Why meritocracy is not enough for better governance

Politicians face a dilemma when professionalising the state in low- and middle-income democracies. While professionalisation can improve the quality of the bureaucracy, it makes it harder for politicians to distribute jobs, public contracts and other resources to party supporters.

In her new book, The Co-Opted State, Dr Sarah Brierley shows how politicians embrace meritocratic recruitment while still controlling bureaucratic careers. Drawing on evidence from Ghana, India, and Indonesia, this talk explores why meritocracy alone may be insufficient to deliver better governance.

Dr Sarah Brierley is an Associate Professor of Comparative Politics in the Department of Government at LSE. Her research focuses on the state, corruption, and electoral politics in sub-Saharan Africa. Her new book, The Co-opted State, considers politicians' incentives to control bureaucrats’ careers to undermine governance in order to deliver non-programmatic benefits to voters. Listen to an episode of VoxDevTalks in which Sarah discusses The Co-Opted State to find out more about the book.

Catch up with previous Showcase talks on YouTube

View the full playlist of past Research Showcase events.

LSE holds a wide range of events, covering many of the most controversial issues of the day, and speakers at our events may express views that cause offence. The views expressed by speakers at LSE events do not reflect the position or views of the London School of Economics and Political Science.