States, Markets, and Foreign Aid

'This book is essential reading for those in the academic or policy community who want to understand the variation in foreign aid policies of donor countries. Drawing on a diverse set of theories and using a creative multi-method approach, Dietrich shows how ideological orientations about the role of the state in donor countries shape foreign aid institutions and, therefore, aid delivery patterns. The book is impressive in its theoretical and empirical contributions to key questions in the field of international political economy.' Jon Pevehouse, University of Wisconsin-Madison 'This book provides a novel perspective on the politics of foreign aid in donor countries. It represents an important advance in our knowledge of what forces shape the giving of assistance to developing countries. And it helps us account for why the process of aid-giving is so different across donor countries.' Helen Milner, B.C. Forbes Professor of Politics and International Affairs, Princeton University 'We cannot make progress on the fundamental question of whether foreign aid is effective without understanding why donor agencies pursue such different strategies to achieve their goals. Drawing on extensive interviews with aid decision-makers and sophisticated quantitative analysis, Dietrich expertly illuminates the historical roots of donor practices, challenging the idea that there is a single model of aid effectiveness to which all governments should aspire and around which we should expect convergence. In order to be practical and implementable, foreign aid strategies must align with the underlying ideological orientation of the donor government - a hugely important insight that is relevant to scholars, policymakers, and practitioners concerned with donor coordination and the impact of foreign aid on recipient countries.' Jeremy Weinstein, Professor of Political Science, Stanford University 'Dietrich's excellent book is a must-read for scholars of political economy. It shows that national ideas about the state's proper role in the economy shape aid-delivery institutions, which can either help build state capacity in the developing world, or bypass governments to deliver aid directly to people in need. Considering the literature's focus on the strategic and materialist motivations behind foreign aid, this book makes a surprisingly strong case for the importance of ideology.' James Vreeland, Professor of Politics and International Affairs, Princeton University 'Dietrich offers a deep analysis of how and why donors engage or bypass government that provide a useful lens for that assessment.' George Ingram, Brookings