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Through two chapters, we examine in the first part of this dissertation the governance doctrine in its genesis, conceptualization, diffusion and appropriation in the community of international development. In the first chapter, we discuss the political economy of governance by following its history, conceptualization, ideological and interdisciplinary frameworks in economics and political science. From the Antiquity to the Enlightenment, the premises of the governance doctrine have evolved around the issues of political power, authority, legitimacy and economic efficiency. Furthermore, modern evolutions of the doctrine break with these traditional approaches by taking into account the diversity and heterogeneity of actors engaged in the process of decision-making. We propose a conceptualization of governance through its fundamental common interdisciplinary dimensions. This approach differs from those based on the identification of universal definitions of governance. Hence, we present market economists’ approaches using transaction costs and neo-institutionalism theories, while governance approaches in political science are analyzed in terms of political, administrative and global governance. After a presentation of mainstream research agendas on the governance doctrine, we address some critical appraisals on this doctrine and its consequences for developing countries. In the second chapter, we focus on the role of international actors in the worldwide diffusion of the governance doctrine by examining the specific case of the World Bank. This chapter brings its contribution to the debate on ideas and norms diffusion in the field of economic development. The debate is expressed in terms of why some norms are more successfully diffused than others. Put differently, the question is about the potential primacy of norm power over that of its promoter. This also raises the debate in terms of relativism and universalism in the conceptualization of governance norm. We show that the World Bank has developed different behaviors vis-à-vis the governance doctrine, moving from economic to political and social approaches through a neoliberal framework. This chapter also proposes an assessment of the World Bank’s soft power with respect to the worldwide diffusion of governance norms through a bibliometric approach. We found that the World Bank, in addition to its financial activities, has developed a real leadership to become a global knowledge’s Bank through its research activities and governance data production and dissemination. We also examine the Bank’s smart power through influences of its governance indicators (Country Policy and Institutional Assessment-CPIA, Worldwide Governance Indicators-WGI, Doing Business-DB) on its foreign development assistance policies. Theses influences are also checked for other key bilateral and multilateral aid donors. te l-0 07 90 21 9, v er si on 1 -