What Might International Development Assistance Be Able to Tell Us About Contemporary “Policy Government” in Developed Countries?

Abstract

The article examines international development assistance—aid. Donors assert that experts possess predictive knowledge and project belief in such knowledge into organizational form—the Logical Framework Approach. While such beliefs lack predictive power, as aid operates under multiple sovereignty conditions, no single authority determines truth. Donors ease pressure on experts by accepting variation in intervention logics, yet assert the validity of “single truth” knowledge; knowledge production practices have not basically changed. Belief that what is believed is true, revealed in aid work, illuminates the nature of policy in rich countries and helps explain low confidence in government.