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What's politics got to do with it?: Why donors find it so hard to come to terms with politics, and why this matters

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  • Sue Unsworth

    (University of Sussex, London, UK)

Abstract

Donors are paying more attention to politics, and some are applying political analysis to specific aspects of development practice. But this is having little influence on mainstream debates about aid, and donors are not questioning their implicit assumptions about how development happens. There are powerful intellectual and institutional barriers to recognising that politics is central to the whole development process. This matters because, without a change in their mental models, donors will not invest in understanding local political dynamics, or give priority to strategically important but difficult issues. If they did so they would discover some very practical opportunities for progress. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Suggested Citation

  • Sue Unsworth, 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, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(6), pages 883-894.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:jintdv:v:21:y:2009:i:6:p:883-894
    DOI: 10.1002/jid.1625
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Mick Moore & Sue Unsworth, 2006. "Britain's New White Paper: Making Governance Work for the Poor," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 24(6), pages 707-715, November.
    2. Moore, Mick, 2007. "How Does Taxation Affect the Quality of Governance?," Working Papers 12795, Institute of Development Studies, International Centre for Tax and Development.
    3. Bano, Masooda, 2008. "Dangerous Correlations: Aid's Impact on NGOs' Performance and Ability to Mobilize Members in Pakistan," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(11), pages 2297-2313, November.
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    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Making bureaucracies work
      by Terence Wood in Development Policy Blog on 2013-01-10 02:00:36

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    Cited by:

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    2. Simon O'Meally, 2014. "The Contradictions of Pro-poor Participation and Empowerment: The World Bank in East Africa," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 45(6), pages 1248-1283, November.
    3. repec:unu:wpaper:wp2012-15 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Andrew Rosser & Sharna Bremner, 2013. "The World Bank's Health Projects in Timor-Leste: the Political Economy of Effective Aid," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2013-095, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    5. Niheer Dasandi & Ed Laws & Heather Marquette & Mark Robinson, 2019. "What Does the Evidence Tell Us about ‘Thinking and Working Politically’ in Development Assistance?," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(2), pages 155-168.
    6. Rahman, Md Saifur & Miah, Sohag & Giessen, Lukas, 2018. "A new model of development coalition building: USAID achieving legitimate access and dominant information in Bangladesh’s forest policy," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 248-261.
    7. Hackenesch, Christine, 2015. "It’s Domestic Politics, Stupid! EU Democracy Promotion Strategies Meet African Dominant Party Regimes," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 85-96.
    8. Bremner, Sharna & Rosser, Andrew, 2013. "The World Bank's Health Projects in Timor-Leste : the Political Economy of Effective Aid," WIDER Working Paper Series 095, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    9. Linnea Cecilia Mills, 2017. "Catching the ‘big fish’: The (ab)use of corruption-related prosecutions across sub-Saharan Africa," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 35, pages 160-177, October.
    10. Laura Routley & David Hulme, 2013. "Donors, development agencies and the use of political economic analysis: getting to grips with the politics of development?," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series esid-019-13, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    11. Emmanuel Kumi & James Copestake, 2022. "Friend or Patron? Social Relations Across the National NGO–Donor Divide in Ghana," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 34(1), pages 343-366, February.
    12. Jennifer Swift-Morgan, 2014. "Confronting the Informal in Good Governance: The Case of Decentralised Education-System Reform in Guinea," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 32(4), pages 399-425, July.
    13. 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.
    14. Andrew McNee, 2012. "Rethinking Health Sector Wide Approaches through the lens of Aid Effectiveness," Development Policy Centre Discussion Papers 1214, Development Policy Centre, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University.
    15. James Copestake & Richard Williams, 2014. "Political-Economy Analysis, Aid Effectiveness and the Art of Development Management," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 32(1), pages 133-153, January.
    16. Niheer Dasandi & Edward Laws & Heather Marquette & Mark Robinson, 2019. "What does the evidence tell us about 'thinking and working politically' in development assistance?," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2019-12, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    17. Danielle Resnick, 2012. "Foreign Aid in Africa: Tracing Channels of Influence on Democratic Transitions and Consolidation," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2012-015, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    18. 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.
    19. Rahman, Md Saifur & Giessen, Lukas, 2017. "Formal and Informal Interests of Donors to Allocate Aid: Spending Patterns of USAID, GIZ, and EU Forest Development Policy in Bangladesh," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 250-267.
    20. Resnick, Danielle, 2012. "Foreign Aid in Africa: Tracing Channels of Influence on Democratic Transitions and Consolidation," WIDER Working Paper Series 015, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    21. Nathalie Holvoet & Liesbeth Inberg, 2016. "Do Gender Targets and Gender Working Groups Contribute to More Gender-Sensitive Budget Support? Evidence from 14 Sub-Saharan African Countries," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 28(5), pages 875-892, November.
    22. Duncan Leitch, 2019. "Leaving like an Englishman: Assisting institutional reform in post‐communist Ukraine," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 37(1), pages 111-128, January.
    23. Brett, Edwin, 2020. "The development and challenges of aid relationships: where is international aid heading?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 106557, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    24. E. A. Brett, 2020. "The Development and Challenges of Aid Relationships: Where Is International Aid Heading?," CESifo Forum, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 21(02), pages 22-26, July.
    25. Laura Routley, 2012. "Developmental states: a review of the literature," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series esid-003-12, GDI, The University of Manchester.

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