Public Brainpower: Civil Society and Natural Resource Management

Description

This book examines how civil society, public debate and freedom of speech affect natural resource governance. Drawing on the theories of Robert Dahl, Jurgen Habermas and Robert Putnam, the book introduces the concept of ‘public brainpower’, proposing that good institutions require: fertile public debate involving many and varied contributors to provide a broad base for conceiving new institutions; checks and balances on existing institutions; and the continuous dynamic evolution of institutions as the needs of society change. The book explores the strength of these ideas through case studies of 18 oil and gas-producing countries: Algeria, Angola, Azerbaijan, Canada, Colombia, Egypt, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Libya, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Qatar, Russia, Saudi, UAE, UK and Venezuela. The concluding chapter includes 10 tenets on how states can maximize their public brainpower, and a ranking of 33 resource-rich countries and the degree to which they succeed in doing so. The Introduction and the chapters 'Norway: Public Debate and the Management of Petroleum Resources and Revenues', 'Kazakhstan: Civil Society and Natural-Resource Policy in Kazakhstan', and 'Russia: Public Debate and the Petroleum Sector' of this book are available open access under a CC BY 4.0 license at link.springer.com. Front Matter ....Pages i-xix Introduction: Civil Society, Public Debate and Natural Resource Management (Indra Overland)....Pages 1-22 Algeria: Oil and Public Opinion (Paola Rivetti, Francesco Cavatorta)....Pages 23-40 Angola: Civil Society Actors and Petroleum Management (Jesse Salah Ovadia)....Pages 41-54 Azerbaijan: Civil Society and the Petroleum Sector (Kenan Aslanli)....Pages 55-73 Canada: The Debate About Oil and Gas Management (Shantel Jordison)....Pages 75-90 Colombia: Oil and Civil Society (Carlo Tognato)....Pages 91-106 Egypt: State, Society and Energy Caught in a Vicious Circle (Robert Springborg)....Pages 107-123 Iraq: State, Society and the Evolution of the Petroleum Sector (Ibrahim Al-Marashi)....Pages 125-141 Kazakhstan: Civil Society and Natural Resource Policy in Kazakhstan (Roman Vakulchuk, Indra Overland)....Pages 143-162 Libya: Oil and the Discontents of Emerging Civil Society (Ebtissam El Kailani-Chariat)....Pages 163-179 The Netherlands: Resource Management and Civil Society in the Natural Gas Sector (Aad Correljé)....Pages 181-199 Nigeria: The Role of Civil Society in the Politics of Oil Governance and Revenue Management (Cyril Obi)....Pages 201-216 Norway: Public Debate and the Management of Petroleum Resources and Revenues (Indra Overland)....Pages 217-245 Qatar: The Context of a Hydrocarbon-Funded Social Contract (Steven Wright)....Pages 247-259 Russia: Public Debate and the Petroleum Sector (Nina Poussenkova, Indra Overland)....Pages 261-289 Saudi Arabia: Civil Society and Natural Resource Management (Mark C. Thompson)....Pages 291-309 The United Arab Emirates: Modernity and Traditionalism in Petroleum Sector Management (Martin Hvidt)....Pages 311-328 The United Kingdom: Public Debate and the Management of Petroleum Resources (Philip Wright, Juan Carlos Boué)....Pages 329-346 Venezuela: Public Debate and the Management of Oil Resources and Revenues (Ricardo Villasmil)....Pages 347-367 Variations on Public Brainpower: Findings from Country Case Studies of Oil- and Gas-Producing Countries (Indra Overland)....Pages 369-385 Lonely Minds: Natural Resource Governance Without Input from Society (Indra Overland)....Pages 387-407