Pockets of Effectiveness and the Politics of State-building and Development in Africa

Pockets of Effectiveness and the Politics of State-building and Development in Africa PDF Author: Sam Hickey
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0192688375
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 305

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Book Description
This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-BC-ND 4.0 International License. It is free to read at Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations. Why do certain parts of the state in Africa work so effectively despite operating in difficult governance contexts? How do 'pockets of bureaucratic effectiveness' emerge and become sustained over time? And what does this tell us about the prospects for state-building and development in Africa? Repeated economic and social crises have demanded that development thinkers and policy actors have had to engage with the critical role that states play in delivering development. Pockets of Effectiveness and the Politics of State-building and Development in Africa shows that politics is the driving factor that shapes how well state agencies perform their roles. It deploys a new conceptual framework – the power domains approach – to explore the shifting fortunes of key state agencies in five countries – Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zambia – over the past three decades. Our original research reveals when, how and why political rulers decide to build effective state agencies and enable them to deliver certain forms of economic development – often through forming strategic coalitions with senior bureaucrats and with international support – and also when this support falters and gives way to a politics of survival. Comparative analysis identifies two potential trajectories towards state-building in Africa, each shaped by different configurations of social and political power. The book critiques the role that international development agencies have played in (mis)shaping the state in Africa and suggests a new strategic agenda for building the state capacities required to deliver sustained development at the current juncture. The book closes with critical commentaries from two leading scholars in the field, to help place our work in context and establish the next steps for research and strategy in this increasingly important area of development theory and practice.

Pockets of Effectiveness and the Politics of State-building and Development in Africa

Pockets of Effectiveness and the Politics of State-building and Development in Africa PDF Author: Sam Hickey
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0192688375
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 305

Get Book Here

Book Description
This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-BC-ND 4.0 International License. It is free to read at Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations. Why do certain parts of the state in Africa work so effectively despite operating in difficult governance contexts? How do 'pockets of bureaucratic effectiveness' emerge and become sustained over time? And what does this tell us about the prospects for state-building and development in Africa? Repeated economic and social crises have demanded that development thinkers and policy actors have had to engage with the critical role that states play in delivering development. Pockets of Effectiveness and the Politics of State-building and Development in Africa shows that politics is the driving factor that shapes how well state agencies perform their roles. It deploys a new conceptual framework – the power domains approach – to explore the shifting fortunes of key state agencies in five countries – Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zambia – over the past three decades. Our original research reveals when, how and why political rulers decide to build effective state agencies and enable them to deliver certain forms of economic development – often through forming strategic coalitions with senior bureaucrats and with international support – and also when this support falters and gives way to a politics of survival. Comparative analysis identifies two potential trajectories towards state-building in Africa, each shaped by different configurations of social and political power. The book critiques the role that international development agencies have played in (mis)shaping the state in Africa and suggests a new strategic agenda for building the state capacities required to deliver sustained development at the current juncture. The book closes with critical commentaries from two leading scholars in the field, to help place our work in context and establish the next steps for research and strategy in this increasingly important area of development theory and practice.

The Politics of State Capacity and Development in Africa

The Politics of State Capacity and Development in Africa PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781912593231
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description


The Politics of Public Sector Performance

The Politics of Public Sector Performance PDF Author: Michael Roll
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317934547
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 344

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Book Description
It is widely believed that the state in developing countries is weak. The public sector, in particular, is often regarded as corrupt and dysfunctional. This book provides an urgently needed corrective to such overgeneralized notions of bad governance in the developing world. It examines the variation in state capacity by looking at a particularly paradoxical and frequently overlooked phenomenon: effective public organizations or ‘pockets of effectiveness’ in developing countries. Why do these pockets exist? How do they emerge and survive in hostile environments? And do they have the potential to trigger more comprehensive reforms and state-building? This book provides surprising answers to these questions, based on detailed case studies of exceptional public organizations and state-owned enterprises in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America and the Middle East. The case studies are guided by a common analytical framework that is process-oriented and sensitive to the role of politics. The concluding comparative analysis develops a novel explanation for why some public organizations in the developing world beat the odds and turn into pockets of public sector performance and service delivery while most do not. This book will be of strong interest to students and scholars of political science, sociology, development, organizations, public administration, public policy and management.

Pockets of Effectiveness and the Politics of State-Building and Development in Africa

Pockets of Effectiveness and the Politics of State-Building and Development in Africa PDF Author: Professor of Politics and Development Sam Hickey
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0192864963
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 305

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Book Description
This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-BC-ND 4.0 International License. It is free to read at Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations. Why do certain parts of the state in Africa work so effectively despite operating in difficult governance contexts? How do 'pockets of bureaucratic effectiveness' emerge and become sustained over time? And what does this tell us about the prospects for state-building and development in Africa? Repeated economic and social crises have demanded that development thinkers and policy actors have had to engage with the critical role that states play in delivering development. Pockets of Effectiveness and the Politics of State-building and Development in Africa shows that politics is the driving factor that shapes how well state agencies perform their roles. It deploys a new conceptual framework DS the power domains approach DS to explore the shifting fortunes of key state agencies in five countries DS Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zambia DS over the past three decades. Our original research reveals when, how and why political rulers decide to build effective state agencies and enable them to deliver certain forms of economic development DS often through forming strategic coalitions with senior bureaucrats and with international support DS and also when this support falters and gives way to a politics of survival. Comparative analysis identifies two potential trajectories towards state-building in Africa, each shaped by different configurations of social and political power. The book critiques the role that international development agencies have played in (mis)shaping the state in Africa and suggests a new strategic agenda for building the state capacities required to deliver sustained development at the current juncture. The book closes with critical commentaries from two leading scholars in the field, to help place our work in context and establish the next steps for research and strategy in this increasingly important area of development theory and practice.

State Fragility and State Building in Africa

State Fragility and State Building in Africa PDF Author: Dele Olowu
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319206427
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 251

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Book Description
This book describes the contrast between the strong economic growth and democratization that have occurred in Africa and its stalling political progress. It presents and discusses fragility as the phenomenon that has caused the state to remain weak and faltering and has led to at least one third of the continent’s citizens living in fragile states. Following the examination of the drivers of fragility and the impact of fragility on citizens and neighbouring states, the book discusses capacity building approaches. This part shows how effective states can be built on the African continent, a process that would result in a change from state fragility to state resilience. It is based on lessons learnt from close studies of the nations where the state has been most developed in the region, in Eastern and Southern Africa. The book provides and responds to the most recent and up-to-date information on African development and uses insights of people who have lived and worked in the continent for most of their lives.

Pathways to Development

Pathways to Development PDF Author: Kunal Sen
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198872585
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 193

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Book Description
This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-BC-ND 4.0 International License. It is free to read at Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations. The puzzle of why some countries are wealthier and more developed than others continues to confound students and practitioners of development alike. Whereas earlier grand explanations focused on issues of 'geography' or 'institutions', the second decade of the 21st century finally saw 'politics' arrive centre-stage within international development. This catalyzed a search to answer the key question: under what conditions do governments become committed to and capable of delivering development? How can these processes be conceptualized and researched? And what (if anything) can be done to 'get the politics right' for development? Pathways to Development draws on a major comparative research effort to present new answers to the question of how politics shapes development. It develops and applies a 'power domains' framework across multiple countries in the global South to uncover the political drivers of development across a wide range of policy areas, including economic growth, gender equity, health, and education. Hickey and Sen find that a country's pathway to development is shaped less by institutional type than by the nature of the politics and power relations that underpinned these institutions and which shape how they actually function in practice within different policy domains. Comparative analysis reveals two alternative pathways to developmental outcomes, each of which is specific to particular configurations of power. The first involves a dominant ruling coalition with a strong developmental vision that faces an existential threat from social forces; the second involves competitive settlements within which the short-term vision of ruling elites and the politicization of the public bureaucracy are offset by the presence of strong and coherent coalitions within particular policy domains. Hickey and Sen use these insights to generate innovative, practical suggestions for policy actors seeking to promote inclusive development that are aligned to critical differences in political context.

Rethinking Development Challenges for Public Policy

Rethinking Development Challenges for Public Policy PDF Author: K. Hanson
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0230393276
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 294

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Book Description
Covers topical issues for Africa's development, economics and politics of climate change, water management, public service delivery, and delivering aid. The authors argue that these issues should be included in the post-MDG paradigm and add an important voice to recent moves by academics and practitioners to engage with each other.

State Legitimacy and Development in Africa

State Legitimacy and Development in Africa PDF Author: Pierre Englebert
Publisher: Lynne Rienner Publishers
ISBN: 9781588261311
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
Englebert argues that differences in economic performance both within Africa and across the developing world can be linked to differences in historical state legitimacy.

The Precarious Balance

The Precarious Balance PDF Author: Donald Rothchild
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000304949
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 373

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Book Description
Since independence, the political institutions of many African states have undergone a process of consolidation and subsequent deterioration. Constrained by external economic dependency and an acute scarcity of economic and technical resources, state officials have demonstrated a diminished capacity to regulate their societies. Public policies are agreed upon but ineffectively implemented by the weak institutions of the state. Although scholars have analyzed the various facets of state-building in detail, little systematic attention has been given to the issue of the decline of the state and mechanisms to cope with state ineffectiveness in Africa. This book focuses especially on the character of the postcolonial state in Africa, the nature of and reasons for state deterioration, and the mechanisms and policies for coping with state malfunction. Scholars from Africa, the United States, Europe, and the Middle East combine a broad understanding of African political processes with expertise on specific regions. Their analytic and comparative perspective provides a comprehensive and timely treatment of this vital and heretofore neglected theme in African politics.

The Politics of Social Protection in Eastern and Southern Africa

The Politics of Social Protection in Eastern and Southern Africa PDF Author: Sam Hickey
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198850344
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 309

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Book Description
"A study prepared for the World Institute for Development Economics Research of the United Nations University (UNU-WIDER)"