No study has sought to systematically examine the political forces, both international and domestic, behind the successful conduct of governance reform in Sub-Saharan Africa. Yet, coordination, collaboration and mutual support between international and domestic actors is critical to push individual governments onto the path of reform. This book shows that while international and domestic pro-reform pressures are important, an analysis of anti-reform pressures is also necessary to explain incomplete or failed reform. The main theoretical arguments are structured around four hypotheses. The hypotheses are theoretically generated and tested over four case studies – Madagascar, Kenya, Nigeria and Chad. On this basis, the good governance socialization process is inductively developed in the concluding chapter. This model illustrates how governance practices can evolve positively and negatively in all countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, based on the nature and relative strength of international and domestic pressures and counter-pressures.