Politics and International Philanthropy
In preparation of the World Bank's World Development Report 200/2001 the Governance Department of the UK Department for International Development commissioned a study on Responsiveness of Political Systems to Poverty Reduction. In a report synthesizing the findings of the research project, important lessons for donors emerged. Although the authors of the report had in mind large institutional donors, these basic lessons hold true for individuals and small family foundations as well.
- Donors need to understand the actual workings of the political systems in the countries where they operate. The economic logic of a particular project, program or policy intervention may be flawless, but political analysis may reveal an entirely different set of concerns and conclusions.
- Donors must also recognise that they are, in fact, political actors. The choices they make about the countries in which to work, about whom they consult and with whom they deal are all highly political.
- Just as awareness of the social costs and environmental effects of alternative projects cause donors to consider social and environmental impacts, so donors should consider political impact assessments before embarking on major projects and programs. Corporations often carry out political risk analysis and donors could learn from this practice.
- Avoid simplistic assumptions about formal democratic institutions or transplanting political standards of rich developed countries to developing country situations. Donors should acquire knowledge about the political systems in which they intervene and the dynamics that drive them if they are to understand both the political determinants and consequences of their intervention.
- Developing the political capacities of the poor is a long-term enterprise which cuts against the grain of a donor mentality that wants to assess the "return on investment" over relatively short periods of time. In terms of policy intervention, donors might be best advised to adopt as a first principle, "to do no harm".
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