Thinking and Working Politically (TWP) through Applied Political Economy Analysis (PEA) -- Guide and Supporting Materials

Have you ever done everything right in a development program — followed every technical best practice — but still missed the mark? When this happens, it often relates to factors in the context beyond any external development actor’s ability to control. PEA is an analytical approach to help understand the underlying reasons why things work the way they do and identify the incentives and constraints impacting the behavior of actors in a relevant system. By helping identify these influences — political, economic, social and cultural — PEA supports a more politically informed approach to working, known as “thinking and working politically” (TWP). Through TWP, USAID seeks to better understand the systems where we work and to identify sustainable, locally generated solutions. 

This page includes Thinking and Working Politically (TWP) through Applied PEA: A Guide for Practitioners, and links to additional materials that are referenced in the guide to support your deepening learning around TWP and PEA.