The politics of decision making in developing countries

Decision making in developing countries has not been accorded the needed attention by policy studies scholars. The general perception among these scholars is that the policy making process is externally driven, especially when the policy involves economic decision. Using privatization as a case study, the article examines policy making in Botswana and Ghana. It argues that it is wrong to assume that all developing countries are merely ‘policy hooks’ in the decision making game of the international community. It shows that some countries have the capacity to develop their own policies depending on their level of dependency on the international community.