Policy Brief 21 - Pathways of Change

The Policy Practice Directors Gareth Williams and Neil McCulloch have written a new Policy and Practice Brief on Pathways of Change. It responds to a complaint we hear often about political economy analysis – that it is good at explaining why reforms get stuck but not much help in deciding what to do about it.

The starting point is that most change is driven by domestic actors and that external partners mostly play supporting roles. So the brief asks practitioners to work out how change might actually happen in a given context – the pathway of change – before thinking about what a donor or diplomat could do to help it along – the intervention strategy. The brief explains how to build a pathway, how to test whether it is plausible and likely to last, and where outside support can make a difference.