This blog on "good enough" political economy analysis by TPP Principal Wilfred Mwamba is part of a series of Ground Rules developed by the Land Facility Decision Support Unit.

The Policy Practice, in partnership with the Thinking and Working Politically Community of Practice, ODI Global, the International Institute for Sustainable Development and ENERGIA, the international network on gender and sustainable energy, organised a webinar series looking at different aspects of the energy transition from a political economy perspective. 

The first webinar, on the Political Economy of Country Platforms, was was held on 15 January and hosted by ODI Global. This blog by Tim Kelsall, ODI Senior Research Fellow, summarises the key messages from the fishbowl discussion. 

This Working Paper, written by TPP Principal Wilfred Mwamba, calls for a major shift in how international actors support governance. It shows reforms only endure when domestic reformers lead, urging partners to drop “performance theatre” and back genuine, locally led, politically grounded change.

This Working Paper by TPP Principal Niki Palmer explores why environmental defenders in Brazil’s Amazon face persistent violence. It shows how powerful economic interests and competing ideas about the Amazon fuel conflict and impunity. It outlines three realistic pathways to strengthen protections, shift incentives toward conservation and reduce violence.

In collaboration with the Thinking and Working Politically Community of Practice, and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, TPP Director Laure-Hélène Piron has prepared a guidance note setting out options for context analysis (political economy analysis, conflict analysis, institutional reviews, etc). It provides advice to make sure the analysis is politically informed and influential with decision makers.  

In Part 3: Arguments for international climate action, TPP Director Neil McCulloch shows how this new approach would change international cooperation on climate action.

In Part 2 of TPP Director Neil McCulloch’s blog, he considers what a new narrative for climate action must look like to be politically successful.

As COP30 gets going in Brazil, TPP Director Neil McCulloch argues that we need a completely new narrative around climate action. His blog is in three parts. Today, he explains what is wrong with the current narrative.  Tomorrow, he argues for a new approach. On Friday, he will show how this new approach would change international cooperation on climate action.

USAID veteran David Jacobstein summarizes his new paper A personal reflection on Thinking and Working Politically (TWP) at USAID. He argues that TWP is gaining ground, but losing focus. An increasing pursuit of tactical TWP makes programmes smarter in the short run, but what is also called for is strategic TWP that ensures development efforts contribute to deeper transformations in power, institutions, and resilience.