Mapping Power

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Comprehensive Analysis ◽  
Electricity Sector ◽  
Operational Performance ◽  
The Political ◽  
Government Reform ◽  
High Quality ◽  
The Past ◽  
Economic Forces ◽  
Political Economy Analysis

Electricity is critical to enabling India’s economic growth and providing a better future for its citizens. In spite of several decades of reform, the Indian electricity sector is unable to provide high-quality and affordable electricity for all, and grapples with the challenge of poor financial and operational performance. To understand why, Mapping Power provides the most comprehensive analysis of the political economy of electricity in India’s states. With chapters on fifteen states by scholars of state politics and electricity, this volume maps the political and economic forces that constrain and shape decisions in electricity distribute on. Contrary to conventional wisdom, it concludes that attempts to depoliticize the sector are misplaced and could worsen outcomes. Instead, it suggests that a historically grounded political economy analysis helps understand the past and devise reforms to simultaneously improve sectoral outcomes and generate political rewards. These arguments have implications for the challenges facing India’s electricity future, including providing electricity to all, implementing government reform schemes, and successfully managing the rise of renewable energy.

Introduction

Mapping Power ◽  
2018 ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Sunila S. Kale ◽  
Navroz K. Dubash ◽  
Ranjit Bharvirkar
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
State Level ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Analytic Framework ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Future ◽  
Political Economy Analysis ◽  
Economy Analysis

The introductory chapter lays out the rationale for the volume and provides a framework for analysing the political economy of Indian electricity. We first present a historically-rooted political economy analysis to understand the past and identify reforms for the future of electricity in India. We next outline an analytic framework to guide the empirical chapters of the book, which locates electricity outcomes in the larger political economy of electricity, the field of politics that are specific to each state, and each state’s broader political economy. The chapter ends by providing concise synopses of the state-level narratives of electricity in the fifteen states included in the volume.

The Political Economy of Local Governance in Yemen

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 45-69
Author(s):  
Benoit Challand ◽  
Joshua Rogers
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Political Culture ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Local Development ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Past ◽  
Strong State ◽  
Self Help ◽  
Local Initiatives ◽  
Self Rule

This paper provides an historical exploration of local governance in Yemen across the past sixty years. It highlights the presence of a strong tradition of local self-rule, self-help, and participation “from below” as well as the presence of a rival, official, political culture upheld by central elites that celebrates centralization and the strong state. Shifts in the predominance of one or the other tendency have coincided with shifts in the political economy of the Yemeni state(s). When it favored the local, central rulers were compelled to give space to local initiatives and Yemen experienced moments of political participation and local development.

The Anarchical Society and a Global Political Economy

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis W. Pauly
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Financial Risks ◽  
Empirical Observation ◽  
The Past ◽  
Economic Forces ◽  
Famous Book ◽  
Economic Ideology ◽  
Hedley Bull ◽  
Systemic Crises ◽  
Complex Capacity

If Hedley Bull came back today and revised his most famous book, he would likely devote a chapter to the economic forces that transformed our world during the past four decades. Among other systemic changes, the radical unleashing of finance and the partial return of a pre-1914 economic ideology justifying open and integrating capital markets might surprise an advocate of the virtues of the states system. But by following Bull’s reasoning, his model of empirical observation, and his underlying moral sensibilities—as well as suggestions from his constructive critics—this essay traces the emergence since the late 1970s of a variegated global capacity to assess systemic financial risks, design collaborative policies to prevent systemic crises, and manage them when they nevertheless occur. The challenge of deeply legitimating that nuanced and complex capacity remains, which, as Bull anticipated, means that considerations of justice must soon be addressed.

The Political Economy of Post-Independence India—A Review Article

1989 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 787-797 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akhil Gupta
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Newly Industrialized Countries ◽  
The Past ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Balance Of Forces ◽  
The Third World

Economists and political scientists have become increasingly interested in the political economy of India during the past decade and particularly during the past three or four years. The titles under review will be valuable not only to India specialists but also to comparative scholars because of the intriguing mix of conditions found in India. More like a continent than a country in its diversity, India is in some ways very similar to densely populated, predominantly rural and agricultural China, differing most perhaps in the obstinacy and depth of its poverty. In the predominant role played by the state within an essentially capitalist economy, it is closer to the model of Western social democracies than it is to either prominently ideological capitalist or socialist nation-states; like other countries in the “third world,” the state in India plays a highly interventionist developmental role. Finally, since Independence it has pursued, more successfully than most nation-states in Latin America and Asia, policies of importsubstituting industrialization and relative autarchy. In terms of its political structures, India differs from most newly industrialized countries (NICs) in that it generally continues to function as a parliamentary democracy. The federal political system creates an intriguing balance of forces between central and the regional state governments, which are often ruled by opposition parties with agendas, ideologies, and organizational structures quite different from those of the central government.

In pursuit of diverse energy futures: The political economy of electricity in Senegal

2021 ◽  
pp. 251484862110348
Author(s):  
Mara van den Bold
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Political Ecology ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Universal Access ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Electricity Sector ◽  
The Political ◽  
Oil Markets ◽  
Rural Access

In recent years, Senegal has proactively pursued the expansion of renewable energy generation, particularly from solar and wind. In addition to starting exploration of offshore liquefied natural gas, the expansion in renewable energy is posited as a way to help the country move toward low(er) carbon development, reduce dependence on volatile oil markets, and improve reliable (and especially rural) access to electricity. To achieve these objectives, the electricity sector has continuously undergone structural reforms to improve its financial viability and to achieve objectives around universal access to electricity, particularly by increasing private sector participation in electricity generation. Through the lens of “electricity capital,” this paper examines the implications of reforms in the electricity sector for processes of accumulation, in a context of efforts to improve environmentally sustainable development. It asks how capital in the electricity sector is constituted and operates in the Senegalese context, who has power in shaping how it operates, and how this has influenced the potential for achieving a fair and equitable transition to a low(er) carbon energy system. This paper draws on recent work in political ecology on energy transitions and emerging literature on the political economy of electricity, as well as on analysis of policy and technical documents and semi-structured interviews carried out with those involved in the energy sector between 2018 and 2020. Findings suggest that even though the Senegalese government has set clear objectives for the electricity sector that are based on principles of equity, environmental sustainability, and justice, the current power relations and financing arrangements taken on by the state and other actors active in the sector has, paradoxically, led to an approach that risks undermining these very principles.

scholarly journals Political economy analysis of universal health coverage and health financing reforms in low- and middle-income countries: the role of stakeholder engagement in the research process

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Giulia Loffreda ◽  
Kéfilath Bello ◽  
Joël Arthur Kiendrébéogo ◽  
Isidore Selenou ◽  
Mohamed Ali Ag Ahmed ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Stakeholder Engagement ◽  
Health Financing ◽  
Research Process ◽  
The Political ◽  
Health Coverage ◽  
Research Uptake ◽  
Political Economy Analysis ◽  
Universal Health

Abstract Background Progress towards universal health coverage (UHC) is an inherently political process. Political economy analysis (PEA) is gaining momentum as a tool to better understand the role of the political and economic dimensions in shaping and achieving UHC in different contexts. Despite the acknowledged importance of actors and stakeholders in political economy considerations, their role in the PEA research process beyond “study subjects” as potential cocreators of knowledge and knowledge users has been overlooked so far. We therefore aimed to review the approaches with reference to stakeholder engagement during the research process adopted in the current published research on the political economy of UHC and health financing reforms, and the factors favouring (or hindering) uptake and usability of PEA work. Methods We reviewed the literature to describe whether, when and how stakeholders were involved in the research process of studies looking at the political economy of UHC and health financing reforms, and to identify challenges and lessons learned on effective stakeholder engagement and research uptake. We used a standardized search strategy with key terms across several databases; we screened and included articles that focused on PEA and UHC. Additionally, we conducted a short survey of the authors of the included studies to complement the information retrieved. Results Fifty articles met the inclusion criteria and were included in the analysis. We found overall little evidence of systematic engagement of stakeholders in the research process, which focused mostly on the data collection phase of the research (i.e., key informant interviews). Our study identifies some reasons for the varying stakeholder engagement. Challenges include PEA requiring specific skills, a focus on sensitive issues, and the blurriness in researchers’ and stakeholders’ roles and the multiple roles of stakeholders as research participants, study subjects and research users. Among the approaches that might favour usability of PEA work, we identified early engagement, coproduction of research questions, local partners and personal contact, political willingness, and trust and use of prospective analysis. Conclusions Stakeholder engagement and research uptake are multifaceted concepts and complex processes, particularly when applied to PEA. As such, stakeholder engagement in the research process of PEA of UHC and health financing reforms is limited and underreported. Despite the challenges, however, stakeholder engagement remains key to ensuring relevance, usability and research uptake of PEA studies. More efforts are required to ensure engagement at different stages of the research process and better reporting in published articles.

The Political Economy of Easy Credit Policies

2016 ◽  
pp. 84
Author(s):  
Karim Azizi ◽  
Thibault Darcillon
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
Consumer Credit ◽  
Majority Voting ◽  
The Political ◽  
Aggregate Consumption ◽  
The Past ◽  
Marginal Effects

During the past thirty years, U.S. economic growth has disproportionately benefited the richest percentiles of the American population, i.e., the top income earners. Although this phenomenon is difficult to explain from a “standard” political economy perspective (i.e., majority voting), recent literature emphasizes the role of consumer credit as a means of circumventing costly public redistribution. According to this theory, most OECD and, notably, American policymakers should have facilitated middleclass and low-income households’ access to consumer credit to cushion the effects of increased income inequality (i.e., an increased share of GDP held by top earners). Our contribution to this literature is to argue that increases in inequality (as measured by expansions in the share of GDP held by top income earners) should be associated with aggregate consumption increases. Indeed, in response to increased inequality, easy credit policies stimulate low-income and middle-class consumption, which contributes to an increased aggregate consumption level. Using a panel dataset of 20 developed OECD economies between 1980 and 2007, we show that such increases in inequality are actually associated with expansions of aggregate consumption. Finally, when computing marginal effects, we conclude that these expansions increase with the size of the financial sector.

Political economy of Malawi: contextual leadership in expanding entrepreneurial businesses

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caren Scheepers ◽  
Lyal White ◽  
Adrian Kitimbo
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
South African ◽  
Business Administration ◽  
Subject Area ◽  
The Political ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Doing Business ◽  
Political Economy Analysis ◽  
International Donors

Subject area Leadership; Political Economy; Strategy; Entrepreneurship. Study level/applicability Masters in Business Administration (MBA); MPhil in Strategic Leadership. Case overview On 5 February 2016, South African entrepreneur Jannie Van Eeden faced a dilemma about whether to expand his current businesses or not. He had to choose between focusing exclusively on hospitality and tourism or dividing his time and resources between the tourism business and expanding his existing logistics business. Expansions to his logistics business would entail investing in a warehouse and supplying fresh produce to the lodges in the wider area of Lake Malawi where he was based. Van Eeden realised that he needed to take into account the political economy of Malawi in unpacking the contextual variables related to his decision. Various stakeholders’ roles are illustrated in the case, for example the government’s role in enabling entrepreneurial businesses as well as the investments made by foreign organisations and international donors. Expected learning outcomes Development of leaders who can take contextually intelligent decisions. Insights into conducting Political Economy analysis to enable doing business in Africa. Supplementary materials Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email [email protected] to request teaching notes. Subject code CSS 7: Management Science.

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