Opening up the black box of political will: findings from 10 years of the Developmental Leadership Program

Abstraksi

Reform failure, stagnating institutions, exclusion and poor services have typically been viewed narrowly as a problem of lack of political ‘will’. A decade of DLP research calls for a move away from this static and reductionist perspective, towards a more dynamic and temporal view of politics as a process of contestation. The report – drawing on nearly 100 underlying research papers and cases from across Asia and the Pacific – shows how developmental leadership is at the heart of the political process that drives change. The report shows how this process is one where (1) leaders become motivated and strategically aware, and (2) form coalitions with the power and legitimacy to navigate and transform institutions. Through it, (3) leaders, coalitions, and wider social movements can legitimise locally appropriate and sustainable institutions that can improve development outcomes. At the heart of this process, at each stage, the report shows the importance of ideas and values and the role of power in bringing about change. The report concludes with a set of implications for how to support leaders and communities to develop the capacity and legitimacy to identify locally-appropriate solutions to local problems.