Highlight Feature
In our featured interview, we speak with Ronnie Ojwang, Country Director of the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (NIMD) in Kenya, who shares with us some of the work that NIMD and partners are doing to encourage young people to participate more fully in the Kenyan political system, especially at a time of heightened tensions and growing disillusionment with how democracy is working.
New publications
Ride the Wind but Know the Tide:15 years of Politically Informed Subnational Governance Reform in Sri Lanka (2005–2020)
Gopa Thampi and Nicola Nixon 2025
This case study provides an example of Thinking and Working Politically (TWP) in practice, by unpacking The Asia Foundation’s efforts to support reform of Sri Lanka’s subnational governance sector from 2005 to 2020. This work built upon several decades of support to strengthen democracy, resolve conflict, and encourage greater citizen participation in policymaking since The Asia Foundation (TAF) first established its office in Sri Lanka in 1954.
The study seeks to show how the TAF subnational governance programme – comprising a sequence of projects over that time – ‘worked politically’ by focusing on and successfully navigating the political dynamics of devolution, prioritising locally owned and driven solutions, encouraging experimentation and iteration, and working with coalitions of reform-minded actors. In doing so, it contributed to addressing key developmental challenges the country faced at the time: poor access to basic services, limited government accountability and citizens’ mistrust of formal institutions, in both urban and rural areas.
A Second-Hand Dealer in Ideas: Reflections on Thirty Years’ Scribbling About Governance
Graham Teskey 2025
In this paper, Graham reflects on his three-decade-long career in governance, drawing from his experiences with organizations such as the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), the World Bank, Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and currently at Abt Global. He discusses six pivotal ideas that have influenced his work, including; the significance of institutions, the interplay between ideas, institutions, incentives, and outcomes, the concept of the political community, path dependence, and the distinction between high and low politics, highlighting how these matter for development.
Monitoring and Evaluation in Thinking and Working Politically
Florencia Guerzovich and Tom Aston 2025
This report frames and synthesises the main points discussed in the Monitoring and Evaluation in Thinking and Working Politically Webinar that the TWP CoP hosted in December 2024. The webinar aimed to serve as a starting point for a conversation on MEL and TWP. It focused on fostering a shared understanding rather than providing in-depth technical guidance tailored to specific organisational needs.
The rich experimentation currently underway in international development work provides a foundation for ongoing discussions and exchanges that may also serve to address these more specific needs. The paper highlights some of the key themes and directions for future engagement, as discussed in the webinar. These include:
- Integrating TWP as a lens across a whole project or programme, not as a standalone tool.
- Scaffolding TWP in ‘fit-for-purpose’ tools and methods.
- Balancing upward accountability with the need to foster learning and adaptation.
Renewing the public domain: Can a more socially embedded bureaucracy help? A TWP Think Piece
Brian Levy 2025
The past 15+ years have witnessed a dramatic collapse in the trust and legitimacy of government in the eyes of the population in countries across both the Global North and the Global South. There is profound popular discontent with the workings of the (democratic) state and a public sector that is considered widely ineffective – and the stakes could not be higher. Mainstream approaches to public-sector governance largely embodied in New Public Management (NPM) may have contributed to this generalised discontent. Can a more socially embedded bureaucracy help?
The question is relevant at both micro- and systemic levels. At the micro-level, can a socially embedded bureaucracy rooted in collaboration among actors within and outside government help improve the effectiveness of the public sector? At the systemic level, can micro-level gains in turn contribute to a broader renewal of the perceived legitimacy of the public domain? This Think Piece provides an overview of the debates surrounding these questions. A companion TWP Working Paper lays out a new synthesis of the theoretical and empirical micro-foundations of socially-embedded bureaucracies. The papers illustrate the argument with examples of how social embeddedness can improve governance of basic education, including in Bangladesh, Ghana, Kenya and Peru.
Why is the Green Energy Transition so Challenging in the
Global South?
Reflections from a Workshop
Alfonso Medinilla, Bruce Byiers and Neil McCulloch 2025
While the need for a transition away from fossil fuels to renewable energy is widely acknowledged, the rate at which this is currently happening is slower than that required to keep global temperatures below the targets in the Paris Agreement, or to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development (SDG) Goal 7, which calls for ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.
Countries in the Global South face a particularly acute challenge –they find themselves having to balance growing energy needs to meet industrialisation and economic transformation objectives, with the international push to transition away from fossil fuels. Energy reform programmes and external support often fall short of objectives. In large part, this is because they don’t take explicit account of the political realities that shape the behaviour, incentives, and motivations of those actors with a key role in the green energy transition, whether as champions or blockers. This Workshop Report highlights some of the key reflections on the factors affecting the energy transition that emerged from the workshop on The Politics of the Energy Transition in the Global South that was hosted by ECDPM and The Policy Practice, in collaboration with The TWP CoP and the World Bank, in October 2024.
Ripple Effects: Politicians and the Political Economy of International Development
Nicola Nixon, Leni Wild, Sumaya Saluja and Adam Burke 2024
This paper discusses some of the potential (negative) impacts of those interactions and explores how often they create ripple effects in the international development system of which those working at lower levels in governance systems may not be aware. The paper underscores the importance of understanding the intersection between the political economy of ‘the contexts’ and that of the international development system. The authors highlight that there are often unexplored opportunities to foster relationships between politicians and donor agencies that are less instrumentalised and more productive, build on a foundation of trust. This is essential in fostering more honest and realistic interactions amongst donor agencies, development practitioners, politicians and those they are elected to represent, and to ensure that development priorities and agendas are genuinely locally led.
Political Economy Analysis in Sudan: Handy Tools for Everyone?
Beverley Jones and Daniel Oosthuizen, with Dr Abdelgalil Elmekki and Esraa Ahmed 2024
This paper, written by Beverley Jones and Daniel Oosthuizen with Dr Abdelgalil Elmekki and Esraa Ahmed, tells a story of a group of Sudanese people who have been doing political economy analysis in Sudan, from the last year of the three-decade regime of Omar al-Bashir (1989–2019) up to the Sudanese revolution (2018 –2019) and the present civil war (April 2023–). This group comprises the architects and participants of a ‘Contextual Analysis’ course conducted in 2017-2018 under the auspices of a UK-funded programme implemented by the British Council.
The authors argue that the skills and mind-set of broad and localised PEA capacity can make a tangible difference to people living in fragile and conflict-affected places, where navigating dangerous complexity is their daily reality. They also suggest that there is under-utilised potential for PEA capacity to support not only ordinary people across a range of different occupations and education levels, but also prominent actors who may end up playing key roles in intricate political processes, and whose choices can affect the longer term prospects for stability and peace. And they conclude that there are compelling reasons why undertaking PEA training does not require a stable context as a pre-condition, and should in fact be considered also during periods of hiatus, fast-moving transitions and even active conflict, as a form of essential capability building and empowerment.
Thinking and Working Politically on the Governance of Extractive Industries
Leila Kazemi, November 2023
Leila is a senior fellow of the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI). This reflection piece is based on a CCSI project on the Politics of Extractive Industries that sought to support greater integration of a political lens into efforts of global actors working to improve the governance of extractive industries. Few in a field routinely confronting governance challenges such as corruption, state capture, and lack of accountability rooted in powerful vested interests would dispute that ‘politics matter’. However, there has been less clarity on how it is that politics matter – and what can be done in response. These were the key issues that the Politics of Extractive Industries project sought to address. This piece focuses on the process of trying to get a particular subfield of stakeholders to think and work in more politically aware ways, and not on the substantive outputs of that project as such.
Case Study Series: Profiles in Locally Led Approaches to Thinking and Working Politically
The TWP CoP is delighted to support the publication of a case study series sponsored by the DC Working Group on “Profiles in Locally-led Approaches to Thinking and Working Politically”. The series documents the efforts of local organisations and activists at the frontline of development to operate in ways that are anchored in thinking and working politically principles at the country and regional level. Showcasing the experiences and perspectives of Southern-based actors operating across a range of contexts, this series makes an important contribution to the body of evidence on politically aware and adaptive development. Case studies in the series, which are available on the TWP CoP webpage :
- Case Study 1: Advancing Pro-Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) Survivor Reform in Colombia
- Case Study 2: Thinking and Working Politically by Engaging Youth in Peacebuilding and Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) in Mali
- Case Study 3: Thinking and Working Politically while Providing Legal Aid to Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Survivors in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
- Case Study 4: How Refugee Women Use Political Know-How to Make Everyone Safer: The Case of the Yoleta (‘Think about it!’) Group in Uganda
Reflections on my experience as governance advisor of thinking and working politically in Sierra Leone and Liberia
Dadirai Chikwengo, May 2023
This personal reflections piece by Dadirai Chikwengo has two mutually reinforcing aims: to track her thinking and working politically (TWP) experience as a Governance Advisor and perhaps encourage others to embark on a similar journey; and to add this learning to the growing body of knowledge on TWP. Dadirai discusses how she was initially drawn to TWP, and why she has found it to be a useful approach to inform programming. Drawing on her experiences from Sierra Leone and Liberia, she highlights some of the enablers, opportunities, and challenges in operationalising TWP. She draws particular attention to how the conceptual language of TWP may be alienating, and how she has tried to make those concepts make sense to partner organisations that seek to bring change and transformation in their communities. By way of conclusion, Dadirai offers some practical recommendations to practitioners and signpost useful ‘go to’ areas.
Reflections on Ten Years of USAID’s Experience with Political Economy Analysis and Thinking and Working Politically
Derick Brinkerhoff and Marc Cassidy
In December 2022, the TWP CoP, in collaboration with RTI International and Adapt Consult, hosted a webinar on ‘Political Economy Analysis and TWP: Learning from Ten Years of USAID Experience’. This Reflections Note synthesises the key points arising from the webinar, including observations on the impacts, opportunities, challenges, and prospects for PEA/TWP to become more deeply adopted and sustained as a development methodology and approach across sectors. The paper starts by defining key concepts. It then highlights insights from the webinar discussion on the impact of the application of PEA and TWP principles across sectors. The paper concludes by looking at progress achieved to date, as well as constraints and opportunities to increase the uptake of both thinking and working politically in USAID-sponsored programming going forward.
Understanding Political Economy Analysis and Thinking and Working Politically
Alan Whaites, Laure-Hélène Piron, Alina Rocha Menocal and Graham Teskey
This guide outlines a set of analytical tools that are collectively known as Political Economy Analysis (PEA). The guide aims to equip practitioners to think and work in a politically informed manner, given that foreign policy and development objectives are invariably politically complex, and entail engaging with counterparts’ political incentives and preferences. The guide summarises different types of approaches to undertake PEA – from very light-touch to more in-depth – and provides advice to help foreign affairs and development professionals decide what might be more/less appropriate and feasible in a given context and why, with illustrations based on the experiences of FCDO teams working on these issues. This guide will help practitioners to make use of PEA and to adapt and tailor it to their own specific needs. The first part of the guide offers a general overview of PEA as an analytical approach. The second part provides more specific guidance for those who are tasked with undertaking analysis.
The TWP Community Podcast
In this podcast series Alina Rocha Menocal, Director of the TWP CoP, interviews experts on a variety of topics from a thinking and working politically perspective.
Videos
What is most exciting for you about the TWP agenda going forwards? Neil McCulloch on TWP entering new sectors beyond traditional governance
In this short video Neil McCulloch, Executive Director at The Policy Practice and TWP CoP Steering Committee member, tells us he is most excited to see the thinking and working politically agenda adopted beyond ‘big G’ governance sectors to wider sectors, for example in energy reform.
What is most exciting for you about the TWP agenda going forwards? Nicola Nixon on TWP and the localisation agenda
In this short video, Nicola Nixon, Director of Governance at The Asia Foundation, tells us she is most excited to see the TWP agenda engage with more localised and inclusive approaches to development, and to engage with a broader network of interested travellers in this space.
What is most exciting for you about the TWP agenda going forwards? Bruce Byiers on TWP and regional cooperation and integration.
In this short video, Bruce Byiers, Head of African Economic Integration at ECDPM, tells us that TWP needs to move beyond the traditional governance agenda to think and work politically about economic questions, including regional trade and cooperation, understanding the political dynamics around regional organisations, and trade and transport corridors. Interested in this? Watch our recent webinar which explored this topic in more depth.
Why is it important to think and work politically about the Women, Peace and Security Agenda?
In this short video featured in our May 2022 Newsletter, Pilar Domingo (Senior Research Fellow in Politics and Governance at ODI) explains the factors that are key to ensuring that international support to WPS efforts in conflict settings is politically effective and relevant. This includes supporting women’s organisations and movements related to political economy dynamics, providing sustained funding and operational support to these organisations, and engaging in these efforts over the long term.
Previous Events
Wednesday 11th December 2024, 15:00GMT
Monitoring and Evaluation in Thinking and Working Politically
Facilitated by Florencia Guerzovich and Tom Aston, this event reflected on the following questions:
-How can we tell if efforts to promote change through politically informed approaches are working?
-How are practitioners using those insights to do their work better and mainstream TWP principles within their own organisations and in their engagement with other partners?
-In practice, what kinds of stories are development practitioners telling about the difference TWP can make in helping to, among other things, analyse contexts, identify entry points, prioritise engagement, and use that knowledge to manage relationships and/or foster coalitions for change?
Monday 29th April 2024, 08:30 am BST
A Conversation on politics, development, and change
-How well do development actors understand the interests and incentives of the elected officials we work with?
-What shapes politicians’ views of change and reform?
-What are their views on development actors and their goals?
-And ultimately, what does it look like to successfully collaborate with those in power to realise meaningful change?
This event was organised by the TWP Community of Practice in partnership with The Asia Foundation , Global Partners Governance and Development Intelligence Lab
Thursday 27th April 2023, 12:00 – 13:30 pm BST
Southern Perspectives on international assistance to democracy and human rights: Is donor support fit for purpose?
Wednesday 15th March 2023, 14:00-15:30pm GMT:
Roundtable: Alina Rocha Menocal in conversation with Heather Marquette, Laure-Hélène Piron and Verena Fritz
Monday 5th December 2022, 14:00-16:00pm GMT: Political Economy Analysis and TWP: Learning from 10 years of USAID experience
Organised in collaboration with Adapt Consult and the TWP Washington DC Working Group
Thursday 23 June 2022, 10:00-11:30am BST: Thinking and working politically about regional cooperation and integration
Organised in collaboration with EDCPM
Wednesday 30 March 2022: Engaging with Politics: towards smarter international support to revitalise democracy
Organised in collaboration with ODI
Monday 21/ Tuesday 22 March 2022: Localisation and locally led development: An opportunity for thinking and working politically to deliver?
Organised in collaboration with La Trobe University
Thursday 17 February 2022: Thinking Politically about Health Systems Resilience in the context of COVID-19
Organised in collaboration with TPP and DAI Global Health