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The few cases of rapid economic growth in the Third World in the last 30 years have occurred in democratic, quasi‐democratic and non‐democratic polities. They are thus clearly not a function of common regime type. I suggest that they are best explained by the special character of their states, understood ‘as developmental states’. This article outlines some common characteristics of these states. However the forms and features of these states are not simply a function of their administrative structures or principles of governance, but of their politics. The article thus also underlines the importance of political analysis in both development theory and policy, from where it has been extruded for too long.