ABSTRACT
Real influence comes from an ability to build, use and expand networks. A governance entrepreneur will take a lot of time tailoring messages for different audiences to build a network. Getting good endorsements, however, is not straightforward. Again, having nurtured friends of the process, governance entrepreneurs need to draw on the support network to obtain big-name endorsements. Despite strong anecdotal evidence of its success, the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative suffers from the same challenge as most governance measures—how to establish whether it really does lead to better natural resource governance, less corruption, more accountability and, ultimately, to more citizens in more resource-rich countries reaping more benefits from their wealth. Powerful people accept the need to give over power to those who oppose them in order to address previous power imbalances. The leadership skills required of stakeholders are varied, and even if all stakeholders do not necessarily possess all of them, they must exist among the collective governance group somewhere.
