Support for economic reform? Popular attitudes in Southern Africa

Type Journal Article - World Development
Title Support for economic reform? Popular attitudes in Southern Africa
Author(s)
Volume 31
Issue 2
Publication (Day/Month/Year) 2003
Page numbers 303-323
URL http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X02001948
Abstract
Do ordinary people support programs of economic reform? If so, why? If not, why not? This article breaks new ground by reporting and comparing public opinion from seven Southern African countries based on systematic Afrobarometer surveys. It finds that people support some adjustment policies (such as price reforms) but oppose others (such as institutional reforms). An eclectic explanation is offered for these attitudes that draws on structural factors (especially poverty), cultural values (such as self-reliance), and exposure to mass media. The most formative influence on mass economic opinion in Southern Africa, however, is the institutional legacy of settler colonialism as expressed through race and nation.

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