ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the implications, for socio-economic development, of the existence of ‘constituency development funds’ (CDFs). By examining what factors determine the consequences of CDFs the chapter identifies the conditions under which CDFs are likely to be a driver for locally focused development or, conversely, fuel rent-seeking and rent-extraction by politicians and interest groups. This critical appraisal of CDFs is achieved via two sections. First, the general discussion of CDFs, by Mark Baskin, analyzes the controversies surrounding CDFs and how the context (governance structure) they are embedded in is critical in determining whether they are a driver of development or corruption. This analysis is made more concrete in the second section of the chapter, in which Rasheed Draman critically examines the operation of CDFs in Ghana, a case study that demonstrates empirically how critical the governance context is in determining the consequences of the existence and operation of CDFs.
