Looking like a state: The seduction of isomorphic mimicry

Resource type
Book Section
Authors/contributors
Title
Looking like a state: The seduction of isomorphic mimicry
Abstract
In this chapter we argue that isomorphic mimicry is a key “technique of successful failure” that perpetuates capability traps in development. In the context of this study, isomorphic mimicry is the tendency of governments to mimic other governments’ successes, replicating processes, systems, and even products of the “best practice” examples. This mimicry often conflates form and function: leading to a situation where “looks like” substitutes for “does”; i.e., governments look capable after the mimicry but are not actually more capable. We argue that this is endemic in development and has become a primary reason why countries do not build real capability even after years of policy and reform engagement and billions of dollars of capacity building work. We suggest that the tendency to so mimic is amplified by the current development ecosystem, especially where public sectors have become closed to novelty but open (and supportive of) agenda conformity. Such characteristics make it very hard for states to build the new capabilities needed, for their contexts, given their realities.
Book Title
Building State Capability: Evidence, Analysis, Action
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Date
2017-01-12
Pages
0
ISBN
978-0-19-874748-2
Short Title
Looking like a state
Accessed
10/09/2022, 20:34
Library Catalogue
Silverchair
Citation
Andrews, M., Pritchett, L., & Woolcock, M. (2017). Looking like a state: The seduction of isomorphic mimicry. In M. Andrews, L. Pritchett, & M. Woolcock (Eds.), Building State Capability: Evidence, Analysis, Action (p. 0). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198747482.003.0003