The title of this article draws on a Yorùbá aphorism that roughly translates into ‘don’t sell me a dummy’. The dark side of social policy, the theme of this Debate, has a distinct character in the African context. The transformation of the African public policy landscape, shaped by the ‘counter-revolution’ in development thinking, has taken a new form with the donor ‘policy merchandising’ of cash transfer schemes. The stratified and segregated social policy on offer contrasts with the historical experience of ‘donor’ countries themselves. The policy instrument advanced is cast as ‘a silent revolution in development’, embodying the idea of development shifting from structural transformation to poverty alleviation. What is promoted is an impoverished version of development. Within the discourse of ‘working with the grain of African politics’, the politics of social assistance policy merchandising starts with a notion of politics as clientelist. It then deploys the instrumentality of clientelism — within an imperial deployment of power — in the manufacture of civil society and policy coalition, to ensure the local adoption of a policy instrument that the extra-territorial donor actors offer. This modality of public policy formulation contrasts sharply with the historical experience of public policy making in the ‘donor’ countries themselves. The result is the subversion of the consolidation of democracy in the African client states.

中文翻译：

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非洲的政策推销和社会援助：别叫我狗猴

这篇文章的标题借鉴了 Yorùbá 格言，大致翻译为“不要卖给我一个假人”。本次辩论的主题是社会政策的阴暗面，在非洲背景下具有鲜明的特征。由发展思维中的“反革命”塑造的非洲公共政策格局的转变已采用现金转移计划的捐助者“政策推销”的新形式。提供的分层和隔离的社会政策与“捐助”国本身的历史经验形成鲜明对比。提出的政策工具被称为“一场无声的发展革命”，体现了从结构转型到脱贫攻坚的发展理念。提倡的是穷版的发展。在“处理非洲政治问题”的话语中，社会援助政策推销的政治始于将政治视为客户的概念。然后，它在公民社会和政策联盟的制造中部署客户主义的工具——在帝国权力的部署中——以确保当地采用域外捐助者提供的政策工具。这种公共政策制定模式与“捐助”国本身公共政策制定的历史经验形成鲜明对比。结果是颠覆了非洲附庸国的民主巩固。确保当地采用域外捐助者提供的政策工具。这种公共政策制定模式与“捐助”国本身公共政策制定的历史经验形成鲜明对比。结果是颠覆了非洲附庸国的民主巩固。确保当地采用域外捐助者提供的政策工具。这种公共政策制定模式与“捐助”国本身公共政策制定的历史经验形成鲜明对比。结果是颠覆了非洲附庸国的民主巩固。