PLAW 104 - 001

This course covers the rule of law and governance dimensions to international development assistance. It examines both the institutional frameworks and legal mechanisms by which international development assistance is distributed for rule of law and state-building activities and the legal and regulatory structures that apply to development assistance. The course begins by considering the reasons that donors provide aid generally and for rule of law, followed by the examination of the normative frameworks and standards that shape the manner in which aid is distributed, institutions and actors, mechanisms by which aid is programmed and actual use of aid by recipients. The overall approach begins at the global level and follows the chain of development aid through its various elements down to the national level. A key theme of the course is that the approach to international development assistance is broadening. Historically, financing for development was understood primarily in terms of public sector resources. As a result of a confluence of factors, development institutions have been seeking to gather resources from the private sector to supplement official development aid.