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Contemporary development studies often rely on a single, linear formula for understanding the progress of a country, one of which is the historical institutionalist perspective of Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson. This perspective categorizes institutions relatively rigidly into inclusive institutions that bring prosperity and extractive institutions that trigger state failure. However, empirical realities in Southeast Asia demonstrate that development is far more complex, hybrid, and highly political. The phenomenon of institutional capture by oligarchs in the Philippines, the persistence of technocratic bureaucratic capacity amid coups in Thailand, and visionary agency in Singapore demonstrate some of the blind spots of the theory.
The urgency of holding this public lecture lies in providing postgraduate students with critical notes and conceptual deconstruction regarding the limitations of Acemoglu’s theory. This activity is important so that the academic community can view institutions not as rigid blueprints, but as dynamic frameworks influenced by factors such as agency, state capacity, political settlements, and global geopolitics. In line with this, Universitas Sumatera Utara (USU) continues to strive to improve the quality of learning to equip students with new analytical frameworks at the international level.