
The World Bank discovers power in the power sector - Policy Brief 14
The World Bank’s 2019 report on Rethinking Power Sector Reform recognises that many of the key challenges in power sector reform result from the political economy of the sector.
Barnett and McCulloch state that the report is weak in four areas:
- On corruption – which it treats as a local problem rather than as a systemic issue linked to countries’ political settlement;
- On the political economy of donors – and how this can sometimes make reform more difficult;
- On the impact of new technology – and how disruptive technologies can change local political incentives;
- On how to Think and Work Politically in the power sector – the report gives little guidance on how to move beyond the focus on supply-side reforms.
This Policy Brief makes recommendation to the World Bank and other development partners on how these could be tackled.
Financial Times article on 'how to rethink climate change'
TPP Director Neil McCulloch’s book Ending Fossil Fuel Subsidies: the politics of saving the planet was featured in the Financial Times (paywalled) as one of three good books on ‘How to rethink climate change’.
A Policy Brief summarising the book's main messages is available here.
New blog from Laure-Hélène Piron and Alina Rocha Menocal with Kate Byom - What does politically smart support to democracy and human rights look like?
Duncan Green has published this blog to coincide with a webinar on “Making a difference: How Applied Political Economy Analysis contributes to impact through better informed decisions” on Wednesday 24 May. It shares the findings of a Learning Review on the use of PEA in three USAID-funded human rights projects under the Human Rights Support Mechanism, which is led by Freedom House with the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative and Pact as core consortium partners.
GovEnable clinics in Islamabad, Kinshasa and Nairobi
During May 2023, Laure-Hélène, TPP Director, and Ben French, TPP Associate, are delivering workshops in Islamabad, Kinshasa and Nairobi to introduce government officials and World Bank staff to a new way of designing and implementing public financial management reforms - based on participatory diagnostics and action planning.