- The Oxford Handbook of the Politics of Development
- Preface
- List of Contributors
- Modernization Theory: Does Economic Development Cause Democratization?
- Dependency Theory
- Structuralism
- Political Development
- The Washington Consensus and the New Political Economy of Economic Reform
- Penury Traps and Prosperity Tales: Why Some Countries Escape Poverty While Others Do Not
- Culture, Politics, and Development
- Religion, Politics, and Economic Development: Synergies and Disconnects
- Does Inequality Harm Economic Development and Democracy?: Accounting for Missing Values, Noncomparable Observations, and Endogeneity
- Ethnicity and Development
- Civil Conflict and Development
- The Politics of the Resource Curse: A Review
- Taxation and Development
- How Do Governments Build Capabilities to Do Great Things?: Ten Cases, Two Competing Explanations, One Large Research Agenda
- Leadership and the Politics of Development
- Colonialism and Development in Africa
- Investment and Debt
- The Role of the State in Harnessing Trade-and-Investment for Development Purposes
- International Financial Institutions and Market Liberalization in the Developing World
- Foreign Aid and Democratization in Developing Countries
- Organizing for Prosperity: Collective Action, Political Parties, and the Political Economy of Development
- Missing Links in the Institutional Chain
- The Comparative Politics of Service Delivery in Developing Countries
- Party Systems and the Politics of Development
- Populism and Political Representation
- Africa’s Political Economy in the Contemporary Era
- The Politics of Development in Latin America and East Asia
- Development and Underdevelopment in the Middle East and North Africa
- Rethinking the Institutional Foundations of China’s Hypergrowth: Official Incentives, Institutional Constraints, and Local Developmentalism
- The Political Economy of Growth and Development in India: Two Puzzles
- The Politics of Growth in South Korea: Miracle, Crisis, and the New Market Economy
- Index
Abstract and Keywords
This article focuses on the comparative politics of service delivery in developing countries from 1990 to mid-2011. It first reviews the theoretical arguments and empirical evidence related to the provision of basic public services such as education, water, electricity, and health care before turning to the determinants of service provision. The link between accountability and the quality of service provision is emphasized. The article also considers factors that account for variation in service provision, including democracy versus autocracy, elections, political competition, and ethnicity. It shows that countries governed by democratic regimes tend to spend more and to provide more basic services than their autocratic counterparts and that decentralization improves the quality of services provided to citizens.
Keywords: comparative politics, service delivery, developing countries, public services, accountability, elections, ethnicity, decentralization, democracy, autocracy
Evan S. Lieberman Professor of Politics at Princeton University
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- The Oxford Handbook of the Politics of Development
- Preface
- List of Contributors
- Modernization Theory: Does Economic Development Cause Democratization?
- Dependency Theory
- Structuralism
- Political Development
- The Washington Consensus and the New Political Economy of Economic Reform
- Penury Traps and Prosperity Tales: Why Some Countries Escape Poverty While Others Do Not
- Culture, Politics, and Development
- Religion, Politics, and Economic Development: Synergies and Disconnects
- Does Inequality Harm Economic Development and Democracy?: Accounting for Missing Values, Noncomparable Observations, and Endogeneity
- Ethnicity and Development
- Civil Conflict and Development
- The Politics of the Resource Curse: A Review
- Taxation and Development
- How Do Governments Build Capabilities to Do Great Things?: Ten Cases, Two Competing Explanations, One Large Research Agenda
- Leadership and the Politics of Development
- Colonialism and Development in Africa
- Investment and Debt
- The Role of the State in Harnessing Trade-and-Investment for Development Purposes
- International Financial Institutions and Market Liberalization in the Developing World
- Foreign Aid and Democratization in Developing Countries
- Organizing for Prosperity: Collective Action, Political Parties, and the Political Economy of Development
- Missing Links in the Institutional Chain
- The Comparative Politics of Service Delivery in Developing Countries
- Party Systems and the Politics of Development
- Populism and Political Representation
- Africa’s Political Economy in the Contemporary Era
- The Politics of Development in Latin America and East Asia
- Development and Underdevelopment in the Middle East and North Africa
- Rethinking the Institutional Foundations of China’s Hypergrowth: Official Incentives, Institutional Constraints, and Local Developmentalism
- The Political Economy of Growth and Development in India: Two Puzzles
- The Politics of Growth in South Korea: Miracle, Crisis, and the New Market Economy
- Index
