Critical Pragmatism, Bureaucratic Discretion, and the Making of an Urban Climate Program at USAID

Source abstract

This article advances planning theory by extending critical pragmatism to a development organization. It develops a framework for understanding how practitioners may exercise discretion and expertise through four dimensions: attention to institutional history, anticipation of institutional futures, navigation of power and relations, and commitment to normative goals. Drawing on a case study of USAID’s Partnership for Net Zero Cities in Mexico, this study shows how a career bureaucrat leveraged technical knowledge and bureaucratic literacy to develop an urban decarbonization program in a rural-biased agency. To address complex challenges like climate change, practitioners need normative commitments, technical competence, and bureaucratic fluency.