Political vs. technical. The impact of perceptions in development cooperation policy change
(2014) 23ème Congrès mondial de l’Association internationale de science politique — Location: Montréal, Québec (20.July.2014)
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- In order to contribute to the comparative analysis of ‘depoliticization’ processes, this paper brings forward development cooperation policies as a new (in terms of academic interest) arena of policy- making where external (as private, i.e. non-governmental, but also as international) expertise challenges historical processes of democratic control on public decision. It is also an attempt to enlarge the originally UK-centred academic discussion on the issue by taking stock of French-speaking relevant literature on public policy. Focusing on Belgium as a case study, the paper examines how the internationally promoted discourse on State fragility generated a will of policy change in the country’s public policy on development cooperation with Central Africa. It analyses how such a change has been following the work of the OECD ‘Development Aid Committee’ (DAC), and how national discussions stayed at a ‘technical’ level where a political orientation could have been expected. It examines how development cooperation, as a sector of public policy, is particularly open to the argument of ‘technical’ orientations as considered in a totally distinct way from political decision, even when such orientations eventually result in a dramatic change of policy. Building up on the idea of registers of (political) legitimation and on the findings of cognitive sociology, the paper questions the perception of a Great Divide between technical and political issues by the key actors implied in development cooperation public policy, resulting in a depoliticization of highly political decisions. It assesses the potential influence of such factors as internationalisation of public policy, public policy instrumentation, instruments-based policing and other issues related to the New Public Management creed.
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Klimis, E. (2014). Political vs. technical. The impact of perceptions in development cooperation policy change. 23ème Congrès mondial de l’Association internationale de science politique, Montréal, Québec. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/216456