CIAO DATE: 10/2012
September 2012
Danish Institute for International Studies
José Macuane asks three questions in this DIIS Working Paper: Are donors actually the main drivers of the policy process in Mozambique? Did the economic reforms under Chissano contribute to the prominence and power of a technocratic elite whilst the Guebuza administration allows politicians to run the show? Is civil society's weak role in the policy process a result of its dependence on donor funding? The literature that analyses the role of elites in the development in Mozambique tends to present dichotomous relations between state and non-state actors, government and donors, technocratic and political elites, private sector and public sector. Macuane in his analysis argues that the process of elite formation and power relations between political elites and other elites (bureaucratic, civil society, economic and donors) in the context of the economic and political reforms and external dependency over the last thirty years suggest that the picture is more complex. Macuane presents an alternative analysis of the relations and roles of elites in development, arguing that there are more continuities than dichotomies between the above-mentioned arenas and the elite groups. These continuities – which have been deliberately created in the process of elite formation – were strongly controlled by the political elites. Understanding the formation of elite groups has implications for the relations between the political elites and other elites and has been instrumental in the strategies of the ruling elite to maintain its dominance even under pressure from external actors. Macuane argues that: The prominence of technocrats and politicians in development strategies has been determined by the strategic choices of political elites to ensure their survival under external dependency and a changing social, political and economic environment Politicians' dominance in the policy process might have changed due to dependency, economic and political reforms and the need to make concessions to technocrats and other technical elites (such as bureaucrats) and civil society, but the ability of the former to forge and control elites in the various arenas has maintained the balance of power in their favour. The implication of the blurred lines between these different arenas and actors is that political elites have managed to pursue a development agenda that has failed to be responsive to more encompassing interests, without serious societal checks and balances on their actions. Finally, the paper argues that whilst under these conditions the current political elite was able to maintain its dominance and control of other elites and society, the growing dissatisfaction with the existing development policies could suggest that there is a need for redefining development policies and coming up with new approaches, in order to engage different groups and elites in the development strategies.
Resource link: Economic and political liberalization, dependency and elite formation in contemporary Mozambique [PDF] - 464K