Development - What development?
“... from an aid policy towards a development policy” is
the appealing subtitle of the Spanish Master Plan for International Development
2005-08. Even if this sound like a good idea beyond the proliferation
of projects, the underlying concept and the respective instruments are
still to be defined.
What, then, is development? One-dimensional definitions, taking economic
growth as single variable, have been overcome. With the presentation of
the 1990 UNDP Development Report, social factors have been included.
Today, the discussion moves between a purist definition of reduction
of absolute poverty – measured in one or two dollars per day –
and a broader definition that includes capabilities, societal participation,
social inclusion, inequalities und , ultimately, dignity.
However, one of the substantial dimensions of development is economic
growth. But: What policies and institutions foster growth and which one
generate poverty and inequalities? The answer of the Spanish Master Plan
is the alignment with the recipient countries policies and the not further
specified commitment to improve monitoring and evaluation.
This articles argues that the root cause of the economic underdevelopment
lays in the defunct state in the recipient countries and in the subsequent
bad policies. This is why alignment does not seem a viable option.
Frequently, development studies have been confused with consultancies
for aid. At the same time, regional studies have produced knowledge of
little use to policy makers. This article established a bridge between
a historically-informed concept of development – as institutionalisation
of rights and mechanisms of power sharing – and its application
in development practice. Strengthening effective and legitimate states
and the successive broadening of rights as a result of the interplay between
social mobilisation and institutional reform seems an appropriate paradigm
of development.
We have opted to publish this article in the foroAOD because it summarises
de academic debate of the last years on what policies and institutions
can possibly promote economic growth. This debate is necessary to have
a solid analytical framework in order to equip the tool case of the Spanish
Development Cooperation.
Pablo Bandeira Greño: Institutions, economic development and aid
La Necesidad de Potenciar Estados Profesionales y De Derecho y el Capital Político de los Pobres