The Democratic Reform Process Model - In Practice

Comment: This post is a continuation of the the general post on the DRP model as used in practice. The original works was a topical paper used to brief others on the model basics. I have modified this paper for posting purposes.  The topic originated from the Marshall Plan then through several model revisions and ultimately arriving at the Democratic Reform Process model. This is one in a set of posts on Democracy:

Community Leadership

The Democratic Reform Process Model - In General

The Democratic Reform Process Model - In Practice

The Democratic Reform Process, DRP, Model has an economic backbone in which host nations must willfully build capacity and capabilities to implement the reforms desired. The United States partner's and in some cases organizes coalitions in support of host nations while mentoring the DRP model. the reform process relies on six key steps; policy formalization and legitimatization, constituency building, resource accumulation, organizational design, resource mobilization, and impact monitoring. Overall, the DRP model is a closed loop free back system that undergoes continuous improvement. 

Figure 1: The DRP Model's Cyclic Process

Step 1: Policy formalization and legitimization is a critical first step as the host nation and those who benefit from the reforms must see the policy as vital and necessary. 

Step 2: constituency building is necessary in order to build the required support, establish ownership, and create critical mass. This draws heavily on marketing the reforms to the public and specifically those who are the winners. 

Step 3: Organizational design involves identifying methods and/or processes necessary to implement the reforms then adjust or adapting the organization to deliver those methods and processes. 

Step 4: Resource Accumulation requires identification of shortfalls or gap analysis regarding money, manpower, and /or machinery then developing sufficient resources to implement or drive the reform. 

Step 5: Resource mobilization is the actualization of the reforms that have been on paper up to this point. During this step, the realization of winners and losers becomes evident. The goal is to keep the gap between realizations and expectations as narrow as possible. 

Step 6:  Impact monitoring observes the host nation's transformation by utilizing measures of effectiveness, MOEs, in order to assess progress towards the desired reforms. 

One of the most important aspects of the implementation is to minimize the differential between realizations and expectations. The greater the differential then the greater the possibility of rejecting the reforms and desired policy. Closing this differential is difficult and begins in step 2 during constituency building. The reform outcomes must be attainable and accessible by the effective constituencies. Reforms must not only deliver the expected results but also occur within the attention span of the constituency. Results that occur 'a day late and a dollar short' will most likely be viewed as failures by the constituency. 

A task oriented framework supports the implementation. These tasks help identify short falls, trouble spots, and weak points in planning and implementation. These tasks can be operational and/or strategic in nature and include tools like gap analysis, conflict resolution, workshops, capacity checklists, risk assessments, constituency exercises, benchmarking, MOE's, and strategic reviews. 

The DRP model is comprised of six steps; policy legitimization, building constituencies, structural organization, develop then mobilizing resources, and finally impact monitoring. One of the more difficult challenges is to manage the difference  between expectations and realizations.  Focus constituencies must receive the desired outcomes in a timely and properly proportioned manner. 

References:

Brinkerhoff, D.; Crosby, B. (2001). Managing policy reforms: concepts and tools for decision-makers in developing and transitioning countries. Kumarian press: NY