The Politics of Successful Governance Reforms

This book examines the factors that give rise to successful governance reforms in developing countries, focusing on the importance of political commitment, supportive institutions, and the timing of reforms. It reviews the lessons arising from the design and implementation of successful governance reforms in Brazil, India, Uganda and other parts of Africa through comparative analysis of experience with public financial management, anti-corruption, civil service reform, and innovations in service delivery.

The contributors suggest that three factors are critical in explaining positive outcomes:

• strong, consistent commitment from politicians to initiate and sustain reforms;
• a high level of technical capacity and some degree of insulation from societal interests, at least in the early phases, for designing and managing reforms;
• incremental approaches with cumulative benefits are more likely to produce sustainable results.

Explicit attention to the political feasibility of reform, identifying and building incentives for reform, and a more gradual and piecemeal approach are all integral to the success of future governance reforms.

Mark Robinson is a political sociologist and a Fellow in the governance team at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex.