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Taking ideas seriously within political settlements analysis

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  • Tom Lavers

Abstract

Recent work on the politics of development and, in particular, the role of political settlements in shaping development outcomes has provided important insights into the types of power relations that can contribute to developmental successes and failures. However, important questions remain regarding how political settlements are formed and maintained over time, as well as the extent to which political settlements determine particular policy choices in particular policy domains. This paper considers the role that ideas can play in studying the politics of development and the extent to which an analytical focus on ideas might address some of these gaps. Work on political settlements has, for the most part, emphasised explanations based on material interests, paying little to no attention to the causal role of ideas. This paper first examines the compatibility between Khan’s political settlements framework and theoretical work on ideas, arguing that taking ideas seriously requires questioning some of the core ontological assumptions underpinning the political settlements framework. The paper then proposes an adapted framework that seeks to respond to this challenge and, drawing on three of ESID’s comparative projects, highlights how a focus on ideas can deepen our understanding of the dynamics within particular political settlements and policy domains.

Suggested Citation

  • Tom Lavers, 2018. "Taking ideas seriously within political settlements analysis," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series esid-095-18, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    • Handle: RePEc:bwp:bwppap:esid-095-18
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Douglass C. North, 1991. "Institutions," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 5(1), pages 97-112, Winter.
    2. North, Douglass C. & Wallis, John Joseph & Webb, Steven B. & Weingast, Barry R., 2007. "Limited access orders in the developing world :a new approach to the problems of development," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4359, The World Bank.
    3. North,Douglass C. & Wallis,John Joseph & Weingast,Barry R., 2013. "Violence and Social Orders," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107646995.
    4. Arthur T. Denzau & Douglass C. North, 1994. "Shared Mental Models: Ideologies and Institutions," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(1), pages 3-31, February.
    5. Hazel Gray, 2016. "Access Orders and the ‘New’ New Institutional Economics of Development," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 47(1), pages 51-75, January.
    6. Sen, Kunal, 2013. "The Political Dynamics of Economic Growth," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 71-86.
    7. Gray, Hazel, 2016. "Access orders and the 'new' new institutional economics of development," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 62142, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    8. Hall, Peter A. & Taylor, Rosemary C. R., 1996. "Political science and the three new institutionalisms," MPIfG Discussion Paper 96/6, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
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    Cited by:

    1. Pritish Behuria, 2025. "Donors and Disciplines Meet the Political Economy of Development: The Contested Evolution of Political Settlements Analysis," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 25(2), pages 79-102, April.
    2. Arhin, Gerald Emmanuel, 2024. "Investigating the differential politics of competitive bidding in Ghana’s hydrocarbon and mining industries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    3. Sam Hickey, 2019. "The politics of state capacity and development in Africa - Reframing and researching ‘pockets of effectiveness’," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series esid-117-19, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    4. Chinsinga, Blessings & Weldeghebrael, Ezana Haddis & Kelsall, Tim & Schulz, Nicolai & Williams, Timothy P., 2022. "Using political settlements analysis to explain poverty trends in Ethiopia, Malawi, Rwanda and Tanzania," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).

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