Power and Political Economy

Our Point of View

At core, how power is institutionalized, distributed, and exercised (“political economy”) can often explain why things do not work, or why things do not work for some populations, and what it will take to make things better.

A core problem is that the people in charge of systems are often not representative of — nor responsive or accountable to — the very people they are meant to serve. How power is deployed can include or exclude women and girls and other historically underrepresented groups, and the intersectional gendered dynamics of a system are reinforced by societal norms, politics, economics, social constructs, and legal frameworks.

By their very nature, health, education, and economic systems as well as key law and economic institutions reflect the political economy of their context. Systems change therefore requires a clear understanding of the ways that political and economic power functions within a system, as well as the opportunities for change. For this reason, we believe that technical or technocratic solutions, while often helpful and necessary, are on their own insufficient to create enduring change.

Read more: Section 3.2 Power and Political Economy of our Handbook (June 2021)

Guidance & Tools

Tool: Power and Political Economy worksheet from our Round 3 Program Partner Design Grant Workshop [July 2021]

Illustrative Examples

Blog: A Leader, an Intern and a Winning Coalition By Rakesh Rajani [March 2020]

Video: Power and Political Economy with Rakesh Rajani (Co-Impact) [July 2021]

External Resources

Mind Tools | Article & Tool | Stakeholder Analysis [May 2022]

This article provides insights into why stakeholder analysis is important. A useful resource for partners in achieving a winning coalition.

USAID | Guide | Thinking and Working Politically Through Applied Political Economy: Analysis: A Guide for Practitioners [April 2018]

This guide provides information on the “thinking and working politically” (TWP) approach — through the use of applied political economy analysis.

GSDRC | Guide | Topic Guide on Political Economy Analysis [2014]

This topic guide provides pointers to some of the key literature on political economy analysis and evidence of its impact on aid effectiveness in different contexts. It includes examples of analyses at country, sector and program level.

DFID | Guide | Political Economy Analysis How to Note [July 2009]

This note aims to explain how the various tools can contribute to political economy analysis to development thinking, the range of tools and approaches available, and their application to country programming and other operational tasks.