Power and Politics

Lecture given by Duncan Green

Head of Research at Oxfam GB

Notre Dame University, September 2009

Part of a series of From Poverty to Power lectures.

Main messages

Rights and dignity are a crucial part of development

and well-being

Achieving these requires involvement in power and

politics

Ability to exercise rights requires access to essential

services, information and knowledge

Active citizenship, including civil society

organization, is essential to development

Democracy is beneficial on both intrinsic and

instrumental basis

Effective states play a central role in development

And rights are about power - Picture

Development is about rights

Development is about rights

Rights are long-term guarantees that allow right-holders to put demands on duty bearers

Capabilities = rights + ability to exercise them

Involves crucial shift from treating poor people as ‘beneficiaries’ to seeing them as active agents

Rights = lawyers and scholars; development = economists and engineers

And rights are about power

Power within: personal

self-confidence

Power with: collective

power, through

organisation, solidarity,

and joint action

Power to: the capability

to decide actions and

carry them out

Power over: the power of

the strong over the weak

First build the people…

Education, healthcare, water, sanitation and

housing are basic building blocks of a decent life

Education: need improvements in both quality and

quantity (esp. for girls)

Health: maternal mortality as example of gender

and wealth-based inequalities

Control over fertility is both a rights and health

issue

The state must be central to provision

Then ensure access to knowledge and

information

Steady improvements in access to knowledge, e.g.

radio, mobiles, internet

Technology holds enormous potential

But current incentives bias R&D against the needs

of the poor

And intellectual property rules act as a barrier to

technology transfer (pharmaceuticals, biopiracy)

And the right to organise Increasing range and complexity of civil society

organizations

Role of CSOs as catalysts and watchdogs

Intrinsic and instrumental benefits of CSO

involvement

Civil society activism waxes and wanes

Civil society is very involved in decentralization

processes

How change happens:

winning women’s rights in Morocco

How change happens:

winning women’s rights in Morocco

2004: Moroccan parliament approves new Islamic

family code that strengthens women’s rights

Changes driven by Union de l’Action Feminine,

working within Islam, e.g. quoting Koran

Counterattack from conservative activists and

clerics

Women’s movement used insider-outsider tactics -

petitions and marches to fend off conservatives

King formed commission which led to law change

Property rights matter

Property rights matter to poor people

Women often excluded from full rights to property

Many systems of property rights, e.g. customary

law

Role of property rights in development: important

but not a panacea (de Soto) and can have negative

impacts

The importance of land reform to

equality and growth

Democracy works

Spread of democracy was a feature of the 20th century

Democracies

– Produce more predictable long run growth rates

– Produce greater short term stability

– Handle shocks much better

– Deliver more equality

Democracy in many countries is ‘exclusionary’, with flawed party systems and patronage politics

But for most people remains the ‘least worst’ alternative

Democracies in the world

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10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

1001800

1820

1840

1860

1880

1900

1920

1940

1960

1980

2000

Start of Great Depression

End of World War II

Collapse of Berlin Wall

Corruption is often linked to

natural resources

Corruption is both a cause and effect of poverty

Impact on development varies (10% v 100%)

Active citizens can curb corruption, while rich countries

and corporations must also put their houses in order

Natural resources can undermine the social contract

between state and citizen

But some countries have managed natural resource

wealth well (e.g. Botswana, Malaysia)

States are at the heart of development

(and growing in importance)

Nation states play a core role in providing essential services, rule of law, economic stability and upgrading

Weak or absent states are often worse than bad ones, but can be turned around, often after a ‘shock’

Looking at East Asian tigers, successful states:– Govern for the future– Promote growth – Start with equity – Integrate with the global economy, but discriminate – Guarantee health and education for all

Taxation is central to the citizen-state relationship

Globalization and orthodoxy make building effective states harder

Dilemma: are Effective States

compatible with Active Citizens?

Dilemma: are Effective States

compatible with Active Citizens?

Social Pacts between citizens and states are at heart of many development success stories (eg Scandinavia, Chile)

But selection bias means we don’t think about states that are now developed

In early stages many nation builders are undemocratic (e.g. East Asia, Germany)

But autocrats often fail and society now is less tolerant of ‘benevolent dictators’

We need active citizens to exercise rights, effective states for growth and services. Task is to combine them as quickly as possible in a country’s development.

Further Reading on the Blog

Fragile States and Paul Collier’s latest book, ‘War,

Guns and Votes’,

http://www.oxfamblogs.org/fp2p/?p=326

Taxation and State-Building,

http://www.oxfamblogs.org/fp2p/?p=235

How can effective states emerge in Africa?

http://www.oxfamblogs.org/fp2p/?p=163

Fixing Failed States (book review),

http://www.oxfamblogs.org/fp2p/?p=47

Further Reading

From Poverty to Power, Part 2

Geoff Mulgan, Good and Bad Power, 2006

Amartya Sen, Development as Freedom, 1999

Hernando de Soto, the Mystery of Capital, 2001

Matthew Lockwood, The State They’re In, 2005

Publish What You Pay US is on

http://www.publishwhatyoupayusa.org/templates/S

ystem/default.asp?id=39924