Avoiding capability traps

All development work entails change. Although sometimes implicit, there is always a theory of change at work in every development activity like national programmes, policy reforms, trainings, research and evaluation. An initiative or intervention is deemed successful if it induces sustained change. But not every plan reaches a successful end. In case of failure, policymakers attribute it to implementation flaws. Furthermore, failure in implementation of a development is usually treated as a minor flaw or a transitory mistake that can be corrected, while realistically, this may not be true.

Countering the general argument that implantation failure is minor and transitory, which prevails in development studies, Lant Prichett, Michael Woolcock and Matt Andrews presented a working paper in 2010. In this, they argued that “repeated implementation failures across an array of activities are not ‘mistakes’ but the visible manifestations of failure in the underlying theory of change.” This argument seems agreeable. Since the theory of change provides a basis for planning as it defines objectives and points at “necessary preconditions”, a failure in the theory is actually a failure in planning and in grasping the “necessary preconditions” for change.

This usually occurs when governments lack access to the “necessary preconditions” for the change they want. Taking a simplistic approach, governments try to mimic policies and successes of governments of other states. Such an approach has been termed “isomorphic mimicry” by development scholars. Since it is rarely successful, many deem it a key “technique of successful failure” because isomorphic mimicry perpetuates “capability traps” i.e. situations where governments replicate successful initiatives of other governments without considering their own capabilities to carry out such plans. There are many examples where governments ended in capability traps while mimicking others. Most are from the developing world, attempting to mimic developed countries.

What have we got of Pakistan? Among the dimension of development in Pakistan which are usually in prime focus, is one aspect. Economic development, the expansion and extension of basic public services, reforms in administrative services and police services are some of the dimensions of development in focus in Pakistan. A question then arises: why, despite repeated attempts to bring about “drastic change” in these aspects, has Pakistan not attained a sustained change? Why has failure become endemic in Pakistan?

“Deep-rooted corruption” is the most frequently heard answer. But this can also be because policymaking in Pakistan is usually inspired by other countries. Attention is paid to enacting policies which sound impressive, but no real capability exists to carry them out. This is further augmented by the current global development system which is instrumental in amplifying mimicry without improving the capacity and capability. Both require openness to novelty and welcoming creative trends. Long on the track of policymaking, Pakistan has remained closed to novel approaches and has remained supportive of agenda conformity. As a matter of fact, agenda conformity is no longer a productive trend as it is only instrumental in recurring and reinforcing mistakes.

For 2020, Pakistan’s failures on the economic front were said to be the worst in decades. Covid-19 was presented as a quick justification but hidden under this major development can also be capacity issues. Imran Khan and his team have spearheaded important initiatives, which made a global trend e.g. smart lockdowns. This went well because this policy was locally grounded. In general, it is imperative for the government to look carefully at the necessary preconditions before planning. Plans which are in conformity with the available capacity are more likely to be successful. Meanwhile, attention is also required on improving the capacity of the government machinery.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 28^th, 2021.

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