ISS-1104 Politics, Power and Development
Code
Weight of the course
Period
Course Leader
Lecturer
Teaching Methods
Modes of Assessment
Contact
ISS-1104
3 ECTS
TERM 1
Karim Knio, Jeff Handmaker
Karim Knio, Jeff Handmaker, Sarah Hardus
Participatory Lecture
Written Exam: 100%
Karin Hirdes
Learning objectives
At the end of the course, students will have obtained a better understanding of:
 why politics matters for development and how political power influences the direction and
outcomes of development interventions;
 the centrality of notions of the state to thinking about politics in and of development;
 the way in which state, society and markets interact; and
 the impact of global trends (such as ‘globalization’) on the state and politics.
Course description
Politics structures the possibilities for realizing development, social justice and societal change. By
taking the state as reference point, the course analyses some of the most important concepts that are
central to the role of politics in development processes.
Starting from classical and more recent understandings of the state, and notions of embeddedness of
politics, the economy and society, the course focuses on the omnipresence of political processes in
development. Topics that are discussed are the relationship between state power and the hegemony
of ideas, the impact of globalization of the state, the differences among political systems and the
variation in the strength of the state.
Indicative Readings
Feng, Y. (2001) ‘Politics and Development’, Journal of Democracy 12(1):170-174.
Haugaard M. (ed.) (2002) Power: A Reader, Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Heywood, A. (2009) Political Theory: An Introduction, (3rd edn) Basingstoke; New York: Palgrave
Macmillan.
Heywood, A. (2007) Politics, Basingstoke; New York: Palgrave MacMillan.
Hickey, S. (2008) 'The Return of Politics in Development Studies (I): Capturing the Political?',
Progress in Development Studies 8(4): 349–58.
Hickey, S. (2009) 'The Return of Politics in Development Studies (II): Getting Lost within the Poverty
Agenda?', Progress in Development Studies 9(2): 141–52.
Leftwich, A. (2007) States of Development: On the Primacy of Politics of Development, Cambridge:
Polity Press.
Leftwich, A. (2005) ‘Politics in Command: Development Studies and the Rediscovery of Social
Science’, New Political Economy 10(4): 573-607.