Predictably, the role of individuals in pushing for greater
political engagement in DFID and World Bank country offices
seems to have been ad hoc, idiosyncratic, and
personality-based. Our interviews reveal a relatively large
degree of flexibility for politically-minded practitioners to
innovate and establish temporary processes and systems on
top of and around corporate guidelines and organizational
accountability. Actual PEA reveals itself in day-to-day practice
as less of the science the epistemic community envisioned
and more of an art: when it comes to rely on people, the politics
of one’s own organization are as relevant as that of the
local context for operations, and so it is natural that political
analysis will predominate in country offices whose managers
and governance advisers are more entrepreneurial and less
risk-averse. However, flexibility and an over-reliance on personality
is also the Achilles’ heel of political analysis in aid
agencies, as relatively quick staff turn-over rates constantly
undermine the institutionalization of whatever innovations
are introduced. PEA is used by governance-minded professionals,
but it is not yet a core feature of the governance profession,
much less the other advisory and specialist cadres
within DFID and the World Bank.