Reflections on Implementing Politically Informed, Searching Programs

Drawing on several case studies, most notably those funded through the unique partnership between the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and the Asia Foundation, this paper adds to the current discourse on programming that is flexible and highly sensitive to context and local politics. The authors term this programming approach iterative, searching programs. The paper provides readers with a review of the diverse forms that iterative, searching programs can take and explores common features of more successful cases that will be relevant to any organization wishing to work in this way. Finally, the paper offers practical advice on the management conditions necessary to allow politically informed, searching approaches to be successful. This is the fifth paper in the Working Politically in Practice paper series.