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The role of democracy in economic development
The role of democracy in economic development
The role of democracy in economic development
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In his book State-building: Governance and world Order in the 21st Century, Francis Fukuyama examines the multiple dimensions of stateness and illustrates the significance of establishing a strong and capable state to individual states and the world order. As Fukuyama points out, it has been a recent trend to weaken stateness for some reasons. Many states were so powerful that they waged wars on their neighbours and the development of global economy tended to erode the autonomy and sovereignty of nation-states through international laws, rules, treaties and so forth. However, after September 11 event, the crucial issue for global politics will not be how to cut back the state sector; instead, it is vital to build the state up. Weakening states is harmful for individual state and for the global community. Weak stateness, figured by low level of capability, efficiency and institutional development, impedes the economic development in weak nation-states. Besides, weak states have become one potential birthplace of terrorism that probably poses threats to the developed countries as well as the world security.
The central questions raised by Fukuyama are that to what extent state-building is crucial to both individual states and the international system and in what way state capacity can be strengthened. In order to give a clear answer to this question, Fukuyama has divided his analysis into three long chapters. The first chapter sets out to present a framework for analysing the multiple dimensions of “stateness”.
One of the key distinctions made in Fukuyama’s book is that which exists between two dimensions of “stateness”—scope and strength. Fukuyama defines “the scope of state activities” as “the different functions and goals ta...
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... voucher privatization”, Challenge, 44 (4), 14-17.
Fukuyama, Francis (1989) “The End of History?”, The National Interest, 16: 3-18.
Fukuyama, Francis (1992) The End of History and the Last Man. London: Hamish Hamilton.
Fukuyama, Francis (1995) Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity. New York: Free Press.
Fukuyama, Francis (2004) “The Imperative of State-building”, Journal of Democracy, 15 (2): 17-31.
Kosack, S. and Tobin, J (2006) “Funding Self-Sustaining Development: The Role of Aid, FDI and Government in Economic Success”, International Organisation, 60 (1): 205-243.
Przeworski, A. and Limongi, F (1993) “Political Regimes and Economic Growth”, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 7 (3):51-70.
Sirowy, L. and Inkeles, A (1990) “The Effects of Democracy on Economic Growth and Inequality: A Review”, Comparative International Development, 25 (1):126-157.
In no field other than politics does the justification for action often come from a noteworthy event and the true cause stays hidden behind the headlines. The United States’ transformation from a new state to a global superpower has been a methodical journey molded by international conditions (the global terrain for statecraft), the role of institutions and their programmed actions, and ultimately, the interests of actors (the protection of participants in making policy’s items and i...
middle of paper ... ... t Democracy in a Neoliberal Order: Doctrines and Reality, Z online Magazine Iversen, T., (2006), Handbook of Political Science, 1st ed, Spi Publisher Services. Pp 614-615 Koelbe, T. and Lipuma, E. (2008), 'Democratizing Democracy: A PostcolonialCritique of Conventional Approaches to the 'Measurement of Democracy', Democratization , Vol.15, No.1, Pp. 16-18 Przeworski, A., 2004. Capitalism, Development and Democracy.
This paper attempts to address two questions that are at the heart of this dispute: Do TSMs and INGOs have any real power in today's international political arena against the traditional view of state dominance? And, if the answer to the previous question is yes, then does such a change merit a fundamental revision of the state-centric model of international relations?
Firstly, K. Isbester mentions that democracy has a different meaning for everyone, as some can define democracy as a good aspect for development, on the contrary other believe that it is nothing more than voting after several years. Although, Latin America see democratic g...
Although the aspirations and goals of states are often motivated by external political pressures, analysis of recent foreign policy decisions demonstrates how internal political forces can play equally crucial roles in the pursuit and execution of these objectives. Thus, it would be invalid to claim that domestic politics and the nature of regimes play minor roles in either the goals a state pursues or the means it employs to reach them. By understanding how the diffusion of power in governments affect policy decisions, one can develop increased awareness of the linkages that exist between the internal pressures of domestic politics and the external forces of foreign politics.
The link between democracy and human rights has been recognized by many scholars. For example O’Donnell (2004) summarized the quality of democracy as: Quality of Democracy = human rights + human development. This viewpoint indicates that democracy encapsulates human rights. Several research findings strongly support the idea that states with higher levels of democracy, regardless of their election rules, are more respectful of human rights (Davenport 1997; Poe, Tate, and Keith 1999).
Inc. Rostow, Walt W. 1960.. The Stages of Economic Growth: A Non-Communist Manifesto. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998. Darwin, John.
The discipline of international relations (IR) contains several theories that contain theoretical perspectives to the idea of power. Within the realist perspective there are two approaches that help paint the portrait of the realist theory, the classical approach to realism and the neo-realist approach. Classical realism and neorealism both have been subjected to criticism from IR scholars and theorists representing liberal and constructivist perspectives. The key tenets to realism contain three essential characteristics of international relations which are the state, anarchy and the balance of power. This essay will closely analyse all three characteristics with special regards to power being central to the realist perspective.
People’s ideas and assumptions about world politics shape and construct the theories that help explain world conflicts and events. These assumptions can be classified into various known theoretical perspectives; the most dominant is political realism. Political realism is the most common theoretical approach when it is in means of foreign policy and international issues. It is known as “realpolitik” and emphasis that the most important actor in global politics is the state, which pursues self-interests, security, and growing power (Ray and Kaarbo 3). Realists generally suggest that interstate cooperation is severely limited by each state’s need to guarantee its own security in a global condition of anarchy. Political realist view international politics as a struggle for power dominated by organized violence, “All history shows that nations active in international politics are continuously preparing for, actively involved in, or recovering from organized violence in the form of war” (Kegley 94). The downside of the political realist perspective is that their emphasis on power and self-interest is their skepticism regarding the relevance of ethical norms to relations among states.
The international system is an anarchical system which means that, unlike the states, there is no over ruling, governing body that enforces laws and regulations that all states must abide by. The International System in today’s society has become highly influential from a number of significant factors. Some of these factors that will be discussed are Power held by the state, major Wars that have been fought out in recent history and international organisations such as the U.N, NATO and the W.T.O. Each of these factors, have a great influence over the international system and as a result, the states abilities to “freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social, and cultural development”.
This essay will describe the characteristics of the modern nation-state, explain how the United States fits the criteria of and functions as a modern nation-state, discuss the European Union as a transnational entity, analyze how nation-states and transnational entities engage on foreign policy to achieve their interests, and the consequences of this interaction for international politics.
In order to answer the question concerning the formation of states, it is necessary to clarify what constitutes a state; the Oxford English Dictionary defines a state as ‘a nation or territory considered as an organized political community under one government’. There are a number of ways and processes in which to analyse what state formation is, why they have formed and the way in which this has occurred. State emergence can be traced back to the creation of territorial boundaries in medieval Europe, such as the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, and its transition to a modern state can be attributed to the introduction of gunpowder in war (Hague & Harrop, 2010: 64). The formations of states have also been influenced by the growth of bureaucracy, administration and organisations. There are different theories as to the reason why states form, a certain few of which can be divided into the categories of rationalist, culturalist and structuralist perspectives. In this essay, these perspectives shall enter the debate in trying to justify the reason for state formation and the way in which it occurs. The most prominent feature in the formation of states appears to be the prevention and engagement of a state in war and its following consequences.
There have been enormous efforts to spread democracy as a political system throughout the world by the developed democratic countries and the international development organizations including the World Bank. By the late 1990s the United States alone spent over a half billion dollars to promote democratic expansion throughout the world (Diamond, 2003). These were done considering that the democratic system leads towards development. As a result in the late 20th century we saw a huge political transformation towards democracy. During the last few decades a huge number of countries adopted democracy as their political system. However, it retain a big question how far democracy is successful in bringing development of a country? At this stage, some people also criticizes the effort of democratization arguing that it is done without considering the context of a country, sometimes democracy is not ideal for all countries and it is an effort to extinct diversity of political system. In studying the literature regarding the debate, we found a paradoxical relationship between democracy and development. Some argue that democracy has failed to ensure expected outcomes in terms of development. While others confronted that democracy has a considerable impact on development. Another group of people argue that form of political system actually does not have any impact on development process. On the verge of these debates, some development institutions and academics throw light on why democracy is not working properly, and what measure should be taken to make it more successful in bringing effective development of developing countries. Consequently, this writing is an effort of revisiting the different views about impact of democra...
Actually, democracy is deemed to be a difficult form of government regardless if it is favourable circumstances or not. It seems to be all the more difficult when society’s economic environment is weak, civil society is still developing, and finally ...
IOs and states play a critical role in maintaining world peace and security. The United Nations (UN), in particular, is the centerpiece of global governance with respect to the maintenance of world peace. The UN provides general guidelines for all the states on how to solve potential conflicts and maintain international o...