| Term |
Definition |
Sources (if any) |
|---|---|---|
| Political contestation |
The process through which clashes between different socio-economic and political objectives are framed, considered and decided that have a bearing on the organisation of the state and the exercise of public authority. Individuals arise, groups form, and both mobilise power to pursue their interests to participate in this process. |
Based on: Huntington, S., Political Order in Changing Societies, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1968 |
| Political order |
The extent to which political institutions manage to resolve disputes between different social forces and adapt in response to the changing nature of such social forces. |
Huntington, S., Political Order in Changing Societies, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1968 |
| Political settlement |
The implicit or explicit understanding between (part of) a country’s leading group(s) on the division of power between them. This is expressed in the form of a set of (in)formal representation, control and distribution rules that guide governance and resource allocation. Such understandings evolve over time and are grounded in underlying agreements within particular leading groups that enable and constrain what can be agreed between different leading groups. |
Parks, T. And W. Cole, Political settlements: Implications for International Development Policy and Practice, Occasional paper no. 2, The Asia Foundation, 2010; Laws, E., Political Settlements, Elite Pacts and Governments of National Unity: A conceptual study, DLP Background Paper 10, 2012. |
| Elites |
Individuals or groups with significant power or influence in processes of political contestation and/or the utilisation of a nation’s tangible and intangible resources. |
Author, inspired by several readings |
| Theory of change |
A set of interlinked assumptions on how change in a particular area happens, how possibilities and priorities of change can be identified, and what constitutes progress. |
Stein, D. and C. Valters, Understanding Theory of Change in International Development, London: JSRP, 2012 |
| Rule of law |
A state of affairs in which the accessibility, quality of proceedings, content and enforcement of custom and law, written or oral, are such that most people perceive or experience it as just most of the time in terms of the solutions it produces in response to differences |
Author, inspired by several readings |
| Power |
A’s (person or group) capacity to bring about outcomes favourable to A’s preferences or desires. |
Dahl, R., Modern Political Analysis, London: Prentice Hall International (5th edition), 1991 |
| Democracy |
A political regime characterised by free and open elections, with relatively low barriers to participation, genuine political competition, and wide protection of civil liberties. |
Dahl, R., Polyarchy: Participation and opposition, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1971 |