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Thinking and Working Politically

Thinking and Working Politically Pullquote

Thinking and working politically. Doing development differently. Adaptive management. Ultimately it doesn't matter what we call it, but it matters a great deal how we understand and practice it. We cannot do development differently if we only adopt different techniques. Change is political. We need to engage with the process of change. We need to work with and through individual and collective sets of domestic interests. And that's what we do—work together to overcome the interests that resist change.
Graham Teskey
Graham Teskey
Principal Global Lead of Governance Practice, Abt Global

Getting to the Heart of Things

Abt recognizes effective development requires local solutions to local problems. Local support can provide ideas, resources and space. We apply a governance lens to all our programs in order to understand where power lies, what interests are at stake, and to identify solutions that are politically feasible as well as technically appropriate. We use our contextual knowledge to judge what coalitions or networks we can support in order to further and deepen policy and institutional reform. Understanding the institutional context and the range of actors involved are critical to success.