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The challenges of conflict sensitive poverty alleviation -- Political economy considerations -- Identity, attributions, deservingness judgments, and hostility -- Conditional cash transfers -- Social-sector spending targeting the poor -- Pro-poor subsidies and the problem of leakage -- Affirmative action -- Regional development targeting the poorest areas -- How the wealthy react to pro-poor-labeled initiatives -- Lessons and conclusions.

"Understanding the Policymaking Process in Developing Countries provides a uniquely comprehensive and practical framework for development practitioners, policymakers, activists, and students to diagnose and improve policy processes in developing countries across a wide range of issues. Based on the classic policy sciences approach, the book offers over 100 diagnostic indicators keyed to identify problems of policy processes, policy content, bureaucratic behavior, stakeholder behavior, and national-subnational interactions. This multi-disciplinary framework is applied to a host of policy problems that particularly plague countries experiencing the 'under-development syndrome', including aborted programs and projects, policy impasses, distorted implementation, unnecessary harm and conflict, and shortsighted initiatives. These points are illustrated through cases from Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Based on the developing countries' distinctive challenges, the book also offers recommendations on improving policy content and institutions to address the typical limitations"--

It is contended that policy sciences in the US & Europe have entered an era in which "positivism" has been severely shaken, simplistic behavioralist approaches have been abandoned, & the importance of contextual, interdisciplinary, problem-oriented inquiry has been reaffirmed. Challenges posed by the new "economic imperialism" approach to social science issues are examined, & points of similarity & dissimilarity between neoclassical economics & policy sciences are explored in detail. It is hoped that the expansion of the economic approach will stimulate a fresh examination of the application of policy science to economic theory & arenas. 10 References. K. Hyatt

Partial contents: Early behavioralism: the good guys; Backsliding with postwar "neo-behavioralism"; Where are we now?