Social Contracts for Development: Bargaining, Contention, and Social Inclusion in Sub-Saharan Africa (Africa Development Forum)

Santos, Indhira; Harborne, Bernard; Cloutier, Mathieu; Isser, Deborah; Watts, Michael

ISBN 10: 146481662X / ISBN 13: 9781464816628

Published by The World Bank, 2022

About this Item

Seller Inventory # I-9781464816628

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Social Contracts for Development: Bargaining, Contention, and Social Inclusion in Sub-Saharan Africa (Africa Development Forum)
• Publisher: The World Bank
• Publication Date: 2022
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 146481662X
• ISBN 13: 9781464816628
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

Sub-Saharan Africa has achieved significant gains in reducing the levels of extreme poverty in recent decades. Yet, the region continues to experience challenges across the development indicators, including energy access, literacy, delivery of services and goods, and jobs skills, as well as low levels of foreign direct investment. Exacerbating the difficulties faced by many countries are the sequelae of conflict, such as internal displacement and refugee migration. Social Contracts for Development: Bargaining, Contention, and Social Inclusion in Sub-Saharan Africa builds on recent attention to the real-life social and political economy factors that underlie the power dynamic and determine the selection and implementation of policies. Applying a social contract approach to development policy, the authors provide a framework and proposals on how to measure such a framework to strengthen policy and operational engagements in the region. The key message is that Africa’s progress toward shared prosperity requires looking beyond technical policies to understand how the power dynamics and citizen-state relations shape the menu of implementable reforms. A social contract lens can help diagnose constraints, explain outbreaks of unrest, and identify opportunities for improving outcomes.

About the Author

The World Bank came into formal existence in 1945 following the international ratification of the Bretton Woods agreements. It is a vital source of financial and technical assistance to developing countries around the world. The organization's activities are focused on education, health, agriculture and rural development, environmental protection, establishing and enforcing regulations, infrastructure development, governance and legal institutions development. The World Bank is made up of two unique development institutions owned by its 185 Member Countries. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) focuses on middle income and creditworthy poor countries and the International Development Association (IDA), which focuses on the poorest countries in the world.