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Part of a series of lectures by Duncan Green, Head of Research at Oxfam GB on key issues raised in his book From Poverty to Power.
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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
0
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