The Impact Of Foreign Aid On The Loss Of Government Legitimacy In Developing Countries

While promoting socioeconomic development and democratic transition in developing countries,foreign aid may also accelerate the loss of government legitimacy.Nevertheless,current studies have not provided a systematic explanation on whether aid can affect the government legitimacy of developing countries.Firstly,scholars concern more about the positive role of aid on the government legitimacy in recipient countries,while ignoring its negative side.Secondly,the existing answer to the impact of foreign aid on the loss of government legitimacy in developing countries is relatively single and controversial.Moreover,the research on the loss of government legitimacy in recipient countries is scattered and lacks systematic analysis.In generally,there is a big gap in current research on foreign aid and the loss of government legitimacy in developing countries.Therefore,the author tries to put forward a new way to explore the impact of foreign aid on the loss of government legitimacy in developing countries.The point of this paper is that if aid allocation is unreasonable and unfair,it will hinder the conversion of legitimacy resources into legitimacy,thus leading to the loss of the government legitimacy in developing countries.Legitimacy refers to people's recognition and support for political power.The lack of legitimacy will undermine the ground of the rule.In real politics,governments often obtain the basis of ruling fromideology,institutions and rules,governing performance and personal charisma.But possessing these legitimacy resources do not necessarily lead to people's unconditional trust and support.Legitimacy resources and legitimacy are two different concepts.In the process of political output or public policy process,the obedience of the above principles will promote the conversion of legitimacy resources into legitimacy;otherwise,the conversion will be blocked and the government will face the risk of losing its legitimacy.The basis and characteristics of government legitimacy in developing countries determine the importance of providing public goods and services that satisfy the public for governments to acquire and consolidate legitimacy.External aid can compensate for the incapability of developing countries to produce public goods and services,which in some way providing them with positive legitimacy resources.But allocating aid resources unreasonably and partially cannot achieve the conversion of legitimacy resources into legitimacy.Specifically,The high concentration of resource allocation power and the undisciplined management of aid will lead to the unreasonable utilization of resources,which causes the deviation of aid distribution practice from the original goal and gives rise to corruption.Resource information asymmetry will lead to unfair and unjust distribution of aid resources.The unreasonable use of aid resources goes against country's long-term development goals and the interests of the masses,greatly reducing citizens' expectations and trust in the government.The unfair distribution of aid resources and the emergence of corruption aggravate the gap between the rich and the poor,and undermine the impartiality and authority of the government.These factors contribute to the loss of government legitimacy in developing countries.In the case of Tanzania,unreasonable and unfair aid allocation practice fueled the political crisis of Mwinyi government in the 1980 s and 1990 s.Since independence,the international community has provided substantial assistance to Tanzania in support of its national development plans and reforms.The arrival of aid provided the Mwinyi government with a positive source of legitimacy.However,the highly concentrated public resource allocation power in the ruling party and the central government,the inefficient management of public resources,the lack of thedistribution by law pattern and the monopoly of resource information by the conservative party and interest groups led to the unreasonable and unfair aid allocation: a large amount of aid funds were wasted in subsidizing inefficient state-owned enterprises and paying the administrative costs of the public sectors,resulting in the deviation of the actual use of aid resources from the aid objectives;improper management of aid resources contributed to corruption in the political system;the unfair distribution of resources further widened the gap between the rich and the poor and the class differentiation within the society.The emergence of these problems seriously undermined the authority and impartiality of the government,gradually arouses the public's doubts on the reforms of the Mwinyi government and its ruling legitimacy and even the one-party autocratic system,forcing the national leaders to initiate the process of modern democratization attempting to alleviate the political crisis.In view of this,the author puts forward six ideas in term of preventing and controlling the loss of government legitimacy in developing countries caused by foreign aid: first,adhere to the goal of aid and make aid allocation serve the long-term development of the country;second,maintain the independence and impartiality of allocation power,and emphasize the fairness and justice of opportunities,processes and results;third,broaden social participation in aid management and encourage diverse subjects to participate in the formulation and implementation of aid policies;fourth,upgrade the standardization of aid resource allocation and establish standardized distribution procedures;fifth,improve the transparency of aid resource information and establish a mechanism for information publicity and disclosure;sixth,international organizations should actively participate in and supervise the aid management and properly deal with the issue of dominance with the recipient countries.