A common view of the developmental prospects of sub-Saharan Africa is that the crucial obstacle is political. Stronger states and representative institutions are a necessary precondition for development. This is a common view in both the media and in academe. The paper argues that this is to get...

The study of urban politics in the US is now dominated by issues of local economic development. These are situated analytically with respect to a more global space economy. This is the New Urban Politics. The central logic of the New Urban Politics is one of cities or communities competing for...

In his book 'The World Is Flat', Thomas Friedman postulates notions of 'flatness' that combine to suggest, on the one hand, tendencies towards an equalization of chances of economic development; and on the other, a displacement of vertical forms of organization by more horizontal ones, notably...