Bureaucratic Politics in Development Assistance

Abstract

This article analyzes the American economic aid program in Egypt. The focus is on the interbureaucratic struggles facing USAID officials, both in Washington and in Cairo. The primary hypothesis is that such struggles are significant impediments to fulfilling the economic development goals of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). This analysis of conflicting approaches to development provides evidence for why the AID program in Egypt has yet to have a major impact on Egyptian development effort& Given the political realities behind any aid program, one way to improve the aid donating process is to restructure the principal aid agency (USAID) and reconstitute it as an independent agency, beyond the influence of Congress, the State Department, and other organizations.

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