A developmental state is both a theoretical construct and a description of the political economy of certain nations, primarily in East Asia, over a specified time period. Theoretically, a developmental state is a particular type of state with a high degree of autonomy and solid institutional competence, allowing it to undertake a series of effective state-interventionist policies in pursuit of developmental objectives. Statism and state autonomy underpin the conceptual framework of the developmental state. The developmental state defied the neoclassical orthodoxy in development economics. Despite lacking the attributes of the mainstream neoclassical consensus in development economics and facing an uphill battle from such institutions, developmental states in various regions of the world have achieved high levels of economic growth. This study seeks to investigate the developmental state trajectories of Mauritius in relation to vital elements of developmental states. In an effort to do so, this study poses the following question: "What accounts for Mauritius' development state success in Africa?". By looking at the link between institutional building and economic performance, the study finds that Mauritius has replicated key developmental state institutions, including embedded and autonomous bureaucracy, making it one of Africa's most successful developmental states.
One of the questions in social science is about the relationship between theory and practice. It goes back to the ancient Greek philosophers whose world was strictly separated into polis and oikos. The actors of polis were engaged in the formation of a democratic society requiring active action in the sense of vita activa. According to Arendt, with the decline of the polis and the emergence of the new forms of the society, vita activa was initially set in opposition to vita contemplativa and then later devalued in favour of vita contemplativa. However, with Galilei and Kant, there has been a counter-movement, which no longer understood theory as isolating oneself from the world but as shaping social realities. Theory and practice are joined today by the concept of research. The relationship between theory and practice will be examined initially within a historical perspective offering the genesis. Then the features of some institutions are discussed in terms of their communications with theory and practice and redefined accordingly.