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It's here! My new working paper on international development policy: 'Why does local agency matter? Enabling the policy space for aid recipients.' Thread 1/n
Foreign aid is often subject to 'agency creep'. Donors start with good intentions for ownership and locally led approaches, but often end up trying to retain control of policy choices. 2/n
Why does local agency matter? We know it helps for development effectiveness - but there are other reasons too. Local agency matters because of the political roles of local leaders and institutions! 3/n
Local leaders need agency and policy space in order to support legitimacy, accountability, authority, responsiveness, contestation and learning. 4/n
The benefits of local agency show why its opposite - donor-driven policy - can be so harmful. Why do donors still do this? 5/n
Donors (implicitly or explicitly) balance the benefits of local agency against their constraints, and also the perceived risks - particularly the idea that local leaders would make 'bad' decisions. 6/n
The problem is, can donors make better ones? Do they know what citizens in aid-receiving countries want? Can they identify 'ideal' policies in different contexts? 7/n
Given donors' constraints and the benefits of local agency, donor decisions are probably not an effective substitute for good local policymaking. 8/n
Some donors do directly support local agency, using the agile methods of the second orthodoxy.
Yet alongside this, harmful practices continue.
How can donors find ways to step back from donor-driven policy, given their constraints and concerns about risk? 9/n
Yet alongside this, harmful practices continue.
How can donors find ways to step back from donor-driven policy, given their constraints and concerns about risk? 9/n
The paper proposes a new way for donors to provide indirect, stable support to local agency. This is called 'enabling the policy space'.
Enabling the policy space allows donors to focus on the process, not the outputs, of good policymaking. 10/n
Enabling the policy space allows donors to focus on the process, not the outputs, of good policymaking. 10/n
It could support local agency by shifting donors away from the role of protagonist.
It could manage risk and achieve results, and it is complementary to the second orthodoxy. 11/n
It could manage risk and achieve results, and it is complementary to the second orthodoxy. 11/n
Enabling the policy space could apply to all aid including #CoronaAid. The paper is a working draft and all feedback is very welcome. I'd be delighted to hear your comments and views! https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/6uew8 /Fin
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