- Constitutional and sociopolitical framework
- Definition of the Criterion
- Key Questions
- Notes on the sub-criteria
- References
- Bibliography
- Further criteria
Definition of the Criterion
What is meant by 'Constitutional and sociopolitical framework'?
Another issue that should be considered in any comprehensive assessment of potentials and risks is the constitutional and sociopolitical environment that underlies an international academic cooperation. This point should also include a more detailed consideration of issues linked to wider crisis or conflict situations (cf. Criterion 1).
Key Questions
A. Governance/fragility
- What form do hierarchies and decision-making pathways take in the society in which your partner institution is located? How significant are personal relationships?
- How are financial administration and other forms of administration organised in your partner country?
- What should be considered with regards to diversity? Is there structural discrimination against ethnicity, gender or religion? Is there an affirmative policy that prefers certain groups or marginalises certain minorities?
B. Structural and environmental factors affecting the education system
- How can you quickly identify major stakeholders and decision-makers in government ministries, authorities and at various levels within our partner institution, such as management, academic leaders and administration?
C. Legal certainty
- Should your considerations include a distinctive or unusual legal framework in your partner country?
- Are the courts mostly independent?
D. Freedom of opinion
- Do any laws or regulations govern protections for religious expression, opinion, censorship, data transfer, data storage or social media?
E. Sociocultural characteristics
- Have you researched intercultural issues in advance? For example, have you checked whether personal conversation takes place prior to addressing substantive issues in the host culture, or how to politely express agreement, doubt or refusal?
- What expectations, hopes or misgivings do the two sides have about the cooperation – including those outside the sphere of academia?
- Have you allowed time in your planning to get to know others informally?
Notes on the sub-criteria
A. Governance/Fragility
(e.g. potential conflict situations such as corruption, nepotism, limited autonomy for authorities and administrative bodies and/or institutions)
B. Structural and environmental factors affecting the education system
(with particular reference to the dimensions of politics, economics and populations)
C. Legal certainty
D. Freedom of opinion
E. Sociocultural characteristics
(including diversity-sensitive contextual analysis)
One fundamental precondition for the successful delivery of cooperation projects is to understand the political, legal and cultural facts prevalent in the various partner countries and to translate these into practical knowledge in an interculturally sensitive way. Knowing about the nature of the project planning or the form in which negotiations are conducted by the partners can help to address and overcome differences and differing expectations at an early stage. ‘Regional, [political], cultural and administrative contexts play a key role in this, as do the different regulations, interests and restrictions of the stakeholders involved. […] Engaging with the social and cultural contexts of the cooperation partner should be a fixture of preparing for a joint project.’1
When working in foreign environments, it is important to be aware of and to observe the local legal conditions. Training courses are available to help those preparing to work abroad understand local sociocultural and legal structural and environmental conditions. The DAAD’s International DAAD Academy (iDA) offers seminars on the education systems of major countries and regions, along with approaches to intercultural learning about those areas. In addition, the DAAD’s Centre for International Academic Cooperation offers information issues associated with wider ‘Legal structural and environmental conditions’. The GIZ Academy for International Cooperation also offers courses for those preparing to spend time abroad. The country and topic-specific courses allow participants to engage with the sociocultural conditions prevailing in their destination countries. Assistance providers can also support those preparing to spend time abroad through seminars on moving country and guidance on living, working and studying abroad.
References
This section lists some reference sources to facilitate initial evaluations. Firstly the most important sub-criteria are given followed by the information available from each source.
A. Governance/fragility
B. Structural and environmental factors affecting the education system
C. Legal certainty
OECD iLibrary
The OECD’s States of Fragility Report provides a reference index on constitutional and sociopolitical frameworks and the sub-criteria as broken down above. Between eight and twelve indicators are analysed and triangulated for each of the following five dimensions: economics, environment, politics, security and society. The last OECD report was published in September 2022. It examines global fragility and its impacts on stability and development. Currently, 1.9 billion people are living in the 60 contexts which are identified as fragile according to the report. This group of people comprises 24% of the world’s population and 73% of the world’s poorest people. The main focus of the OECD analysis is on the complex challenges which have been intensified by COVID-19, climate change and Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. The document underlines the need for multidimensional approaches to manage fragility and calls for collective actions to address the causes of instability and promote sustainable development.2
Bertelsmann Stiftung
The Bertelsmann Stiftung’s ‘BTI Transformation Index’ provides three sub-indices: the ‘Political Transformation Index’, the ‘Economic Transformation Index’ and the ‘Governance Index’. Each of the three dimensions can be compared globally on the basis of selected indicators in the form of a world map visualisation. In addition, comprehensive ‘Country Reports’ on the various countries are available which can be compiled in a differentiated way based of the indicators given above. The country reports provide an overview of the situation and developments in a given region.
Transparency International and ‘Global Corruption Index’
The standard reference for corruption indices is the Transparency International organisation. Transparency International publishes the Global Corruption Report: Education for the field of education, Part 3 of which explicitly deals with transparency and integrity in higher education. That said, the most recent report is from 2013 and has not been updated since. The Global Corruption Index produced by Global Risk Profile (GRP), a Swiss company, offers another corruption index for 199 countries and regions, composed of 28 indicators. The Global Corruption Index combines two indices: corruption and white collar crime.
A. Governance/fragility
B. Structural and environmental factors affecting the education system
E. Sociocultural characteristics
Country Information Events: conflict and policy analysis
Beyond the reference sources provided by DLR under Criterion 2 and the Kooperation international website, it is at this point worth recommending other more broad-based country profiles, conflict and policy analysis that are helpful points of reference. The studies compiled by the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik SWP (German Institute for International and Security Affairs) and the largest non-university information centre for comparative regional studies, the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) deserve special mention at this point.
The other institutions given above – such as the International Crisis Group and the UCPD – offer other functionality beyond maps that includes political analysis of selected priority issues. The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the Federal Agency for Civic Education offer a wide range of information about countries and topics.
Various national political foundations and their offices abroad also provide political analysis and spotlight reports on current political issues: the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES); the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS); the Hanns-Seidel-Stiftung (HSS); the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNS); the Heinrich Böll Foundation (HBS) and the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung (RLS).
Freedom House
Freedom House is an international non-governmental organisation that campaigns to defend human rights and promote democratic change. Its indices focus on political rights and civil liberties. Freedom House’s analysis is focused on 13 key issues, including ‘authoritarian reach’, ‘media freedom’, ‘government accountability and transparency’, ‘strengthening civil society’ and ‘freedom of expression’. Based on this analysis, information is fed into the Freedom House Index. A world map allows users to compare the status of democracies and freedom of internet access.
The Freedom House Index also captures changes and trends. The various trends and individual indicators are described in detail in country profiles. In addition, Freedom House Policy Recommendations make policy recommendations on selected topics and regional points of conflict.
Global Public Policy Institute
The ‘Risky Business. Rethinking Research Cooperation and Exchange with Non-Democracies. Strategies for Foundations, Universities, Civil Society Organizations, and Think Tanks’3 study, which had been commissioned by Stiftung Mercator, was published on the website of the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) in October 2020. In this study, human rights, academic freedom, research integrity and diversity are defined as fundamental values in collaborations, which are described as a basis for clarifying a participant’s goals in collaborations.
It also differentiates between eight aspects for risks in cooperation projects: ‘dependence’ (on financial influence on academic systems); ‘(self-)censorship’; ‘instrumentalisation’ (here in the sense of non-democracies using networks to legitimise their narratives and actions in liberal democracies); ‘repression’; ‘involuntary technology transfer and espionage’; ‘dual- use’; ‘path dependence’ (which in this case refers to the challenge of withdrawing from long-established cooperation programmes); and ‘indiscriminate targeting’. The study summarises the current state of affairs concerning challenges facing international academic cooperations. It raises awareness by offering clearly stated assessments of existing risks and proposes 74 activities to support reflection on cooperation projects.
Bibliography
1 Extract from the DAAD’s ‘Guide to developing robust structures in German-African higher education cooperation projects’.
2 States of Fragility Report (2022). Can be viewed at: https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/states-of-fragility-2022_c7fedf5e-en.html (Last accessed: 19.09.2024)
3 Baykal, A. and Benner, T. (2020). Risky Business. Rethinking Research Cooperation and Exchange with Non-Democracies. Strategies for Foundations, Universities, Civil Society Organizations, and Think Tanks.
