If the 1980s saw the rise of a new orthodoxy about the developmental role of states, the early 1990s have seen the rise of a new orthodoxy about the developmental role of political regimes. The former criticised the developmental states of the postcolonial era for excessive economic dirigisme, advocating a reduction in their role and a freeing up of markets and private enterprise along neo-liberal lines.
The latter extended this to a critique of political dirigisme, emphasising the developmental deficiencies of authoritarian regimes as well as their denial of human rights and civil freedoms and advocating a transition to democracy along liberal lines.
By the mid-1990s, these two critiques have coalesced into a comprehensive strategic vision of both political and economic probity, according to which development can best be promoted through a market-friendly state presiding over a predominantly capitalist economy operating within the political ‘shell’ of a liberal democratic polity.
