Distributive Politics in Developing Countries

This book explores the dynamics of distributive politics in developing democracies via a series of case studies of an emerging spending mechanism—constituency development funds (CDFs). It is germane to students of legislative studies, international development, comparative politics, and democratization.

This insight into Constituency Development Funds—their nature and effects, potential benefits and risks, and the importance of national context from least developed to USA’s earmarking—provides a resource that will be valued by a wide range of readers. The expertise of Baskin, Mezey, and their contributors shines through in an excellent introductory overview, a series on well-researched case studies, and a useful concluding review that includes theoretical context. Policy-makers, legislators, development partners and public administration practitioners, and scholars will find this a valuable aid to understanding the diversity of CDF practices.

This pioneering, comparative study of the role of constituency development funds in the developing democracies explores the reasons for their recent proliferation, the variety of institutional forms they take, the objectives they are designed to serve, and their consistency and inconsistency with democratic governance. The authors are the leading scholars in this field and the case-study chapters reflect both their country-specific expertise and their collaboration in meetings, conferences, and joint projects. Their findings challenge many conventional beliefs about these funds, showing what they do and do not accomplish, and lead to valuable generalizations that are summarized in an excellent introductory and concluding chapter.

Over the past decade or so, Constituency Development Funds (CDFs) have emerged as an important legislative development policy tool and have been established, or are planned, in more than two dozen countries. With their increasing adoption has come a heated debate on the efficacy of such Funds. Advocates—mostly Members of Parliament (MPs) and a small but growing number of legislative strengthening practitioners—advocate such Funds as a means to connect MPs to their constituents and as small, yet significant, instruments of development. Critics, mostly from non-governmental organizations and some donor agencies, argue that the funds are little more than ‘re-election slush funds’ for incumbents and are prone to corruption. What is remarkable is that, until now, there has been no serious study of CDFs. Professor Mark Baskin, the guru on CDFs, along with Professor Michael L. Mezey, have assembled a prominent team of academic and practitioner experts to review CDFs in order to, in their words, ‘to reduce the heat to light ration’ in the current debates. This volume does exactly that—it examines CDFs and presents the good, the bad, and the ugly. It should be required reading for anyone wishing to learn about, or to make an informed judgement on, CDFs.

Mark Baskin is research professor of political science at Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy at the University at Albany and senior fellow at the State University of New York Center for International Development at the State University of New York.

Michael L. Mezey is professor of political science at DePaul University in Chicago.