Politics and Governance Programme

Areas of focus - Political institutions and systems

Kenya Parliament building, Nairobi	Flickr	DEMOSH	http://www.flickr.com/photos/44222307@N00/950695442/This area of work examines the nature of formal and informal institutions and their impact on citizen-state relations and development processes. We cover a number of strands including:

  1. The functioning of accountability systems and their key components –  rule of law, parliaments, electoral systems, the judiciary, parties, civil society organisations and the media – in developing countries.
  2. Donor support to accountability systems in developing countries.
  3. The challenges of implementing realistic governance systems and processes.

A major focus of our work over the next five years is a DFID-funded Research Programme Consortium on Africa Power and Politics: Discovering institutions that work for poor people. In this programme, we – along with a number of international partners – are exploring the kinds of political, economic and social arrangements that could enable countries in sub-Saharan Africa to make faster progress towards development and the elimination of extreme poverty.

Key resources from the programme on this topic

Donor Domestic Accountabilities - UK Case Study
Case study and Report, October 2009
Making elections count
Article - ODI Opinions 133, June 2009
Aid and Domestic Accountability
Background paper, March 2009