THE STATE AND DEVELOPMENT

• Development is not about infrastructure but

about the human beings making use of
infrastructure.
• When the state overplays its role, it harms the
development of human beings by not allowing
the people to make decisions.
• This also happens by centralised control.
 1. Commitment to Development
National policy – statements of guidance adopted by the
government at the national level in pursuit of national
policies. 3 NB INPUTS
i) National policy support – means that a governments’
total approach must be focused on economic, social,
and technical which are the aims of development.
ii) Administrative support – we need committed policy-
makers and also a committed bureaucracy – such
commitment must favour and be directed toward
development.
iii) National planning and programming – The
core function of the bureaucracy is central
planning and programming.
• The success of programmes depends on
national policy and administrative support.
• National planning must indicate a centralised
direction and national policy objectives
• National planning operates from the top
downwards and allocates resources.
• Planning from the bottom upwards is
essential.
 2. The State as a Policy Maker
• Policy making is the role of the state.
• Development policy is the “goal statement
addressing the known problems and
opportunities associated with a policy area.”
• This process is not linear – it does not start at
one point and end at another.
• Policy process is cyclical, representing a
continuous spiral.
 The State as a Policy Maker cont’d
Common Phases of Policy Process
1. Policy initiation – placing items on the agenda.
2. Policy process design - planning and designing.
3. Policy analysis - measuring the outcome.
4. Policy formulation - purposeful representation &
formulation of policy.
5. Policy decision - taking formal decisions.
6. Policy dialogue - government engages in discussions
with other stakeholders.
7. Policy implementation - practical is being tested.
8. Policy monitoring and evaluation - measure the degree
of success and point to new directions for the future.
 The State as a Policy Maker cont’d
• A development policy needs to deal with the
development of both urban and rural regions.
• It deals with specific urban and rural areas with
their specific and unique development problems.
• The colonial history has a direct link to the
political, social and economic environment with
which 3rd world government must deal with.
• Even geographical or natural environment was
influenced by this colonial legacy.
 The State as a Policy Maker cont’d
• Policy-making must reflect the needs and opinions
of the people.
• There are few participants in the policy-making
process.
• Channels for participation are not well established.
• Policy choices by the government are not well
informed- communication channels are not clear.
• Policy reform initiative may be altered or reversed
at any stage in its life cycle.
 3. The State as Policy Implementer
• Policy can be implemented if capacity exists e.g. finance,
managerial and technical resources.
• Most of these are absent in Third World countries.
• There is a gap between policy formulation and policy
implementation.
• Third World governments are huge but weak and
ineffective.
• They have acted in the interests of the small political,
economic and administrative elite.
• Wishes of the rural areas were either unknown or simply
disregarded.
• The history of the Third World bureaucracies are influenced
by western thoughts and theories.
The State as Policy Implementer

• Executives in developing countries are

incapable of delegating authority, they want to
control everything. Even the simplest
administrative decisions has to be approved at
the top (McCurdy, 1977:300)
 4. The State as a Benefactor
• In Third World countries the state is regarded
as a benefactor, infrastructure is lacking and
government needs to provide it.
• This is a narrow and self-defeating way of
looking at the role of the state.
• The state does not have the capacity to play
the role of benefactor successfully.
• The state is looked upon as the only saviour.
• The state formulate policies that are broad,
ambitious and often unrealistic.
 4. The State as a Benefactor cont’d
• Every Third World country is part of the
international economic order e.g. funding for
development.
5. The State as Development Supporter
• If the state is the supporter of the development,
there must be an initiator or manager of that
development.
• This role should be fulfilled by the people themselves.
• It means development should be localised.
• Local people take responsibility for the development,
make decisions and plan.
• The government supports their initiative by providing
expertise, finance, infrastructure.
 CONCLUSION
• State plays an important role in development.
• Their position and capacity have not allowed them to
play this part successfully.
• To resolve this, they need to re-evaluate the role of the
state in the whole policy process.
• Participatory development is not the only problem.
• It is important that ordinary people should be
empowered to play their role fully in their own
development.
• Government has a very important task in this regard.