Beyond Structural Adjustment: The Institutional Context of African Development

As the World Bank famously put it back in 1989, "underlying the litany of Africa's development problems is a crisis of governance". This is a collection of authoritative essays bringing together prominent Africanists in political science and public administration to look at the role of governance in African development. The goal of the book is to move beyond the status quo debates about "structural adjustment" and to look at all the public and civic institutions which are likely to play a critical role if Africa is to overcome its economic crisis.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements Notes on Contributors Introduction: The State and African Development; N.Van de Walle Financing Africa's Development: Towards a Business Plan?; I.Elbadawi & A.Gelb Tax Reform and Democratic Accountability; L.Rakner & S.Golpen Problems and Prospects of Civil Service Reform; D.Olown Forging Developmental Synergies Between States and Associations; A.M.Tipp Democratic Decentralizationof Natural Resources: Institutional Choice and Discretionary Power Transfers; J.Ribot Foreign Aid and State Administrative Capability; A.Goldsmith Governance and the Private Sector; L.Cotton & V.Ramachadran Governance and Private Investment; J.Emery Governance in the Security Sector; N.Ball, J.Kayode Fayemi, F.Olonisakin, M.Rupiya & R.Williams

About the Author :
NICOLAS VAN DE WALLE is a Professor of Political Science at Michigan State University, USA and a Fellow at the Centre for Global Development. He has published widely on African political economy and issues relating to democratization. He is the author of African Economics and the Politics of Permanent Crisis, 1979-1999 (2001), as well as the co-author of three books Democratic Experiments in Africa: Regime Transitions in Comparative Perspectives (1997), Improving Aid to Africa (1996), Of Time and Power: Leadership Duration in the Modern World (1991). NICOLE BALL is a Professor at the University of Maryland, USA. VIJAYA RAMACHANDRAN is a professor at Georgetown University, USA.

Review :
"This is a very useful and timely book. It provides us with an excellent overview of the salient issues on African development in the post-structural adjustment era. It will be required reading for those following development in Africa." - Carol Lancaster, Georgetown University. "This timely volume arrives at a point when "second generation" reforms in Africa have forced new attention to the problem of institutional weakness on the sub-continent. Leading off with a thoughtful overview essay by Cornell University political scientist Nicolas van de Walle, an international collection of experts limn these challenges. They probe the reasons for state collapse, bankruptcy, and the many failures of donor assistance, but also turn a bright light on the innovations born from crisis, and the quiet triumphs that can sometimes be found hidden beneath the often gloomy statistics. Rich in data and case studies that highlight the governance issues embedded in natural resource management, tax collection, democracy, civil society, business, and security, this book will be an authoritative reference for scholars and specialists, as well as students of Africa's political economy, security, and development." - Deborah Bräutigam, International Development Program, American University