Political Aid Cycles

摘要

Since Boone (1994, 1996) reignited debate on the effectiveness of foreign aid, a large literature has examined its impacts on economic development.1 This is an important agenda on normative grounds and eminently sensible: after all, Official Development Assistance (ODA) is by definition financing "with promotion of economic development and welfare as the main objective" (OECD 2006). Might it nevertheless miss part of the story? Might donors also use aid for political change abroad? The 2006 Palestinian elections suggest so. In these elections the United States-backed incumbent Palestinian Authority (PA) faced strong opposition from Hamas. In the weeks preceding the elections, the United States Agency for International Development Assistance (USAID) funded several development programs in Palestine including the distribution of free food and water, a street-cleaning campaign, computers for community centers, and even a national youth soccer tournament. A progress report distributed to USAID and State Department officials was strikingly candid about the objective:Public outreach is integrated into the design of each project to highlight the role of the PA in meeting citizens needs. The plan is to have events running every day of the coming week, beginning 13 January, such that there is a constant stream of announcements and public outreach about positive happenings all over Palestinian areas in the critical week before the elections.