Policy formulation and implementation in Zimbabwe: Understanding state autonomy and the locus of decision-making

Scholars have been unable to formulate a persuasive theory of government decision-making in Sub-Saharan Africa because of inadequate empirical investigation and theories which are too general to provide falsifiable predictions about actual state actions. This dissertation makes middle-level generalizations about the autonomy of the state and the level at which decisions will be made in African states by examining the role of institutions, issue-areas, and interest groups in policy formulation and implementation in independent Zimbabwe. Case studies of land policy, agricultural producer price policy, foreign investment policy, mineral marketing policy, health policy, and national minimum wage policy are used to establish an empirical foundation for theorizing. In addition, the evolution of national politics in Zimbabwe is reviewed. The research is based on interviews and research conducted during an eighteen month stay in Zimbabwe beginning in 1986. The study concludes by developing a series of falsifiable predictions about when states in Africa should be autonomous and at what level of the state government decisions will be taken.