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The Anti-Politics of Development: donor agencies and the political economy of governance

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  • Wil Hout

Abstract

This article discusses the attempt undertaken by several development aid agencies since the turn of the century to integrate political economy assessments into their decision making on development assistance. The article discusses three such attempts: the Drivers of Change adopted by the UK's Department for International Development, the Strategic Governance and Corruption Analysis (sgaca) developed by the Dutch Directorate General for International Cooperation and the new thinking on political economy analysis, policy reform and political risk advanced by the World Bank. On the basis of a political-economic interpretation of development agencies, two main factors are found to hinder the successful application of political economy assessment. In the first place, the agencies' professional outlook leads them to see development in primarily technical terms. In the second place, the nature of incentives for development professionals leads them to resist the implementation of political economy analyses.

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  • Wil Hout, 2012. "The Anti-Politics of Development: donor agencies and the political economy of governance," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(3), pages 405-422.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:ctwqxx:v:33:y:2012:i:3:p:405-422
    DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2012.657474
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    Cited by:

    1. Gautier, Lara & Tosun, Jale & De Allegri, Manuela & Ridde, Valéry, 2018. "How do diffusion entrepreneurs spread policies? Insights from performance-based financing in Sub-Saharan Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 160-175.
    2. Carlitz, Ruth D. & Ziaja, Sebastian, 2021. "Dissecting aid fragmentation: Development goals and levels of analysis," IDOS Discussion Papers 17/2021, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).
    3. Stephen Sherlock, 2020. "Alliances of Instrumental Advantage: Supporting Women’s Agency in Civil Society Organisations in Indonesia," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(4), pages 147-156.
    4. Del Biondo, Karen, 2015. "Donor Interests or Developmental Performance? Explaining Sanctions in EU Democracy Promotion in sub-Saharan Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 74-84.
    5. Yanguas, Pablo & Hulme, David, 2015. "Barriers to Political Analysis in Aid Bureaucracies: From Principle to Practice in DFID and the World Bank," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 209-219.
    6. Mikaela Luttrell-Rowland & Sophia Rhee & Whitney Okujagu, 2023. "Dominant Development Indexes’ Construction of Gender and Challenges for Recognizing Everyday Activism for Peace and Security," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 23(2), pages 152-168, April.
    7. Venugopal, Rajesh, 2018. "Ineptitude, ignorance, or intent: The social construction of failure in development," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 238-247.
    8. Wil Hout & Lydeke Schakel, 2014. "SGACA: The Rise and Paradoxical Demise of a Political-Economy Instrument," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 32(5), pages 611-630, September.

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