Target Audience: Development practitioners, policy analysts, and researchers seeking to understand political dynamics in development
Prerequisites: Basic understanding of development concepts; Development Economics 101 recommended
Materials Needed: Case study handouts, flipchart paper for group work
By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:
Political Economy is the study of how political processes, institutions, and power relationships shape economic outcomes and development trajectories.
Key Questions Political Economy Asks:
Political factors often explain why similar economic policies produce different results in different contexts. Understanding power dynamics helps predict and improve development outcomes.
Effective policies must be politically feasible as well as technically sound. Political economy analysis helps design implementable and sustainable interventions.
Development is about who benefits from growth as well as how much growth there is. Political economy reveals how power structures can perpetuate or reduce inequality and exclusion.
Think of a development program or policy you're familiar with:
Share one insight with a partner about how politics shaped this program's success or failure
Observable political processes: Elections, formal decision-making, public debates, policy processes. Easy to see but only part of the story.
Behind-the-scenes influence: Agenda-setting, keeping issues off the table, informal networks, corruption. Controls what gets discussed.
Shaping consciousness: Social norms, beliefs, ideologies that influence what people think is possible or desirable. Most fundamental level.
Context: Municipal corporation proposes slum redevelopment project affecting 50,000 residents
Visible Power:
Hidden Power:
Invisible Power:
Working in groups of 3-4, analyze a development issue using the three faces of power:
Choose one scenario:
For your chosen scenario, identify:
Present: Each group shares one key insight about how different power dimensions affect development outcomes
Steven Lukes called the three faces decision-making power, agenda-setting power and ideological power. They correspond to the visible, hidden and invisible power described above. The table applies his terms to one law.
Scenario: Implementation of the National Food Security Act (NFSA) 2013
Your Task: Identify actors and their power sources for each face of power:
| Power Type | Key Actors | Power Sources | Strategies Used |
|---|---|---|---|
| Decision-Making | Parliament, Supreme Court, State Govts | Constitutional authority | Legislation, judicial review |
| Agenda-Setting | NAC, Media, Civil Society | Information, mobilization | Public campaigns, research |
| Ideological | Economists, Think Tanks | Expertise, credibility | Framing debates, legitimacy |
Institutions are the formal and informal rules, norms, and practices that structure social interactions and shape behavior. They're the "rules of the game" that determine how society operates.
Written rules and structures:
Unwritten norms and practices:
Market and economic rules:
Governance structures:
| Formal Institutions | Informal Institutions | Indian Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Constitutional Rules Written laws, regulations, procedures |
Unwritten Norms Conventions, traditions, social practices |
RTI Act vs. bureaucratic resistance culture |
| Electoral Systems FPTP, constituency boundaries, ECI rules |
Political Culture Caste networks, patron-client relations |
Formal democracy vs. identity-based voting |
| Administrative Structure IAS system, departmental hierarchy |
Bureaucratic Culture Risk aversion, file culture, transfers |
Official procedures vs. "file culture" |
| Legal Framework Contract enforcement, property rights |
Social Capital Trust networks, reputation mechanisms |
Court system vs. community dispute resolution |
Why do institutions persist?
Example: India's federal structure (formal) interacts with regional party systems (informal) to create particular patterns of coalition politics and policy bargaining.
India's Complex Institutional Set-up:
Formal-Informal Interactions:
Institutional Challenges:
Map the institutions affecting women's economic participation in rural India:
What formal institutions support women's economic participation?
What formal institutions limit women's economic participation?
What informal norms and practices support women's participation?
What informal norms and practices limit women's participation?
Reflection: Which institutional changes would have the biggest impact on women's economic empowerment?
Politicians, bureaucrats, military, police, judiciary - varying interests and capacities
Formal companies, informal enterprises, business associations, professional groups
NGOs, community organizations, social movements, religious groups, unions
Donors, multilateral agencies, foreign governments, global advocacy networks
Caste communities, religious groups, tribal populations, gender-based groups
National parties, regional parties, ideological movements, electoral coalitions
For each actor, consider:
Interests: What do they want? What are their goals and motivations?
Influence: How much power do they have to affect outcomes?
Position: Do they support, oppose, or remain neutral on the issue?
Resources: What assets (money, information, legitimacy) do they control?
Relationships: Who are their allies and opponents?
Issue: Implementing grid electrification vs. distributed solar energy in rural Rajasthan
Key Actors and Interests:
Political Dynamics: How do different power levels and institutional contexts shape which approach gets adopted?
Political Economy Questions at Each Stage:
Apply political economy analysis to a current development challenge:
Choose one issue:
Analysis Framework:
Output: One key political economy insight that could improve policy design or implementation
The Puzzle: Why did India's economic liberalization happen in 1991, not earlier or later? What explains the particular pattern of reforms?
Pre-1991: The License Raj
Crisis and Reform (1991):
Question: Why were some sectors (telecommunications, software) liberalized faster than others (agriculture, labor)?
Telecommunications, IT Services, Aviation
Agriculture, Labor Laws, Land
Reflection: How do different actor configurations and institutional arrangements explain these varying reform speeds? What does this tell us about the political feasibility of future reforms?
Step 1: Context Analysis
Step 2: Stakeholder Mapping
Step 3: Institutional Analysis
Step 4: Scenario Development
Step 5: Strategy Design
Development is political. Programmes that work, last and treat people fairly are designed with an understanding of power, institutions and the actors involved.
Foundational Texts:
Indian Political Economy:
Analytical Tools:
Research Institutions:
Data Sources:
Next Steps in ImpactMojo:
This handout is part of the ImpactMojo 101 Knowledge Series
Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 • Free to use with attribution • www.impactmojo.in
For stakeholder mapping templates, political economy assessment frameworks, and Indian case study databases, visit the ImpactMojo platform.
