The politics of decision making in developing countries

Abstract

Decision making in developing countries has not been accorded the needed attention by policy studies scholars. The general perception among these scholars is that the policy making process is externally driven, especially when the policy involves economic decision. Using privatization as a case study, the article examines policy making in Botswana and Ghana. It argues that it is wrong to assume that all developing countries are merely ‘policy hooks’ in the decision making game of the international community. It shows that some countries have the capacity to develop their own policies depending on their level of dependency on the international community.

Key words:

• Botswana
• developing countries
• decision making
• Ghana
• international community
• privatization

Notes

1 In modern times, the World Bank especially has expanded its purview from focusing on economic issues to what it conceives as ‘good governance’. This has led to the promotion of pro-market institutional, public administration, and policy reforms in many developing countries. For more on this, see Stone and Wright (2006).

2 For analytical purposes, we see the core nations as being those of the western world, including those in Western Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan, while the periphery states are those in Latin America, Africa, the Caribbean, the former Soviet bloc, and South-East Asia.

3 Policy learning and social learning are used interchangeably in the literature.

4 That is the failure of the Botswana government's attempts to over the past thirty years to promote the development of new industries so as to diversify the country's economy from the dependence on mineral (mostly diamond) and beef exports. At present, the Botswana economy still remains largely mineral-dependent.

5 Interview with Senior Official at PEEPA, Gaborone, October, 2005.

6 Interview with official at the Planning Division of the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, 2005.

7 Interviews with senior officials at the Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis, Gaborone, Botswana, 2005.

8 Senior official at BIDPA 2005.

9 The Government at the time was the Provisional National Defence Committee (PNDC), a military government under Flt Lt Jerry John Rawlings.

10 For more on the SAP in Ghana, see Loxley (1988) and Donkor (1997).

11 The non-core ones were the commercial and industrial enterprises. The core or strategic enterprises were in the utility, transport, cocoa, and mining sectors. However, since the early 1990s, the ‘core’ status of these enterprises has been removed paving the way for their privatization under the pressure of the World Bank and the IMF.

12 In 1993, the Government in power was the National Democratic Congress (NDC), a civilian government under the presidency of Jerry John Rawlings. The NDC ruled for eight years and lost power to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) under John Agyekum Kufour, the current president.

13 Interview with a Professor, University of Botswana, October, 2005.

14 Seventh National Business Conference, 2002, Gaborone, Botswana.

15 These are conferences organized by BOCCIM in partnership with the Government of Botswana, every two years with representatives of organized labour, members of the academia, and think tanks, invited to participate. These conferences have become institutionalized as a mechanism for outlining the broad economic policy goals and instruments of the Government and the preferences of business actors.

16 Interview with the Executive Officer of BOCCIM.