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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BERLIN 001937 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
S/P FOR TODD DEATHERAGE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/30/2016 
TAGS: EAID PGOV PREL KCOR KDEM KCRS KMCA KMPI GM
SUBJECT: GERMAN VIEWS ON S/P INITIATIVE, "PARTNERSHIP FOR 
BETTER GOVERNANCE" 
 
 
Classified By: EMIN Robert F. Cekuta for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1.  (C) Summary:  S/P Director Dr. Stephen Krasner consulted 
with German officials June 29 on the "Partnership for Better 
Governance" initiative (PBG).  The PBG would be a 
multilateral partnership to support the emergence of 
democratic institutions in the developing world by 
contracting to provide things like basic public services, 
accountability mechanisms, and audits.  Developing countries 
would essentially hire the PBG either to help provide a 
service, like tax collection, or to certify that a specific 
state service already being provided is transparent and 
effective.  The goal would be to legitimate the external 
provision of services and to further democratic consolidation 
by offering both help and an international seal of approval 
to reformers.  While agreeing with Dr. Krasner that better 
governance is a key to development, the German officials 
raised questions about how to fit the initiative into 
existing efforts, whether it would be part of current 
multilateral structures or freestanding, and how to maximize 
the initiative's legitimacy, especially given political 
sensitivities about sovereignty in the developing world.  End 
Summary. 
 
INTRODUCING THE PARTNERSHIP FOR BETTER GOVERNANCE 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶2.  (C) S/P Director Dr. Stephen Krasner, S/P Special 
Assistant Todd Deatherage, and S/P Member Philip Levy met 
June 29 in Berlin with officials from the German Chancellery, 
Foreign Ministry, and Development Ministry to discuss their 
ideas for a Partnership for Better Governance (PBG).  EMIN 
and Emboff also participated in the meetings. 
 
¶3.  (C) Dr. Krasner explained that, in addition to our 
continuing focus on elections, more needs to be done to help 
consolidate democratic gains by building functioning, 
transparent institutions.  The PBG would coordinate and 
legitimate the external provision of services that a 
developing state has trouble providing, audit the delivery of 
such services, and identify innovative accountability 
mechanisms like citizen surveys that assess service 
provision. 
 
¶4.  (C) The PBG could also act as a clearinghouse for 
information, collecting stories about what works, propagating 
best practices, and developing standards for the delivery of 
state services.  The idea would be to strengthen reformers in 
developing countries by legitimating good governance choices. 
 For example, the PBG could certify that a police force met 
standards of non-corruption, thereby offering a reformist 
leader credible proof that his or her policies were working. 
 
¶5.  (C) The PBG members would be interested liberal 
democracies in both the developed and developing worlds, as 
well as key implementing organizations, like the UN, the 
World Bank, and the IMF.  The PBG would provide its services 
on a contractual basis for a limited period, while 
concurrently building the capacity of the developing country 
to take over once the contract expires.  This capacity 
building function would be crucial because it would make the 
developing country's progress sustainable. 
 
INPUT FROM GERMANY 
------------------ 
 
¶6.  (C) German officials said they were open to the concept 
of the PBG, but also raised several questions.  These 
questions fell into three broad categories. 
 
¶7.  (C) First, how would the PBG add value to existing good 
governance efforts, both bilateral and multilateral?  All of 
our interlocutors pointed out that German development aid 
already focuses heavily on good governance.  As Foreign 
Minister Steinmeier's Deputy Chief of Staff, Dieter Haller, 
said, "This is something our political party foundations have 
been doing for decades."  Rolf Nikel, Deputy Director General 
of the Chancellery, argued that much of what the PBG would do 
is already being done, even if not coordinated, so Germany 
would have to be convinced a new structure was necessary. 
Michael Hofmann, Director General for Global Issues at the 
Development Ministry, echoed this, but also saw a possible 
 
BERLIN 00001937  002 OF 002 
 
 
role for the PBG in information gathering and sharing. 
Hofmann noted the development community needs more 
information about good governance best practices.  Markus 
Ederer, Director of Policy Planning at the MFA, said it would 
be important to avoid duplication of things already being 
done and asked whether the PBG would be a kind of pledging 
forum or a formal institution with its own capacity. 
 
¶8.  (C) Second, assuming a PBG is needed, would it be a new 
institution or would it be embedded in an existing one?  The 
Development Ministry's Hofmann pointed out that the ad hoc 
structure of the PBG might make it hard to integrate the 
organization into the World Bank or the UN.  If the PBG was 
to be part of the UN, for example, then it would have to come 
under the control of the "UN family," said Hofmann, which 
would limit its flexibility.  Several other interlocutors 
pointed out, however, that creating a freestanding PBG might 
lead to needless duplication of staff and technical resources. 
 
¶9.  (C) Third, how can we maximize the PBG's legitimacy, 
especially considering sensitivities about sovereignty in the 
developing world?  Nikel, at the Chancellery, argued most 
countries in the developing world are still very touchy about 
anything that appears to limit their sovereignty.  Hofmann, 
at the Development Ministry, also emphasized the legitimacy 
issue, noting that the topic was so sensitive, "it had taken 
50 years just to reach a point where the World Bank could 
start talking about good governance and corruption."  Hofmann 
emphasized it would be important to structure the PBG to 
avoid provoking any kind of backlash in the developing world, 
noting that there should be more transparency in good 
governance, but that this should take the form of information 
sharing among donors, rather than public efforts to shame 
leaders into reforming.  He added that allowing the PBG to 
provide services might also be exploited by developing 
country politicians who would try to blame the donor 
countries if things went wrong.  Hofmann also argued that the 
roll-out of a possible PBG should include international 
leaders who have a kind of personal legitimacy in the 
developing world and that getting the right personalities 
involved might be just as important as getting the right 
countries to participate initially.  All the interlocutors 
also questioned why an ad hoc, voluntary structure would be 
more legitimate than a global organization with as many 
members as possible. 
 
¶10.  (C) Comment: The German officials Dr. Krasner met were 
clearly interested in the PBG, but will need to be convinced 
that such an initiative will fit well with Germany's current 
development strategy.  German development officials are proud 
of their focus on governance and rule-of-law issues and 
rarely miss an opportunity to highlight the extensive 
contribution made in this field by the international offices 
of Germany's political party foundations.  To gain German 
support, the PBG would need to be structured to accommodate 
Germany's capacities and strong feelings on this issue, but 
the Development Ministry in particular will be suspicious of 
anything that appears to sideline the UN or World Bank. 
Germany can also be expected to coordinate closely with other 
big European donors, such as France, before deciding whether 
to support this initiative.  End Comment. 
 
¶11.  (U) This message was cleared with S/P after Dr. 
Krasner's departure. 
TIMKEN JR