The primacy of politics

Session 1: Development Politics

Tom Hewitt17/1/12

The rise and fall of politics in development studies

• From modernisation to the modern day• Have we come full circle?

“In general, there was a strong tendency to take a Lego-like approach to institution building. If enough of the right institutional pieces could be put in place together, the result would be the building of societies framed by liberal democratic polities and market economies which, together, would promote growth, freedom and prosperity and would not go to war with each other. There were echoes here of some of the crasser forms of modernisation theory and practice.” (Leftwich 2005 p. 584)

Donors discover politics

• ‘Drivers of Change’ (DfID) and now DoC+ & PolEcon Analysis

• ‘Power Studies’ (SIDA)• ‘Institutional and Governance reviews’ (WB)• ‘Country Governance Analysis’ (DfID)• ‘Power and Change Analysis’ (DGIS)• ‘Governance Profile’ (EC)• ‘Governance Profile’ (CIDA)• Nationally anchored GA: APRM

Key questions for development

• Can international community think politically?

• Can and should it work politically?

Reluctance to take on politics

• Invasion of sovereignty• Lack of analytical skills• Too few political scientists• Short term thinking of aid and value

for money

“we know what needs to be done we just don’t know why it doesn’t work”

Getting to Denmark• Where do institutions come from, how

they are made, maintained, changed?• Narrow conception of politics • Technocratic approach to politics• Political researchers don’t try to re-

order mainstream• Politics is in vogue but not in practice 

(Hickey 2008)

‘politics determines how resources are used and policies are made. And politics determines who benefits. In short, good governance is about good politics’ (DFID, 2006: p. 23). The White Paper then goes on to advance a technocratic and largely conventional agenda for enhancing growth and improving basic services, with barely a nod in the direction of politics.

And there are other barriers

• Intellectual• Status quo incentives• Ownership (or not)

The primacy of politics Position articulated best by Adrian Leftwich

Politics is ‘the central and dominant variable determining…developmental success or failure’ (2002: 4)Politics defined as ‘all the activities of conflict, cooperation and negotiation involved in the use, production and distribution of resources, whether material or ideal, whether at local, national or international levels, or whether in the private or public domains’ (2002: 5)

Government: the management of the economic affairs of a country

Institutions: the rules of the game Politics: the rules of the game and the games within the rules

(a useful distinction?)

“the institutionalization of uncertainty” (Przeworski)

For which argues Leftwich there are two conditions:– Losers must accept decision of voters– Winners must accept that the losers can come back at a

later date

Institutions are made by politics and politics is shaped by institutions. Institutions are empty boxes without agents to make them work.You get good politics when you have a good game– Agreed and legitimate rules of the game– Teams who accept rules and play by them– An impartial umpire– Supporting and complementary institutions (laws need

courts)

Variations on a theme

Political underdevelopment

• Not inevitable nor inherent but through way states created with interactions internationally

• A disconnect between state and citizens• Moore (2001) identifies 7 areas:

– Unnatural birth– Incomplete state formation– History of external control– Declining cost of military superiority– International criminal networks– Unearned state income– Competitiveness of aid donors

Upside-down governance

• Setting aside preconceptions (learning to draw)

• New questions, angles, ways of thinking (new drawing skills)

• “Informal institutions and personalised relationships are pervasive and powerful and can contribute to progressive outcomes in poor countries” Main finding in Unsworth (2010)

“There is mounting evidence that many reforms to improve governance by strengthening formal, rules-based institutions have had little impact” (p.69)

Rights• Rights and dignity are a crucial part of development and

well-being• Achieving these requires involvement in power and politics• Ability to exercise rights requires access to essential

services, information and knowledge• Active citizenship, including civil society organization, is

essential to development• Democracy is beneficial on both intrinsic and instrumental

basis• Effective states play a central role in development

(Green 2008)

‘Much of the current advice offered to developing countries, and the thinking that underlies it, is misguided… Those who formulate the advise have not been curious enough about the evidence imbedded in instances of good government in the countries being advised’ (Tendler, 1997:135)

1. High dedication of workers to their jobs2. A virtuous circle of respect3. The scope of the civil servants work was often wider

than their proscribed functions, often done voluntarily.

4. Customisation of tasks in response to what needed to be done

think positive | a case study

References• Unsworth, S. (2009) What's politics got to do with it? Why donors find it so hard

to come to terms with politics, and why this matters. Journal of International Development, 21: 883-894.

• Unsworth, S. (2010) An Upside Down View of Governance. Brighton: Institute of Development Studies.

• Hickey, S. (2008) The return of politics in development studies I: getting lost within the poverty agenda? Progress in Development Studies, 8: (4).

• Hickey, S. (2009) The return of politics in development studies (II). Progress in Development Studies, 9: (2).

• Tendler, J., 1997, Good Government in the Tropics, The John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London.

• Gaventa, J and colleagues. See http://www.powercube.net/• Robinson, M. 2007, ‘The politics of successful governance reforms: Lessons of

design and implementation’, Commonwealth and Comparative Politics, 45(4)

• Green, D. (2008) From Poverty to Power: How Active Citizens and Effective States can Change the World. Oxfam International.

• Leftwich, A. (2008) "Developmental states, effective states and poverty reduction: The primacy of politics". Geneva, UNRISD.

• Leftwich, A. (2005) Politics in Command: Development Studies and the Rediscovery of Social Science. New Political Economy, 10: (4): 573-607.