ABSTRACT
The vast academic literature dealing with different aspects of politics in non-democratic regimes has given little thought to the analysis of military regimes, politics and the implementation of social policies. The construction of "pharaonic" projects, such as nuclear power stations, large hydro-electric projects, urban underground transport and large scale housing projects in the 1960s and late 1970s, was widely used in government propaganda throughout various non-democratic regimes. The increased visibility of political corruption has become a persistent and disturbing feature of non-democratic societies. In many non-democratic regimes, however, neither management systems nor managers were available to assure competent and responsible administration of public enterprises. As the World Bank entered its second decade of lending for social development projects in non-democratic regimes there remains the question about its continued effectiveness and relevance. The chapter looks at the trends of an increasing expenditure on social policy programs in non-democratic regimes and explained why the situation is similar to that of Western democracies.
