Working with the Grain? Rethinking African Governance

Abstract

At the heart of current policy thinking about Africa there is a significant knowledge gap concerning governance and development. This IDS Bulletin is concerned with what can be done about that, drawing on the initial experience of the Africa Power and Politics Programme (APPP). The APPP is committed to discovering forms of governance that work better for development than those prescribed by the current 'good governance' orthodoxy. It aims to do so chiefly by examining the range of post-colonial experience in sub-Saharan Africa focusing especially on under-appreciated patterns of difference in institutions and outcomes. Contents of this issue: Introduction: Working with the Grain? The Africa Power and Politics Programme David Booth Towards a Theory of Local Governance and Public Goods Provision David Booth The Eight Modes of Local Governance in West Africa Jean-Pierre Olivier de Sardan Local Powers and the Co-delivery of Public Goods in Niger Jean-Pierre Olivier de Sardan Local Governance and Public Goods in Malawi Diana Cammack Makeni City Council and the Politics of Co-production in Post-conflict Sierra Leone Anna Workman Popular Concepts of Justice and Hybrid Judicial Institutions in Ghana Richard C. Crook, Kojo P. Asante and Victor K. Brobbey Rethinking the Relationship between Neo-patrimonialism and Economic Development in Africa Tim Kelsall Neo-patrimonialism, Institutions and Economic Growth: The Case of Malawi, 1964–2009 Diana Cammack and Tim Kelsall Conclusion: Rethinking African Governance and Development Richard C. Crook and David Booth