[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/bwp/bwppap/esid-124-19.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Political settlement and the politics of legitimation in countries undergoing democratisation: Insights from Tanzania

Author

Listed:
  • Rasmus Hundsbaek Pedersen
  • Thabit Jacob
Abstract
In recent decades, reforms have been introduced in developing countries to promote economic transformation, democracy and the rule of law, but their implementation has often been undermined by structural factors. This is a key insight of the political settlement analysis which has unpacked the sorts of intra-elite relations instrumental in choosing policies and their modes of implementation. However, this analysis is less clear regarding the role of elections and popular legitimacy. This paper aims to explain contemporary forms of power and legitimacy in greater detail. Using Tanzania as a critical case study, we demonstrate that, in the context of democratisation, the country’s political elites are increasingly attempting to earn popular legitimacy. Earlier attempts to earn popular legitimacy through the expansion of social services to the rural majority were radicalised when a new president came to power in 2015. He campaigned on a platform of reversing years of domination by business and political elites. He later crafted a series of nationalist narratives and attacks on private investors to bolster his legitimacy in the eyes of the wider population. This implies a more prominent role for populations in developing countries than is often acknowledged. We also suggest that, in the context of democratisation, analyses of legitimacy should include two more dimensions: first, a political elite’s relationship with its political opponents; and, secondly, international recognition. We therefore argue that legitimacy should be analysed as a source of power in its own right, in line with force and rents.

Suggested Citation

  • Rasmus Hundsbaek Pedersen & Thabit Jacob, 2019. "Political settlement and the politics of legitimation in countries undergoing democratisation: Insights from Tanzania," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series esid-124-19, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    • Handle: RePEc:bwp:bwppap:esid-124-19
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.effective-states.org/wp-content/uploads/working_papers/final-pdfs/esid_wp_124_pedersen_jacob.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hazel Gray, 2016. "Access Orders and the ‘New’ New Institutional Economics of Development," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 47(1), pages 51-75, January.
    2. Sebastian Edwards, 2014. "Toxic Aid: Economic Collapse and Recovery in Tanzania," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number edwa14-1.
    3. Whitfield,Lindsay & Therkildsen,Ole & Buur,Lars & Kjær,Anne Mette, 2015. "The Politics of African Industrial Policy," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107105317, September.
    4. Gray, Hazel, 2016. "Access orders and the 'new' new institutional economics of development," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 62142, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Coulson, Andrew, 2013. "Tanzania: A Political Economy," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, edition 2, number 9780199679966.
    6. Edwards, Sebastian, 2014. "Toxic Aid: Economic Collapse and Recovery in Tanzania," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198704423.
    7. North,Douglass C. & Wallis,John Joseph & Weingast,Barry R., 2013. "Violence and Social Orders," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107646995.
    8. Kathleen Beegle & Aline Coudouel & Emma Monsalve, 2018. "Realizing the Full Potential of Social Safety Nets in Africa [Les filets sociaux en Afrique comment realiser pleinement leur potential?]," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 29789.
    9. Rasmus Hundsbaek Pedersen & Thabit Jacob, 2018. "Social protection in an electorally competitive environment (2): The politics of health insurance in Tanzania," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series esid-110-18, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    10. Pedersen, Rasmus Hundsbæk & Mutagwaba, Willison & Jønsson, Jesper Bosse & Schoneveld, George & Jacob, Thabit & Chacha, Maisory & Weng, Xiaoxue & Njau, Maria G., 2019. "Mining-sector dynamics in an era of resurgent resource nationalism: Changing relations between large-scale mining and artisanal and small-scale mining in Tanzania," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 339-346.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Thabit Jacob & Rasmus Hundsbaek Pedersen, 2018. "Social protection in an electorally competitive environment (1): The politics of Productive Social Safety Nets (PSSN) in Tanzania," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series esid-109-18, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    2. Tom Lavers, 2018. "Taking ideas seriously within political settlements analysis," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series esid-095-18, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    3. Sebastian Edwards, 2015. "Economic Development and the Effectiveness of Foreign Aid: A Historical Perspective," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(3), pages 277-316, August.
    4. A. Wondemu Kifle & Potts David, 2016. "Working Paper 240 - The Impact of the Real Exchange Rate Changes on Export Performance in Tanzania and Ethiopia," Working Paper Series 2348, African Development Bank.
    5. Lant Pritchett, 2018. "Alleviating Global Poverty: Labor Mobility, Direct Assistance, and Economic Growth," Working Papers 479, Center for Global Development.
    6. Daniel Appiah & Abdul-Gafaru Abdulai, 2017. "Competitive clientelism and the politics of core public sector reform in Ghana," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series esid-082-17, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    7. Altunbaş, Yener & Thornton, John & Vasilakis, Chrysovalantis, 2023. "More Foreign Aid, Less Financial Development," Economia Internazionale / International Economics, Camera di Commercio Industria Artigianato Agricoltura di Genova, vol. 76(4), pages 495-528.
    8. Melia, Elvis, 2020. "African jobs in the digital era: Export options with a focus on online labour," IDOS Discussion Papers 3/2020, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).
    9. Keston K. Perry, 2018. "The Dynamics of Industrial Development in a Resource-Rich Developing Society: A Political Economy Analysis," Journal of Developing Societies, , vol. 34(3), pages 264-296, September.
    10. Jose Jaime Macuane & Carlos Muianga, 2020. "Natural resources, institutions, and economic transformation in Mozambique," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2020-136, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    11. John Baffes & Varun Kshirsagar & Donald Mitchell, 2019. "What Drives Local Food Prices? Evidence from the Tanzanian Maize Market," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 33(1), pages 160-184.
    12. Janus, Heiner & Keijzer, Niels, 2015. "Big results now? Emerging lessons from results-based aid in Tanzania," IDOS Discussion Papers 4/2015, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).
    13. Chinsinga, Blessings & Weldeghebrael, Ezana Haddis & Kelsall, Tim & Schulz, Nicolai & Williams, Timothy P., 2022. "Using political settlements analysis to explain poverty trends in Ethiopia, Malawi, Rwanda and Tanzania," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    14. Christine Ngoc Ngo & Charles R. McCann, 2019. "Rethinking rent seeking for technological change and development," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 29(2), pages 721-740, April.
    15. Tom Goodfellow, 2018. "Seeing Political Settlements through the City: A Framework for Comparative Analysis of Urban Transformation," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 49(1), pages 199-222, January.
    16. Hahn, Tina & Auktor, Georgeta Vidican, 2018. "Industrial policy in Morocco and its potential contribution to a new social contract," IDOS Discussion Papers 31/2018, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).
    17. Akame, Afuge & Mavrotas, George, 2024. "The differential effects of foreign aid to sub-Saharan Africa," IOB Discussion Papers 2024.01, Universiteit Antwerpen, Institute of Development Policy (IOB).
    18. KESKİN, İbrahim & ABDALLA , Moh’d Juma, 2020. "The Structural Adjustment Program (Sap) And The Policy Transformation In Tanzania," Academic Review of Humanities and Social Sciences, Bursa Teknik Üniversitesi, vol. 3(1), pages 1-15.
    19. Koch, Susanne, 2017. "International influence on forest governance in Tanzania: Analysing the role of aid experts in the REDD+ process," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 181-190.
    20. Rasmus Hundsbaek Pedersen & Thabit Jacob, 2018. "Social protection in an electorally competitive environment (2): The politics of health insurance in Tanzania," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series esid-110-18, GDI, The University of Manchester.

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bwp:bwppap:esid-124-19. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Rowena Harding (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/wpmanuk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.