The American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, published an interesting article on African development today. The author is Deborah Brautigam, a professor of international development at American University. She makes two basic points.
The first is that a developing a more robust system of public taxation would have broad benefits for African societies. Besides the amusement of a conservative think tank recommending that somebody pay more taxes, the point is very good. Not only would increased government revenue allow for better services and stronger state capacity, but Professor Brautigam believes it would also lead to more democratization on the continent. “Democracies are built not only on periodic elections but also on a social contract based on bargaining over the collection and spending of public revenue”.
Her second point is that foreign aid isn't all upsides. Aid can have negative effects on the recipient country by lowering local capacities for governance, weakening institutions, reducing democratic accountability, inspiring riskier behavior on the part of governments, and even lowering tax revenues. Some of her points are stronger than others – the tax revenue point seems a little weak to me – but overall she makes a strong case, and the article is well worth a read.
Also, I noticed that she has a book out on the same subject.
