Applying “Most Different Systems” Designs

Abstract

In every polity, development policy choices often remain either implicit or largely ignored. Whereas economic growth can be measured with some precision, development policy choices continue to constitute an inadequately defined and residual category. This article compares development policy since the 1970s within two very different policy systems: the southeastern American state of Alabama, and the western Caribbean island of Jamaica. After reappraising the validity of such “most different systems” designs, within the context of state-society structure, it further reviews the ambiguous nexus between economic growth and sociopolitical development. Subsequently, it singles out state policy toward private enterprise, and public-private sector interaction, as primary points of departure for an exploration of comparative development policy choice and implementation.