Fragile States : Stuck in a Capability Trap?

Focuses on four challenges for fragile states: (1) isomorphic mimicry from evolutionary theory (that animals sometimes use deception to look more dangerous than they are to enhance survival) ; (2) wishful thinking; (3) pre-mature load bearing; and (4) a middle way advocating for a 'good enough&...

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Main Authors: Pritchett, Lant, de Weijer, Frauke
Language:English
Published: Washington, DC: World Bank 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10986/9109
id okr-10986-9109
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-91092021-04-23T14:02:44Z Fragile States : Stuck in a Capability Trap? Pritchett, Lant de Weijer, Frauke World Development Report 2011 Focuses on four challenges for fragile states: (1) isomorphic mimicry from evolutionary theory (that animals sometimes use deception to look more dangerous than they are to enhance survival) ; (2) wishful thinking; (3) pre-mature load bearing; and (4) a middle way advocating for a 'good enough' approach to problems. The danger of isomorphic mimicry is that it encourages mimics, which can adopt the camouflage of capability organizations without any of the associated drive for performance. Wishful thinking, which is distinguished from optimism, can be a powerful positive force, but its flaw comes from assuming a faster speed at which state capability can be built. A key danger of wishful thinking comes from pre-mature load bearing. Asking fragile states to move forward too quickly, even with desirable steps, risks creating pressures that collapse what little capability has been created. As a middle way, the 'good enough' approach to governance demonstrates how to gain benefits of systemic impact and scale but with the virtues of flexibility. 2012-06-26T15:38:28Z 2012-06-26T15:38:28Z 2011 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/9109 English CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank Washington, DC: World Bank Africa
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
topic World Development Report 2011
spellingShingle World Development Report 2011
Pritchett, Lant
de Weijer, Frauke
Fragile States : Stuck in a Capability Trap?
geographic_facet Africa
description Focuses on four challenges for fragile states: (1) isomorphic mimicry from evolutionary theory (that animals sometimes use deception to look more dangerous than they are to enhance survival) ; (2) wishful thinking; (3) pre-mature load bearing; and (4) a middle way advocating for a 'good enough' approach to problems. The danger of isomorphic mimicry is that it encourages mimics, which can adopt the camouflage of capability organizations without any of the associated drive for performance. Wishful thinking, which is distinguished from optimism, can be a powerful positive force, but its flaw comes from assuming a faster speed at which state capability can be built. A key danger of wishful thinking comes from pre-mature load bearing. Asking fragile states to move forward too quickly, even with desirable steps, risks creating pressures that collapse what little capability has been created. As a middle way, the 'good enough' approach to governance demonstrates how to gain benefits of systemic impact and scale but with the virtues of flexibility.
author Pritchett, Lant
de Weijer, Frauke
author_facet Pritchett, Lant
de Weijer, Frauke
author_sort Pritchett, Lant
title Fragile States : Stuck in a Capability Trap?
title_short Fragile States : Stuck in a Capability Trap?
title_full Fragile States : Stuck in a Capability Trap?
title_fullStr Fragile States : Stuck in a Capability Trap?
title_full_unstemmed Fragile States : Stuck in a Capability Trap?
title_sort fragile states : stuck in a capability trap?
publisher Washington, DC: World Bank
publishDate 2012
url http://hdl.handle.net/10986/9109
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