The politics of bureaucratic ‘pockets of effectiveness’: Insights from Ghana’s Ministry of Finance
This paper examines the MoF’s performance over the past 5 years, using historical analysis and data from interviews and reports
Abstract
Ghana’s Ministry of Finance (MoF) has been identified as a ‘pocket of effectiveness’, both in relation to other state agencies and in terms of delivering on its mandate.However, this effectiveness has not been constant over the post-independence period, which requires us to explain how and why effectiveness is generated, but also why it can falter. The authors argue that the effectiveness of the MoF’s performance derives from the coupling of changing features in Ghana’s wider political settlement with the internal organisational features of this key ministry. Using historical analysis and data collected from recent interviews and reports, we focus on the MoF’s performance over the past 5 years, even as we situate this in the longer-term context of the Ministry’s ups and downs.
This paper is part of the Effective States and Inclusive Development Research Centre programme
Citation
Abdulai, A.-G. and Mohan, G. (2019) The politics of bureaucratic ‘pockets of effectiveness’: Insights from Ghana’s Ministry of Finance. ESID Working Paper No.119. Manchester, UK: The University of Manchester
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