A twentieth-century innovation, foreign aid has become a familiar and even expected element in international relations. But scholars and government officials continue to debate why countries provide it: some claim that it is primarily a tool of diplomacy, some argue that it is largely intended to support development in poor countries, and still others point out its myriad newer uses. Carol Lancaster effectively puts this dispute to rest here by providing the most comprehensive answer yet to the question of why governments give foreign aid. She argues that because of domestic politics in aid-giving countries, it has always been--and will continue to be--used to achieve a mixture of different goals.
Drawing on her expertise in both comparative politics and international relations and on her experience as a former public official, Lancaster provides five in-depth case studies--the United States, Japan, France, Germany, and Denmark--that demonstrate how domestic politics and international pressures combine to shape how and why donor governments give aid. In doing so, she explores the impact on foreign aid of political institutions, interest groups, and the ways governments organize their giving. Her findings provide essential insight for scholars of international relations and comparative politics, as well as anyone involved with foreign aid or foreign policy.

Why, despite decades of high levels of foreign aid, has development been so disappointing in most of Sub-Saharan Africa, leading to rising numbers of poor and fueling political instabilities? While not ignoring the culpability of Africans in these problems, Carol Lancaster finds that much of the responsibility is in the hands of the governments and international aid agencies that provide assistance to the region. The first examination of its kind, "Aid to Africa" investigates the impact of bureaucratic politics, special interest groups, and public opinion in aid-giving countries and agencies. She finds that aid agencies in Africa often misdiagnosed problems, had difficulty designing appropriate programs that addressed the local political environment, and failed to coordinate their efforts effectively.
This balanced but tough-minded analysis does not reject the potential usefulness of foreign aid but does offer recommendations for fundamental changes in how governments and multilateral aid agencies can operate more effectively.

This deeply felt memoir is a love letter to Washington, DC. Carol Lancaster, a third-generation Washingtonian who knew the city like few others, takes readers on a tour of the nation's capital from its swamp-infested beginnings to the present day, with an insider's view of the gritty politics, environment, society, culture, and larger-than-life heroes that characterize her beloved hometown. The former dean of Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, a friend of presidents and dignitaries all over the globe, Lancaster colorfully describes the city's three near-death experiences and the many triumphs and tribulations that emerged as the city took shape. Along the way she provides brief biographies of three of the most influential figures in the city's history: urban designer Pierre Charles L'Enfant, whose vision for the city was realized only after his death; civic leader "Boss" Shepherd, whose strong-arm tactics cleaned up the downtown area and helped create the walking mall we know today; and controversial mayor Marion Barry, whose rise and fall and resurrection underscored the contemporary challenges of home rule. Teeming with informative anecdotes and two dozen illustrations of landmarks and key characters, Lancaster's memoir is a personal and passionate paean to the most powerful city in the world-from one of its most illustrious native daughters.

Many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa are among the poorest in the world with the largest proportions of their populations in poverty and the lowest indicators of social progress. Many of these same countries are also among the most aid dependent in the world. And yet there is evidence that aid in large quantities is a double-edged sword; large amounts of aid over an extended period of time can make the strong stronger and the weak weaker. What, then, is to be done about aid dependence in Africa?

In this essay, the culmination of a two-year collaborative study between ODC and the African Economic Research Consortium in Nairobi, the authors explore strategies for reducing aid and aid dependence in Sub-Saharan Africa. They begin by addressing four key questions related to a smooth transition from aid dependence in Africa: What is aid dependence? What are the causes and consequences of aid dependence? What has been the experience of particular countries with aid dependence? And, what are the most important elements that aid donors and recipients should consider in a strategy to reduce aid dependence?

Dr. Lancaster proposes a value-free definition of aid dependence, explores in detail the elements and impact dependence (especially on recipient institutions and organizations), develops empirical materials on aid dependence in individual African countries, and finally, proposes specific strategies for reducing aid dependence.

With the prospect of further decreases in aid to Africa and the rising concerns about the disappointing impact of large flows of aid to many African countries, it is timely and even urgent that the issue of reducing aid dependence be addressed. This essay makes an important contribution toward advancing this important task.

This deeply felt memoir is a love letter to Washington, DC. Carol Lancaster, a third-generation Washingtonian who knew the city like few others, takes readers on a tour of the nation's capital from its swamp-infested beginnings to the present day, with an insider's view of the gritty politics, environment, society, culture, and larger-than-life heroes that characterize her beloved hometown. The former dean of Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, a friend of presidents and dignitaries all over the globe, Lancaster colorfully describes the city's three near-death experiences and the many triumphs and tribulations that emerged as the city took shape. Along the way she provides brief biographies of three of the most influential figures in the city's history: urban designer Pierre Charles L'Enfant, whose vision for the city was realized only after his death; civic leader "Boss" Shepherd, whose strong-arm tactics cleaned up the downtown area and helped create the walking mall we know today; and controversial mayor Marion Barry, whose rise and fall and resurrection underscored the contemporary challenges of home rule. Teeming with informative anecdotes and two dozen illustrations of landmarks and key characters, Lancaster's memoir is a personal and passionate paean to the most powerful city in the world-from one of its most illustrious native daughters.

"Overwhelmed by a proliferation of foreign aid programs, the U.S. government is attempting to reorganize itself in order to manage them more effectively. This raises several critical issues that will shape U.S. foreign aid policy for the 21st century: Should existing foreign aid agencies be combined into a cabinet-level agency, ensuring a voice for development concerns during policy discussions, or should they be placed in the State Department to strengthen their foreign policy focus? How should aid agencies manage the planning, implementation, and evaluation of their aid? Is ""managing for results"" as currently practiced appropriate for what is often a highly experimental task of bringing about beneficial changes in foreign countries? How should the U.S. government educate its citizens on the issues of foreign aid and development as expenditures rise and as the ambitious goals driving aid-including nation building-expand? In Organ izing Foreign Aid, Carol Lancaster and Ann Van Dusen call for a fundamental reorganization of U.S. aid programs. They recommend a major increase in efforts at development education. The authors also provide insights into how other donor governments have dealt with these challenges. With the future of U.S. foreign aid policy at stake, this book will be essential reading for anyone interested in development, foreign aid, and the organization of government programs in these areas. "

In many discussions of nations' development, we often focus on their economic and social development. Is it becoming wealthier? Is its society modernizing? Is it becoming more technologically sophisticated? Are social outcomes improving for the broad mass of the public? The process of development policy implementation, however, is always and inevitably political. Put simply, regime type matters when it comes to deciding on a course of development to follow. Further, political institutions matter. When a government's institutional capacity is low, the chances of success severely decline, regardless of the merits of the development plan. In The Oxford Handbook of the Politics of Development, two of America's leading political scientists on the issue, Carol Lancaster and Nicolas van de Walle, have assembled an international cast of leading scholars to craft a broad, state-of-the-art work on this vitally important topic. This volume is divided into five sections: major theories of the politics of development, organized historically (e.g. modernization theory, dependency theory, the Washington consensus of 'policies without politics,' etc.); key domestic factors and variables; key international factors and variables; political systems and structures; and geographical perspectives, inclusive of regional dynamics. A comprehensive and cross-regional examination on key issues of political development, this Handbook not only provides an authoritative synthesis of past scholarship, but also sets the agenda for future research in this discipline.

Over the past seven years, the Bush administration has launched a revolution in U.S. foreign aid. At no time since the administration of President Kennedy have there been more changes in the volume of aid, in aid's purposes and policies, in its organization, and in its overall status in U.S. foreign relations. George Bush's Foreign Aid: Transformation or Chaos? analyzes in detail the array of recent reforms of U.S. economic assistance and the difficult issues these reforms raise, while placing the changes and the manner of their implementation in a historical and political context. Lancaster draws out the challenges and opportunities this transformation of U.S. aid offer for the next administration to engage the emerging world of the 21st century.

Why, despite decades of high levels of foreign aid, has development been so disappointing in most of Sub-Saharan Africa, leading to rising numbers of poor and fueling political instabilities? While not ignoring the culpability of Africans in these problems, Carol Lancaster finds that much of the responsibility is in the hands of the governments and international aid agencies that provide assistance to the region. The first examination of its kind, "Aid to Africa" investigates the impact of bureaucratic politics, special interest groups, and public opinion in aid-giving countries and agencies. She finds that aid agencies in Africa often misdiagnosed problems, had difficulty designing appropriate programs that addressed the local political environment, and failed to coordinate their efforts effectively.
This balanced but tough-minded analysis does not reject the potential usefulness of foreign aid but does offer recommendations for fundamental changes in how governments and multilateral aid agencies can operate more effectively.