Margaret Chasara
Because issues of power and legitimacy are important but understudied in the understanding of how institutions enhance or constrain developmental policy outcomes, this proposed research will address the following question: How does the interaction of power, legitimacy and institutions impact developmental policy outcomes? The major argument of this proposed research is that development outcomes in general (and in Zimbabwe in particular) are not only influenced by the institutional set-up but by the interaction of those institutions with power and legitimacy. This proposed research contends that because power, legitimacy, institutions and developmental policy outcomes evolve as societies evolve, the past is connected with the present and the future. Using Zimbabwe as a case study, this proposed research hopes to qualitatively explore the bidirectional and multifaceted impact of the interaction of power and legitimacy with both formal and informal institutions on Zimbabwe’s development policy outcomes in particular economic growth and poverty reduction over three different phases of the country’s historical development (pre-colonial, colonial and post colonial eras). This path dependent view adopted by this research to explore the changes in the interaction of power, legitimacy and institutions in pre-colonial and colonial times and their persistence during post-colonial era will thus provide an important contribution to the understanding of factors influencing and shaping Zimbabwe’s current development outcomes particularly economic growth and poverty reduction.