The Political Economy of ChangeIlchman and Uphoff believe that political science has failed in the past to meet its own standards of rigor and cogency and does not meet standards of usefulness and relevance set by others. The Political Economy of Change attempts to remedy these shortcomings by expanding the limits of social science analysis to deal with problems of allocation and productivity in all spheres of public choice, not just the economic sphere. |
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Page ix
... Situation of Colonel Yakubu Gowon . How Could Colonel Gowon Best Choose Among Alternative Courses of Action ? What Could a Political Scientist Advise Colonel Gowon ? What Can Economists Advise about Political Change and Development ...
... Situation of Colonel Yakubu Gowon . How Could Colonel Gowon Best Choose Among Alternative Courses of Action ? What Could a Political Scientist Advise Colonel Gowon ? What Can Economists Advise about Political Change and Development ...
Page xiii
... situation of Nelson Mandela and ask what practical advice he might be given by political scientists . This leader of a new regime in South Africa faces the same kinds of challenges and dilemmas that confronted Gowon . We believe that ...
... situation of Nelson Mandela and ask what practical advice he might be given by political scientists . This leader of a new regime in South Africa faces the same kinds of challenges and dilemmas that confronted Gowon . We believe that ...
Page xv
... situations . More complex explanations would be acceptable if these assuredly increased the chances of making cor- rect assessments and effective choices . So while the desire for simple answers and solutions is certainly strong among ...
... situations . More complex explanations would be acceptable if these assuredly increased the chances of making cor- rect assessments and effective choices . So while the desire for simple answers and solutions is certainly strong among ...
Page xvi
... situation mutatis mutandis . The framework was formulated and presented for the poorer countries because we saw their political practices and institutions being so often unproduc- tive . Not only did these countries have low per ...
... situation mutatis mutandis . The framework was formulated and presented for the poorer countries because we saw their political practices and institutions being so often unproduc- tive . Not only did these countries have low per ...
Page xviii
... of prediction that arise be- cause situations are usually " underdetermined , " that is , they lack suffi- cient structural or behavioral parameters to firmly guide outcomes . xviii INTRODUCTION TO THE TRANSACTION EDITION.
... of prediction that arise be- cause situations are usually " underdetermined , " that is , they lack suffi- cient structural or behavioral parameters to firmly guide outcomes . xviii INTRODUCTION TO THE TRANSACTION EDITION.
Contents
WHY POLITICAL ECONOMY? | 3 |
THE NEW POLITICAL ECONOMY | 26 |
POLITICAL RESOURCES | 49 |
POLITICAL EXCHANGE | 92 |
POLITICAL INFLATION AND DEFLATION | 136 |
POLITICAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT | 160 |
POLITICAL RESOURCE ACCUMULATION | 180 |
POLITICAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFRASTRUCTURE | 208 |
THE APPLICATION OF POLITICAL ECONOMY | 256 |
REFERENCES CITED | 287 |
INDEX | 303 |
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Common terms and phrases
achieve administrative infrastructure allocation Almond and Powell alternative amount analysis analytical anti-statesman Apter authority roles bargaining behavior bureaucracy capital choices coercion consequences consider contributions core combination currency deflation developing countries economic resources economists effective esteem and deference expenditure factors factors of production gain Ghana gime goals Gowon greater groups hyper-inflation ical ideology income increase influence interest leaders legitimacy status less marginal utility mass media ment military mobilization Nigeria nomic opportunity costs output particular persons political community Political Development political economy political exchange political inflation political infrastructure political market political parties political process political resources political science political scientists prediction prestige problems propensities reduce regime's resources relatively resource position secure compliance social science social scientists sources statesman strategy stratification suggests supply and demand theory threats tion tive usually violence Yakubu Gowon Zolberg
Popular passages
Page 28 - In my view every economic fact, whether or not it is of such a nature as to be expressed in numbers, stands in relation as cause and effect to many other facts : and since it never happens that all of them can be expressed in numbers, the application of exact mathematical methods to those which can is nearly always waste of time, while in the large majority of cases it is positively misleading...
Page 277 - If we can get our social life stated in terms of activity, and of nothing else, we have not indeed succeeded in measuring it, but we have at least reached a foundation upon which a coherent system of measurements can be built up.
Page xxvi - ... contrary-to-fact assumptions by the argument that their veridicality is unimportant. In many cases, in fact, this veridicality may be crucial to reaching correct conclusions about the central questions of political economy. Only a comparison of predictions can tell us whether a case before us is one of these. The social sciences have been accustomed to look for models in the most spectacular successes of the natural sciences. There is no harm in that, provided that it is not done in a spirit...
Page xxviii - ... the high degree of indeterminacy embedded in situations where \ unexpected events {fortuna), insufficient information, hurried and audacious choices, confusion about motives and interests, plasticity, and even indefinition of political identities, as well as the talents of specific individuals (virtu), are frequently decisive in determining the outcomes.
Page xix - In weather, for example, this translates into what is only halfjokingly known as the Butterfly Effect — the notion that a butterfly stirring the air today in Peking can transform storm systems next month in New York.
Page 13 - ... speed up capital formation out of profits. If it is impossible to increase taxation. and the alternative is between creating capital out of credit. and not creating it at alL the choice one has then to make is between stable prices or rising output. There is no simple formula for making this choice. In some communities any further inflation of prices would ruin their fragile social or political equilibrium: in others this equilibrium will be destroyed if there is not a sharp increase in output...
Page 21 - The peculiarity of economic theory, therefore, is not the separate class of variables it employs but the parameters which distinguish the special case or class of cases we call economic in the use of the general variables of social theory from the other important types of special case
Page 104 - On the other hand, an act analysed in terms of its effect on the state of the actor toward whom it is oriented (and thus only indirectly, through his probable future action, on the state of the system) is called a sanction. This is an analytical distinction. Every concrete act has both a performance...
Page 24 - ... place where political ideas can freely compete on their own merits for support. Political discussion tends rather to assume the form of either intracommunal debate or one group justifying its position toward another. The communal framework also sharply limits freedom in altering political allegiances. Any change in political identification generally requires a change in one's social and personal relationships; conversely, any change in social relations tends to result in a change in political...
Page 240 - They are, rather, the only means by which groups not in a position to analyze a complex situation rationally may adjust themselves to it, through stereotypization, oversimplification, and reassurance. There have, of course, been many instances of effective administration and enforcement of regulatory statutes. In each such instance it will be found that organized groups have had an informed interest in effective administration.