How Does the New Development Discourse Affect Democracy?
The three case studies suggest that there is considerable complexity and tension around these two key themes of the new development cooperation discourse. In their most rigorous and radical forms, the new accounts of knowledge and partnership offer the possibility of a more democratic model of development. The knowledge account provides an opportunity to step back from universal theories and to explore good practices and real contexts, and for countries to develop their own approaches through adaptive learning. Moreover, it raises the possibility of a strengthening of Southern knowledge generation capacity and a more equitable process of multi- directional knowledge flows that include South to North and South to South flows. The partnership account seeks to move away from the excessive conditionalities and donor direction of development in the 1980s and early 1990s. It promises national leadership of development strategies and goes beyond the state to incorporate a vision of active cit
