization and public affairs.
Communication from the Government
This program is based on the principle that what is done but not communicated is not seen. The courses will be very practical and applied, focusing on case studies of how communication strategy has been used effectively in other countries. In particular students they will focus on building an audience, a message, and a messenger in order to communicate and persuade constituents and voters. Participants will be briefly introduced to the relations between mainstream media and governments.
Governance and Political Management
This course is to highlights not only the political balance between technical knowledge and social capital but also helps participants better understand the political dimension and the role it plays in the development process. This program will look at some of the problems of governance in Latin America and provide a conceptual framework that helps participants understand interaction between different political actors and how those interactions create favorable or unfavorable conditions for good governance. Lectures are designed to provoke reflection on the negative effects of the political culture and promote cooperation. This course plays an integral role in the program curriculum.
Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
In any process of change and there will always be opponents and supporters. Politics is the art and science of expanding opportunities. In this program, participants will learn how to structure problems of confrontation and how to resolve political dilemmas. They will be given preliminary knowledge about mediation and the role of mediators, but the emphasis will be on different negotiation techniques.
Strategic Planning
In these lectures, students will learn about the need to organize their actions within a framework that includes clear objectives and the allocation of resources to achieve them. This plan should be dynamic and flexible, and it should take into account the existence of other projects and other actors. Through exercises and case studies, participants will about the process of strategic planning for changing political environments and situations.
Formulation and Evaluation of Projects
Corporación Andina de Fomento requests that this program curriculum include the formulation and evaluation of student projects. This program uses the LFA method to evaluate performance.
