Globalization, governance and development: The case of the Maldives

The dissertation seeks to present, examine and evaluate the policies, processes and conditions that have facilitated the Maldives to confront and adapt to the opportunities created by and challenges posed by economic globalization. It examines how the vagaries of economic globalization are shaping the domestic governance of the country, on the one hand, and how the evolving governance regime in the country is changing the way it approaches the globalization process, on the other. At the theoretical level, the thesis evaluates the utility of governance, as it is conceptualized by international donor agencies, to small island states like the Maldives in addressing the development challenges posed by globalization.; This thesis, which has adopted a case study method and has primarily concentrated on the tourism, fishery and public sectors of the Maldives, found that prominent ways through which economic globalization is affecting the country include: proliferation of broad-based standards in production and service delivery, expanding role of multi-national companies, changing global rules and norms on the management of fish and other marine living resources, and evolving opportunities and challenges in gaining access to global markets.; The relatively successful adaptation of the Maldives to these pressures of globalization was found to be not primarily due to the adoption of strategies of good governance advocated by international donors and development agencies. The study presents evidence of the critical roles played by the political culture, geography of the country, history of the evolution of the political and administrative systems in the country, and informal societal networks in the adaptation of the country to the exigencies of globalization. By focusing on the workings of the informal societal networks, the thesis specifically illustrates how the process of agenda formation helps to keep policy-makers constantly in touch with both societal demands and those external pressures affecting the domestic governance of the country. The study argues that notwithstanding the centralized political and administrative system in place in the county, informal societal networks have been instrumental in providing flexibility to the country's policy-making process to take speedy and effective action in the country's overall response to globalization.; The thesis claims that, although the workings of informal societal networks may have the hallmarks of weak governance when examined through the lens of conventional good governance models, given the critical role they play in the domestic governance of the Maldives, it will be useful to strengthen these networks by democratizing their functioning rather than seeking to replace them with formal institutions designed to strengthen governance. The findings of the study suggest that efforts to replace these networks by formalizing the policy-making process may, in fact, reduce the already limited capacity of the Maldives to adapt to the challenges posed by globalization.