In many discussions of nations' development, we often focus on their economic and social development. Is it becoming wealthier? Is its society modernizing? Is it becoming more technologically sophisticated? Are social outcomes improving for the broad mass of the public? The process of development policy implementation, however, is always and inevitably political. Put simply, regime type matters when it comes to deciding on a course of development to follow. Further, political institutions matter. When a government's institutional capacity is low, the chances of success severely decline, regardless of the merits of the development plan. In The Oxford Handbook of the Politics of Development, two of America's leading political scientists on the issue, Carol Lancaster and Nicolas van de Walle, have assembled an international cast of leading scholars to craft a broad, state-of-the-art work on this vitally important topic. This volume is divided into five sections: major theories of the politics of development, organized historically (e.g. modernization theory, dependency theory, the Washington consensus of 'policies without politics,' etc.); key domestic factors and variables; key international factors and variables; political systems and structures; and geographical perspectives, inclusive of regional dynamics. A comprehensive and cross-regional examination on key issues of political development, this Handbook not only provides an authoritative synthesis of past scholarship, but also sets the agenda for future research in this discipline.

The Oxford Handbook of the Politics of Development (Oxford Handbooks)

Business & Money

Lancaster, Carol

Van de Walle, Nicolas

Economics

Oxford University Press

African Economies and the Politics of Permanent Crisis, 1979–1999 (Political Economy of Institutions and Decisions)

This book explains why African countries have remained mired in a disastrous economic crisis since the late 1970s. It shows that dynamics internal to African state structures largely explain this failure to overcome economic difficulties rather than external pressures on these same structures as is often argued. Far from being prevented from undertaking reforms by societal interest and pressure groups, clientelism within the state elite, ideological factors and low state capacity have resulted in some limited reform, but much prevarication and manipulation of the reform process, by governments that do not really believe that reform will be effective.

Cambridge University Press

Book by Bienen, Henry, van de Walle, Nicolas

Of Time and Power: Leadership Duration in the Modern World

Politics & Social Sciences

Bienen, Henry S.

Politics & Government

Stanford University Press

Democratic transitions in the early 1990s introduced a sea change in Sub-Saharan African politics. Between 1990 and 2015, several hundred competitive legislative and presidential elections were held in all but a handful of the region's countries. This book is the first comprehensive comparative analysis of the key issues, actors, and trends in these elections over the last quarter century. The book asks: what motivates African citizens to vote? What issues do candidates campaign on? How has the turn to regular elections promoted greater democracy? Has regular electoral competition made a difference for the welfare of citizens? The authors argue that regular elections have both caused significant changes in African politics and been influenced in turn by a rapidly changing continent - even if few of the political systems that now convene elections can be considered democratic, and even if many old features of African politics persist.

Electoral Politics in Africa since 1990: Continuity in Change

Bleck, Jaimie

This volume reports on the findings of an international research project on aid effectiveness in Africa. Field studies were conducted in Botswana, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Senegal, Tanzania and Zambia and the findings show that Africa’s economic crisis has had a devastating effect on aid effectiveness and that too often donors dominate aid decisions, leaving governments without any sense of ownership over their own development efforts. The conclusion is that aid to Africa will have to develop more effective public institutions that fully take charge of the development process.

Foreign Aid in Africa: Learning from Country Experiences

Nordic Africa Institute

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Van de Walle, Nicolas. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Van de Walle, Nicolas

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Van de Walle, Nicolas. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Oxford Handbook of the Politics of Development (Oxford Handbooks)

African Economies and the Politics of Permanent Crisis, 1979–1999 (Political Economy of Institutions and Decisions)

African Economies and the Politics of Permanent Crisis, 1979–1999 (Political Economy of Institutions and Decisions)

Of Time and Power: Leadership Duration in the Modern World

Electoral Politics in Africa since 1990: Continuity in Change

Foreign Aid in Africa: Learning from Country Experiences