Olle Törnquist is Professor of Politics and Development in the Department of Political Science at Oslo University and Reader in Political Science at Uppsala University.

`If it′s a lucid, concise intellectual history of development theory you′re looking for - one with originality and political bite, you′ll find it in T[um]ornquist′s fine book′ - James C Scott, Yale University`This book introduces the student to the politics of development in the postcolonial world by familiarising them with the main debates on the subject. I can think of no better way of doing it′ - Mahmood Mamdani, University of Cape Town`Through a wide ranging critique of influential conceptualisations of the ′Third World′, and by focussing on the symbiosis between politics and development, Tornquist opens the way for a fresh understanding of how late developing societies can be democratised′ - Neera Chandhoke, University of Delhi`A pleasant, wide-ranging and ambitious textbook Olle Tornquist has written. It is pleasant because of the authors frankness about his own preferences combined with an openess towards diverging views; it is wide-ranging in the theoretical space it covers; and it is ambitious in the way it proposes a "best practice" within the study of politics and development....I recommend the book to anyone interested in entering a stimulating discussion on the subject′ - The European Journal of Development Research

• IntroductionPART ONE: THE STUDY OF THIRD WORLD POLITICS AND DEVELOPMENTThe Problem AreaThe Sub-DisciplineAnalytical ApproachesPolitical and Scientific ConjuncturesPART TWO: THE DISCUSSION ON THIRD WORLD POLITICS AND DEVELOPMENTModernisation and Political DevelopmentRevised Modernisation and Guided DevelopmentDependency and PoliticsClass Politics and the Relative Autonomy of the StateRent-Seeking Politicians and BureaucratsThe Primacy of InstitutionsPost-Marxist AlternativesPART THREE: FROM A SCHOOL TO A PERSPECTIVE AND STUDY OF ONE′S OWNTHE CASE OF DEMOCRATISATIONTowards the Study of Democratisation in the Context of Late DevelopmentFrom Civil Society and Social Capital to the Politics of Democratisation