This book is the outcome of a rather unique conjunction of circumstances
that prevailed at the World Bank Institute in Washington, DC, in the years
from 2008 to 2012. There and then, a talented group of young staff in the
Governance and Leadership Unit, working in the atmosphere of creativity
and the supportive authorizing environment provided by the renewal the
World Bank Institute was undergoing, began putting their minds together to
explore a number of questions few others at the World Bank had addressed.
What are the types of constraints that conspire to derail otherwise sensible
policies? When can these constraints prevent a reform process or a
project from achieving its declared objectives? How can these constraints to
change be unlocked? Under what conditions do individuals and organizations
engage in collective action, and when does this lead to the sort of lasting
institutional change that is conducive to sustainable development? These
were the sorts of questions the team probed tirelessly over three years.