From Miracle to Nightmare: An Institutional Analysis of Development Failures in Côte d'Ivoire

Once touted as the "Ivorian miracle," Côte d'Ivoire has become a development nightmare. For two decades after obtaining independence, its economic growth and unwavering political stability baffled economists and inspired other fledgling African states to imitate its development model. Now, almost fifty years later, Côte d'Ivoire is a model of failed development. Recently emerging from a civil war, its economy stands in shambles, and an ongoing political stalemate threatens to reignite the violence. This article couples Elinor Ostrom's institutional analysis-and-development framework with Claude Ake's development paradigm to highlight the institutional roots of the crisis and suggest how institutional transformation may be used to prod the nation to wake up and again become the "Ivorian miracle."