ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to incorporate what has been learned from the dependency literature and to consider its implications for administrative change. It argues that the external and internal explanations of administrative malfunction are both applicable and interdependent. Structuralists emphasize the way in which the international economic system influences and constrains the path of development. International terms of trade, the functioning of international financial and monetary markets, and flows of military and security assistance are most commonly cited for their impact on underdevelopment and administrative incapacity. Both explanations—external and internal —are essential parts of the story. Some of the external factors interact with some of the internal factors, and the cumulative effect of their interaction undermines administrative capacity. The systemic interaction of the external and internal factors increases administrative incapacity, and that incapacity in turn diminishes the potential for redistributive policies in the future.
