What can be done differently? ODI/Plan workshop on Understanding the politics of service delivery, Session 3 David Booth 16 Jan 2012

A layered approach to doing things differently? Starting to build an enabling context for different organisation Organising differently to enable thinking differently Thinking differently about operational design

Thinking differently about operational design Best-practice reforms; Good governance Good-fit reforms; Building on what works Stereotypes derived from a shallow reading of North Atlantic development – false universalism (e.g. civil society) Adaptation of what has proven effective in the same or comparable contexts, using universal analytical techniques Simple bargaining models of state- society relations Complex models allowing for collective-action problems and non- zero-sum games Solutions in search of problemsFacilitating local problem-solving New Public ManagementContext-sensitive public management Rights-Based Approach (rights claims as necessary and sufficient for rights realisation) Discovering the institutional arrangements that work best for realisation of rights in context

Organising differently to enable thinking differently Obviously: make contextual/PE analysis a basic working method; but what else? Get rid of organisational divisions (silos) and vested interests based on those North Atlantic stereotypes; more genuine bridging Grasp theories of change with both hands as a design and learning tool – reward learning and creation of learning opportunities Remove incentives to promise too much, with too much certainty Fund more arms length working on institutional issues, but not normally in the shape of a basket fund for demand side work by NGOs Do more to stimulate intellectual debate in countries, rely less on buying compliance

Starting to build an enabling context for different organisation Needed: Either a decision to treat development assistance like monetary policy – too important to be subject to direct political control Or a climate of voter and politician opinion in the North which enables development agencies to become genuine learning organisations If the second: Official organisations: take public education seriously, in development just as in health or citizenship, and: Build a firewall between this activity and political defence of the budget Dont contract it out to bodies that understand less than you do or have vested interests International NGOs: build a firewall between public development education efforts and fund-raising campaigns A new approach to campaigning led by education

The Africa Power and Politics Programme is a consortium research programme funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and Irish Aid for the benefit of developing countries.