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This article deals with the links between the World Bank’s policies – drawing on some of the studies published in this issue – and American political culture. It demonstrates the principle of participation in the political process, as seen in American society, through which a new equilibrium between participative democracy and representative democracy will be established. Emphasis is placed on two specific elements: the absence of an officially defined public interest, permitting a system of checks and balances, and the opportunity for collusion between public and private sectors when dealing with all development policies. Its conclusion underscores the extent to which the participation of civil society in the decision-making process requires a long period of apprenticeship (perhaps even a revolution in favour of a new form of political representation) which will permit the acquisition of methods and tools of negotiation.