1. How is political economy being used? 10 years ago pe not in donor vocabulary Now many donors using pe analysis - Sida: power analysis - DFID: Drivers of change - Netherlands: SGACA - World Bank: problem driven analysis - UNDP - Asia Foundation: political settlements

2. Why? Evaluations point to importance of politics Limited impact of public sector reform, best practice approaches Concerns about corruption Work in fragile states highlights politics of state building

3. Different approaches, common experiences Top down, bottom up More or less prescriptive Political or technocratic leadership Country, sector or problem level Quality of analyst, country knowledge Mainly for own information Jointly with partner country changes dynamics

4. Impact: general Links development, diplomacy, security, trade Challenges best practice, comprehensive PSR, crude conditionality Incremental change; more nuanced narrative about corruption Taxation and accountability Global drivers State-building lens Quality of internal debate

5. Impact: country level Diversity, complexity of country context More realism about objectives, donor leverage (SGACA) Some fundamental shifts in strategy (Nigeria, Nepal) Impact of donor behaviour, aid modalities

6. Impact: sector level Realism (Uganda roads, Bangladesh water) Opportunities (different entry points, global drivers, changed narrative) Problem driven analysis (traction, risks) Scope for “doing better”

7. Challenges Impact fragmented: no fundamental re-think about development, donor roles Divergence between internal debate and external narrative (alignment, reform in return for aid, all good things go together, zero tolerance for corruption) No changes to donor staffing, incentives Risk missing opportunities PEA just the next donor fashion?