Govern Like Us

M. A. Thomas is critical of our policy-rightly so-but refrains from relativism and bombast. She provides a useful contrarian perspective that is difficult to ignore. -- Michael Johnston, Colgate University In recent years, there has been a broad recognition in rich countries that poor government is a leading cause of poverty, and they have undertaken vast programs to stem corruption and dysfunctional politics. In Govern Like Us, M. A. Thomas exposes the illusions that have undergirded this effort and shows why the vast sums invested in places like Afghanistan and Iraq have yielded such meager results. This book should be required reading for anyone in the development field. -- Francis Fukuyama, Stanford University Wow. A hard-hitting analysis from a scholar/practitioner of the deep intellectual roots of the failures to create 'good governance' everywhere-and why that failure is ignored or blamed on others. A useful corrective to the conventional development wisdom. -- Lant Pritchett, Harvard University Govern Like Us delivers a thought-provoking and valuable reminder that sanctimonious insistence on moral perfection can be as self-defeating as moral indifference. -- Mark Moyar The Wall Street Journal Highly recommended. Choice Govern Like Us is a valuable guide to outsiders looking to familiarize themselves with some of the challenges of development. It also should be of great value to students, as it provides an excellent outline of the origins and operations of the neopatrimonial state and the challenges to escaping the poverty trap. -- Christopher Mitchell Political Science Quarterly