'Reform' Coalitions: A New Concept Paper
‘Reform’ or ‘growth’ coalitions: what are they, how do they form and what do they do?
In a recent paper [1] drawing on the findings of the Growth Commission Report (2008), Michael Spence and David Brady noted that the leadership of all the successful growth stories that were analysed in the work of the Commission had ‘put together coalitions of business, agriculture, labour, and other political segments that were sufficiently stable to allow the economic choices a chance to attain sustainable growth’.
Such ‘growth’ or ‘reform’ coalitions have been noted by many others in a very diverse range of literatures. But what do we know about such coalitions? And should we not understand better their role in the politics of development? What are the circumstances of their provenance, and the political conditions and characteristics of successful ones? Can it be demonstrated that such coalitions have contributed directly to the policy and institutional arrangements that have promoted growth and poverty reduction? And, if so, can or should donors work politically to facilitate, encourage and promote their emergence and functioning?
In this, the third paper in the DLP Coalition Series, Caryn Peiffer has reviewed some of the key literature in the field. She identifies some of the common features of these coalitions and suggests some of the important questions that will be explored by further DLP research. This future research will include case studies to be drawn from the Pacific and Africa, with particular reference to the ways in which donors have sought to encourage better public-private partnerships (if not coalitions) and the outcomes of these initiatives.
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[1] 'Leadership and Growth: A perspective from the Growth Commission',Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 25 (2), 2009, pp.205-218.
