Is best practice in development still viable? The case of financial management in fragile Afghanistan

摘要

The concept of best practice has few friends in international development; however, the wholesale rejection of best practice is incorrect. The article first reviews the critique of best practice by describing its four main features and analyses it through a case study of public financial management (PFM) in Afghanistan country using three donor-funded projects that employ a best practice approach. The PFM projects are evaluated based on the four components of the critique. The article concludes with a modest reassessment of the continued salience of best practice in international development.