Development Aid Confronts Politics: The Almost Revolution

Thomas Carothers, Diane de Gramont

Brookings Institution Press, Apr 1, 2013 - Political Science - 360 pages

A new lens on development is changing the world of international aid. The overdue recognition that development in all sectors is an inherently political process is driving aid providers to try to learn how to think and act politically.

Major donors are pursuing explicitly political goals alongside their traditional socioeconomic aims and introducing more politically informed methods throughout their work. Yet these changes face an array of external and internal obstacles, from heightened sensitivity on the part of many aid-receiving governments about foreign political interventionism to inflexible aid delivery mechanisms and entrenched technocratic preferences within many aid organizations.

This pathbreaking book assesses the progress and pitfalls of the attempted politics revolution in development aid and charts a constructive way forward.

Contents:

Introduction

1. The New Politics Agenda

The Original Framework: 1960s-1980s

2. Apolitical Roots

Breaking the Political Taboo: 1990s-2000s

3. The Door Opens to Politics

4. Advancing Political Goals

5. Toward Politically Informed Methods

The Way Forward

6. Politically Smart Development Aid

7. The Unresolved Debate on Political Goals

8. The Integration Frontier

Conclusion

9. The Long Road to Politics

Contents

• The New Politics Agenda: 3
• 1960s1980s: 19
• Apolitical Roots: 21
• 1990s2000s: 53
• The Door Opens to Politics: 55
• Advancing Political Goals: 89
• Toward Politically Informed Methods: 125
• The Way Forward: 155
• Politically Smart Development Aid?: 157
• The Unresolved Debate on Political Goals: 195
• The Integration Frontier: 225
• Conclusion: 253
• The Long Road to Politics: 255
• Notes: 285
• Bibliography: 319
• Index: 335
• About the Authors: 347
• Back Cover: 351

About the author

Thomas Carothers is vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and director of Carnegie's Democracy and Rule of Law Program. A leading authority on international support for democracy and governance, he is the author of numerous critically acclaimed books and articles on the topic. Diane de Gramont, a Clarendon Scholar at Oxford University, was previously a researcher in the Democracy and Rule of Law Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Development Aid Confronts Politics: The Almost Revolution; Book collections on Project MUSE; EBSCO ebook academic collection; Economia y estadistica; UPCC book collections on Project MUSE.: Political Science and Policy Studies Supplement
• Authors: Thomas Carothers, Diane de Gramont
• Publisher: Brookings Institution Press, 2013
• ISBN: 0870034022, 9780870034022
• Length: 360 pages
• Subjects: Political Science / International Relations / General; Political Science / Political Process / General; Political Science / Political Process / Leadership; Political Science / Public Policy / Economic Policy