THE AFRICAN CRISIS: THE FUTURE OF THE DEVELOPMENTAL STATE PIA 2574

Public Sector Reform and SARs

Author of the Week- Robert Bates Markets and States in Tropical Africa Important influence on rational choice theory THESIS- Need to consider markets and how they can be distorted by state decisions in terms of producers and prices, consumer goods and factors of production

Robert H. Bates is Eaton Professor of the Science of Government in the Departments of Government and African and African American Studies, Harvard University  Born: c  A Major Influence on Public Policy Reforms

Robert Bates  Government policy subsidizes urban dwellers  Agricultural production used (or misused) to fund urban capital accumulation and/or capital flight  The state, in effect taxes farmers for state sponsored “crony capitalism” and excessive access “rents”

Nigerian Cartoon, 2007

Robert Bates  The result is the depression of prices for cash crops  The key to understanding the economic system in Africa is in historical patterns of prices depression that goes back to the colonial period.  Monsopsonies- use of state agencies (often called marketing boards) to control marketing and sales of agricultural products.

Robert Bates  The state distorts agricultural marketing structures to divert gains to be had from commercial agriculture to other interest groups (the organizational bourgeoisie) employed in the state and in state controlled industries.  Result: the “Exit Option” for rural dwellers  Result- Structural Adjustment

Colonial Marketing Boards

Structural Adjustment: The Response to Bates  The problem of debt  Stabilization vs. Conditionality  Public Sector Reform- Policy Reform  Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC)

Debt as a problem- Issues:  The concepts of market and productivity  International systemic hegemony  International competition within markets  Complementarities and non-flexible prices

Policy Reduction and Growth Facility/ Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper

Technical Assistance  Bias to international trade  Back to the future- get the LDC economy back to the 1950s  Dependent development- is it dependent and is it development

An African Viewpoint of Poverty Assistance

The Current State of Financial Management 1. IMF Stabilization- key: currency reform, auctions and trade liberalization 2. World Bank and UNDP "Management"- Opposing views to SAPs 3. Absence of recurrent budgets

Stabilization  Currency Auctions Food prices meet market conditions Trade Liberalization Currency deregulation-auction Bridging Loans

The Current State of Financial Management 4. Activity (economy) driven by technical assistance projects - the only game in town 5. Loans and grants- major source of international involvement 6. Conditionality-

Structural Adjustment Loans and Grants a. Bridging Loans b. Sectoral Loans and Grants c. Project Grants d. International Requirements vs. domestic political response

The International Regime  IMF vs. World Bank vs. Bilateral Donors vs. UNDP  Terms: a. Neo-Orthodoxy b. heterodoxy c. Stabilization and the IMF d. Conditionality- World Bank e. The Use of social funds

Conditionality: The Big Three a. privatization b. Civil Service reform c. Reduction in the size of government

South African Cartoon Attacking PSRs

Privatization of the economy a. divestiture b. contracting out c. liquidation d. sell off public private partnership shares

"Privatization fights laziness, privatization fights poverty, privatization fights smuggling, and privatization fights unemployment.“ Kigali, Rwanda

Problem: Privatization of the bureaucracy a. Individuals work with investments and the service/commercial sector b. Departments sell their services- eg. statistics in Zaire/DRC c. Sub-economic salaries- offices and telephones- buying soap and selling chickens and eggs

Solution: Privatization of the bureaucracy d. International conditions for "good" bureaucrats, eg. World Bank in Uganda- special salaries for those on contract with the project e. Overall Goal: Return to the recurrent budgeting process of the 1950s. End debt and deficits

IGEMBE KENYA

Discussion  What are the Major Issues Effecting African Development?

Is This Fair?

Books for the Week  Michela Wrong, In The Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz (New York: Harper Collins, 2002).

Books of the Week  Mark Bowden, Blackhawk Down (New York: Penguin, 2000).

Books of The Week  Gillian Slovo, Every Secret Thing (London: Virago, 2009)

“Ag Pleez Daddy” (1961)  Gillian Slovo uses this song to demonstrate the distance between her childhood and her parents’ fight against apartheid. She, along with Robyn Slovo and Shawn Slovo would sing the song incessently driving with their parents Ruth First and Joe Slovo around Johannesburg.  “Censored version”  

Questions  What argument does each of our authors make about the nature of the African crisis? Critique our authors.  What picture of northern influence over African states does the reading give us? Critique our authors.  What picture of African influence over structural adjustment does the reading give us? Critique each of our authors.

More Questions  Defend the Western Style multi-party system of government. Critique military regimes.  Defend military intervention in politics. Critique one party regimes.  Assess the positive and negative impact of what Picard calls "the administrative State."

And More  What argument does each of our authors make about the nature of the African crisis? Critique our authors.  What picture does northern infuluence over African states does the reading give us?  What picture of African infuence over structural adjustment does the reading give us?  What is the best model of development for Africa? Which comes first? Economic Development or Political Development?

And Finally?  What argument does each of our authors make about the nature of colonialism? What picture of European influence over Africa does the reading give us? What major similarities and differences do you see between and among our authors.  What picture of African resistance and strength does the reading give us? Critique each of our authors our authors. Are there regional differences in Africa with regard to colonialism?  How much of "traditional" Africa survived in terms of social, economic and political patterns? Critique our readings on this issue.

Final Exam Questions  See Picard Website