From drivers of change to the politics of development: Refining the analytical framework to understand the politics of the places where we work

The original Drivers of Change (DoC) initiative started in 2002/3 to sharpen understanding of the deeper structural and institutional factors which frame the political context within which individuals and organisations act. Evaluation of the first generation of studies suggests that as we move forward it is appropriate to place greater emphasis on analyzing the political processes which drive or restrain change and development. This is because there is now widespread recognition that politics is fundamental, if not primary, in shaping development choices, strategies, trajectories and outcomes. For development is an unavoidably transformative process affecting social, economic and political relationships and institutions. It thus involves change that must inevitably challenge established interests and prevailing structures of power and hence the dominant institutional arrangements (or rules of the game). The challenge which DoC faces, however, is how to conceptualise and analyse politics, and especially the politics of development. What is needed therefore is a framework for the political analysis of the prospects and possibilities of development in very different societies. The approach adopted here1 addresses this challenge through its conceptualization of the political system as the set of linked formal and informal political processes by which decisions are made concerning the use, production and distribution of resources in any society or part of one. This framework helps to identify the dynamic elements which drive politics, whether developmentally successfully or not.