Understanding the politics of development: Context, Capacity and Coalitions

Abstract

This presentation provides an overview of the findings of the Effective States and Inclusive Development Research Centre (ESID) a partnership of global universities and research institutes directed from the University of Manchester (www.effective-states.org). It reviews earlier thinking about the politics of development and then introduces ESID’s extended political settlements analytical framework. Ghana has been a major country partner for ESID research, conducted during 2012-2018. Briefly, it presents a number of key findings and concludes with an examination of the three factors that ESID considers essential for getting ‘development to work’: context, capacity and coalitions. Three forms of coalitions (ruling/policy/delivery) are especially important for fostering development but, their outcomes are shaped by context and state capacity. Here, and in contrast to the ‘good governance’ agenda, we find that capacity does not simply evolve from democratic practices but is often associated with more authoritarian regimes with long-term visions of development. See the ESID website for more details – and open access to the many books that ESID has published with Oxford University Press and others.