Thinking about developmental states in Africa

Mkandawire, Thandika

doi:10.1093/cje/25.3.289

Cited by 522 publications

(335 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Italy or the U.S. in the 19th century), it seems reasonable to assume that democratic institutions, even if rooted in patrimonial authority, can indeed survive in such favorable conditions. This assumption becomes even more credible if we take seriously the perspectives of Pitcher et al (2009), Mkandawire (2001, Médard (2000) and others that patrimonialism constitutes not only a mechanism of predation, but also a potential force for meaningful regulation and progress. Our challenge then, is not solely to understand if neopatrimonial democratic rule reflects a lesser and more vulnerable form of democracy, though that is certainly important, but to better understand how configurations of formal democratic institutions interact with patrimonial authority to produce different regime outcomes.…”

Section: Neopatrimonial Democracy?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Neopatrimonialism and Democracy: An Empirical Investigation of Africa's Political Regimes

Sigman

Lindberg

2017

SSRN Journal

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Gothenburg. We performed simulations and other computational tasks using resources provided by the Notre Dame Center for Research Computing (CRC) through the High Performance Computing section and the Swedish National Infrastructure for Computing (SNIC) at the National Supercomputer Centre in Sweden, SNIC 2016/1-382 and 2017/1-68. We specifically acknowledge the assistance of In-Saeng Suh at CRC and Johan Raber at SNIC in facilitating our use of their respective systems. The indices of neopatrimonialism used in this paper will be available for public use in V-Dem's v8 dataset, set to be released in April 2018 at www.v-dem.net. AbstractOne of the most common adjectives used to describe democracy in sub-Saharan Africa is "neopatrimonial." Characterized by strong executives, pervasive clientelism and use of state resources for political legitimation (Bratton and van de Walle 1997), neopatrimonial democracy has been (controversially) associated with a range of (mostly undesirable) social, political and economic outcomes. This paper offers an empirical assessment of neopatrimonialism in Africa's political regimes. We show that, contrary to conventional wisdom, African regimes vary both quantitatively and qualitatively in their embodiment of neopatrimonial rule. Moreover, we find no clear evidence indicating that neopatrimonialism necessarily impedes the advancement or survival of democracy.

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Section: Neopatrimonial Democracy?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Neopatrimonialism and Democracy: An Empirical Investigation of Africa's Political Regimes

Sigman

Lindberg

2017

SSRN Journal

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“…As an analytical concept, the "developmental state" has been described variously as one that places economic development at the top of government policy priorities and which is able to design effective instruments to promote such a goal (see Mkandawire 2001 ;UNECA 2013a ). Some of the instruments often referred to include the establishment of well-functioning formal institutions, weaving of formal and informal networks of collaboration among citizens and government officials and the utilisation of new opportunities for trade and profi table production (see Fakir 2007 ;UNECA 2013b ).…”

Section: Theoretical Underpinnings Of a Developmental Statementioning

confidence: 99%

Free-Market Economics and Developmental Statism as Political Paradigms: Implications for Water Governance Theory and Practice in Developing Countries

Chikozho

Mapedza²

2016

Freshwater Governance for the 21st Century

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Key actors in various developing countries are often confronted by diffi cult choices when it comes to the selection and deployment of appropriate water governance regimes taking into account national socio-economic and political realities. Indeed, scholars and practitioners alike continue to grapple with the need to create the optimum water-supply and allocation decision-making space applicable to specifi c developing countries. This chapter uses case studies to explore the utility of free-market economics and developmental statism as two major paradigms that have emerged in the face of enduring questions about how best to govern watersupply systems in developing countries. The chapter establishes that increasing pressure on available natural resources may have already rendered obsolete some of the water-supply systems and governance regimes that have served human societies very well for many decades. It is also clear that national water-supply governance paradigms tend to change in tandem with emerging national development theoretical frameworks and priorities. Each nation or local government feels compelled to adopt a particular framework to fulfi l its needs taking into account the broader global water policy context. While many developing countries have adopted water policy prescriptions from the international arena, national and local socio-economic and political realities ultimately determine what works and what does not work on the ground. Local realities have also helped to inform how nation-states domesticate global concepts for their local purposes. Thus, the choice between free-market approaches and developmental state-oriented approaches is never simple, and hybrid models are often deployed. Indeed, the majority of countries and municipalities rely on a mix of market economics and developmental statism to make their water governance regimes more realistic and workable on the ground.

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“…However, many have suggested that they were not appropriate in an African context, arguments supported by the largely unimpressive results of structural adjustment programmes. In particular, it has been argued that the prescribed policies demanded greater institutional capacity than was possessed by many poor countries at that time (Mkandawire 2001;Rodrik 2007). Critics have argued that European countries did not possess such institutional capacity when they themselves were developing, and therefore such recommendations set up unfair expectations (Chang 2002).…”

Section: Applying the Experience Of Europe To Africa Is Nothing New mentioning

confidence: 99%

Economic Development in Africa and Europe: Reciprocal Comparisons

Broadberry¹,

Gardner

2015

RHE / JILAEH

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Recent advances in historical national accounting have allowed for global comparisons of GDP per capita across space and time. Critics have argued that GDP per capita fails to capture adequately the multi-dimensional nature of welfare, and have developed alternative measures such as the human development index. Whilst recognising that these wider indicators provide an appropriate way of assessing levels of welfare, we argue that GDP per capita remains a more appropriate measure for assessing development potential, focussing on production possibilities and the sustainability of consumption. Twentieth-century Africa and pre-industrial Europe are used to show how such data can guide reciprocal comparisons to provide insights into the process of development on both continents.

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Thinking about developmental states in Africa

Cited by 522 publications

References 16 publications

Neopatrimonialism and Democracy: An Empirical Investigation of Africa's Political Regimes

Neopatrimonialism and Democracy: An Empirical Investigation of Africa's Political Regimes

Free-Market Economics and Developmental Statism as Political Paradigms: Implications for Water Governance Theory and Practice in Developing Countries

Economic Development in Africa and Europe: Reciprocal Comparisons

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