ABSTRACT
Development activity was for long virtually the monopoly of the state. However, the lack of alternatives did not mean the state was always a positive force for development. Moreover, in the late twentieth century, the state’s claim to this monopoly weakened, while other agencies of development, such as the World Bank, the IMF and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), gained a higher profile. Development has to be seen in the economic context of global capitalism, but also in the political context. The most crucial relationship is between the state and the economy: states participate directly in processes of productive capital formation (establishing a set of economic policies favourable to capitalist accumulation), provide infrastructure and affect private-sector resource allocation through monetary and fiscal policies. The state provides an enabling environment/structure for development by other agencies. The state is the network of government, quasigovernment and non-government institutions that coordinates, regulates and monitors economic and social activities. The role of non-state actors seems destined to grow as the power of the nation state declines and global economic activity intensifies.
