IS 76 Politics of Developing Areas
1st onsite session
Government, Politics, and Cultures in Africa, Asia, the
Middle East, and Latin America
Part 1
Objectives
● Define development
● Distinguish between Third World, Developing World and Global South
● Define Globalization, Politics and Government
● Identify forms of Government and explain how power is allocated
Globalization
State Nation
Government
Politics
Political Culture
Outline
What is Development?
What is Globalization?
What is Politics?
What is Government? What are the basic forms of government?
Why talk about Globalization in the context of the developing world?
Third World or Developing World?
Reminders
1. True or False.
Development is solely referred to as economic changes seeking to counter the problem of global poverty.
2. Which definition of development is not from Amartya Sen?
a. It refers to increased freedom of the population.
b. It refers to reduction of vulnerability.
c. It refers to reduction of inequality.
3. True or False?
Not all developing countries are in fact developing.
4. True or False?
During Cold War, "Third World" refers to all countries which were either Western Advanced Industrialized
Countries or countries of the former Soviet Bloc.
5. True or False?
The use of the concept of "Third World" becomes complicated by the liberation of Second World
countries.
6. True or False?
Only few developing countries are former colonies.
7. True or False?
There was a time that poverty was believed to be not measurable in economic terms.
8. True or False?
According to Michael Todaro, development must be understood as a multidimensional process.
9. True or False?
The United Arab Emirates is an example of an oil producing country.
10. True or False?
During Cold War, the conflict between the First and Second World countries were played out by proxy in
the First World countries.
What is Development?
“Development must therefore be conceived of as a multidimensional process involving major
changes in social structures, popular attitudes and national institutions,as well as the acceleration
of economic growth, the reduction of inequality, and the eradication of poverty. Development, in its
essence, must represent the whole gamut of change by which an entire social system, tuned to the
diverse basic needs and desires of individuals and social groups within that system, moves away
from a condition of life widely perceived as unsatisfactory toward a situation or condition of
life regarded as materially and spiritually ‘better’.” (Todaro 1994: 16)
What is Politics? (Payne & Nassar 2012)
- how a society organizes its affairs (study of government)
- power relationships in societies
- study of government and the use of power and its allocation in society
What is Government? (Payne & Nassar 2012)
- “... institutions and processes that societies employ to organize their affairs
and to protect them from internal and external threats.” (p. 5)
- complex system of local, regional, and national organization (p. 5)
What are the basic forms of Government? (Payne &
Nassar 2012)
- monarchy (limited, constitutional and absolute) and republic (dictatorship,
oligarchy, totalitarian, democracy, centralized, federal)
Type Power
Ceremonial functions
Limited
Parliament, Prime Minister and Cabinet
Monarchy Allocated by law
Constitutional
Power is checked by governmental institutions
Absolute Above the law
Monarch as maker of laws
Dictatorship Absolute power vested in one person
Oligarchy Rule by the few
Totalitarian systems Power concentrated at the center of government often constitutional held by a
Republic political party
Democracy Majority rule
Centralized Decisions made at the center of power (national government)
Federal Divided between national government and smaller provincial or state governments
Globalization
State Nation
Government
Politics
Political Culture
Why talk about development in the context of Globalization
and the Developing World?
- emphasis on European and North American trends
- Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America (two-thirds of the earth’s
surface and 80% of the world’s population)
- closer and more complex relationships among peoples
Third World, Global South or Developing World?
Label Denotation
Third World Neither Western or countries of the Soviet
Bloc
Global South “less-developed”
Developing Countries low and middle income countries
Are you now able to…
● Define development
● Distinguish between Third World, Developing World and Global South
● Define Globalization, Politics and Government
● Identify forms of Government and explain how power is allocated