Against the Odds

by Melo, Marcus Andre; Ng'ethe, Njuguna; Manor, James

• ISBN13: 9780231702485
• ISBN10: 0231702485
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-06-30
• Publisher: Columbia Univ Pr

Summary

Chief Minister Digvijay Singh of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, and former president Fernando Henrique Cardoso of Brazil achieved major breakthroughs through their adroit leverage of power. Though they barely knew one another and never communicated, each deployed a similar repertoire of political devices -- persuasion, distraction, bargaining, stealth, and pressure -- to pursue shared goals. Singh, Museveni, and Cardoso proved two crucial things about developing economies: the reduction of poverty is politically feasible in these environments, even under daunting economic and political constraints, and political benefit comes to those who achieve it, enhancing their popularity, legitimacy, and influence. If leaders from other developing countries could recognize these truths, serious efforts to reduce poverty could take root in the most unlikely of places. The result of a collaboration between three renowned political scientists, each of whom specializes in one of the book's three countries, Against the Oddsfeatures extensive fieldwork and detailed comparative analyses, contributing to a comprehensive as well as cohesive study.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	p. ix
About the Authors	p. xi
Introduction	p. 1
Yoweri Museveni in Uganda: Constructing a State to Tackle 'Backwardness' and Poverty	p. 23
Digvijay Singh in Madhya Pradesh, India: Augmenting Institutions to Promote Inclusion and the Capacity of the Poor	p. 67
Fernando Henrique Cardoso in Brazil: Reforming Institutions to Fortify Social Policy	p. 115
Conclusion	p. 163
Notes	p. 191
Index	p. 217
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