"The Anti-Politics of Development: Donor Agencies and the Political Economy of Governance".

Article by Wil Hout on Aid and Politial Economy of Governance

The April 2012 issue of the Third World Quarterly features an article by Wil Hout entitled "The Anti-Politics of Development: Donor Agencies and the Political Economy of Governance".

Abstract

The 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.

1. In the first place, the agencies' professional outlook leads them to see development in primarily technical terms.
2. In the second place, the nature of incentives for development professionals leads them to resist the implementation of political economy analyses.

About the author

 Wil Hout is Professor at ISS

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Reference: Third World Quarterly 33(3): 405-22, DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2012.657474