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Developmental State and the Political Economy of Local Government in Africa: A Case Study of South Africa

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The Palgrave Handbook of African Political Economy

Part of the book series: Palgrave Handbooks in IPE ((PHIPE))

Abstract

Development literature stresses that states and global and regional organisations play an important role in economic growth and development. Economic growth is important for allocation of resources to support developmental policies aimed at improving the quality of lives of citizens, particularly the majority that is entrapped in abject poverty. Internally, states build institutions, systems and processes to facilitate national development. Externally, states forge strategic cooperative relations with each other and join regional and global bodies in a quest to enhance the performance of their national economies. It is believed that these geopolitical relations will enhance economies of scale. In this chapter, I examine the role of local government as a key institution for development, in the context of government infrastructure, in an arduous quest for economic growth. Although there is often a tendency to sideline the institution of local government when it comes to discussions on economic growth and development, these two twinned goals can practically only be felt within the tangible local geographies.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    I term the dominant practice where IDPs are developed by consultants on behalf of communities “planning by rumour”.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa

    David Mohale

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  1. David Mohale
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Correspondence to David Mohale .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Thabo Mbeki African Leadership Institute, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa

    Samuel Ojo Oloruntoba

  2. Institute of African Studies, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Samuel Ojo Oloruntoba

  3. Department of History, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA

    Toyin Falola

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Mohale, D. (2020). Developmental State and the Political Economy of Local Government in Africa: A Case Study of South Africa. In: Oloruntoba, S.O., Falola, T. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of African Political Economy. Palgrave Handbooks in IPE. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-38922-2_18

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