Sources of Political Credibility in Ten Countries

Abstract

This chapter will try to operationalize the mechanisms of control identified in the previous chapter. Case studies of ten LDCs will be conducted in order to evaluate the relevance of the three control mechanisms assumed to create political credibility: (1) control through reputation, (2) control through openness, and (3) control through participation. The style of this empirical chapter will clearly be more informal than in the analysis of political credibility. As it is not possible to consistently quantify the mechanisms of control, the chapter will not provide any econometric analysis. Rather it will try to come up with qualitative categorisations of the different mechanisms for ten LDCs. Table 6.1 summarises these categorizations.