COURSE

GUIDE

POL 324
POLITICS OF DEVELOPMENT AND
UNDERDEVELOPMENT

Course Team Dr. G.S.M Okeke (Course Writer)-UNILAG

Abdul-Rahoof Adebayo Bello (Course
Coordinator)-NOUN
Prof. D.A Olufemi Otubanjo (Programme Leader)-
NOUN
Dr. A. Irene Pogoson (Course Editor) - UI

NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA

POL 324 COURSE GUIDE

National Open University of Nigeria

Headquarters
14/16 Ahmadu Bello Way
Victoria Island, Lagos.

Abuja Office
5 Dar es Salaam Street
Off Aminu Kano Crescent
Wuse II, Abuja

Email: [email protected]
URL: www.nou.edu.ng

Printed 2015
National Open University of Nigeria

ISBN: 978-058-544-3

All Rights Reserved

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POL 324 COURSE GUIDE

CONTENTS PAGE

Introduction…………………………………………… iv
What you will Learn in this Course …………............... iv
Course Aims………………………………………….. v
Course Objectives……………………………………. v
Working through this Course………………………… vi
What you will Need for this Course…………………… vi
Course Materials………………………………………. vi
Study Units……………………………………………. vii
Textbooks and References…………………………… viii
Assessment File………………………………….......... viii
Tutor-Marked Assignment…………………………… viii
Final Examination and Grading……………………… viii
Presentation Schedule…………………………………. ix
Course Marking Scheme……………………………... ix
Course Overview……………………………………… ix
How to Get the Most for this Course………………..… xi
Facilitators/Tutors and Tutorials……………………… xii
Summary………………………………………………. xiii

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POL 324 COURSE GUIDE

INTRODUCTION

This course guide provides you with the relevant information about this
course, including the course contents and the supporting materials to
enable you excel in the study and proper understanding of the subject
matter. It is also a compendium of the key issues involved in the study
of the course. In other words it is intended to enable you have a 360
degrees view of the reasons why some countries are poor, while others
are rich or not so rich. This also provides guidance on how to approach
the course and how best to understand it. This is done through self
assessment exercises and tutor- marked assignments which punctuate
the entire units in all the modules. The countries which we used as case
studies are intended to help you understand a practical applicability of
the principles enunciated in the preliminary part of the course. These
countries, China, India, Brazil, Mexico, Iran and Nigeria obviously earn
their place in the study, for both explanatory clarity and strategic reasons
in the discourse. Therefore I have no doubt that at the end the student
will be properly equipped with the necessary tools of analysis, and the
broad overview of the issues discussed, the style of writing, current
examples cited which if properly utilised could also be useful in other
courses where the emphasis is interdisciplinary.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN IN THIS COURSE

The Politics of Development and underdevelopment is introduced with

focus on the developing world. Issues such as revolution, cultural
diversity, nationalism, authoritarianism and democracy are explored.
The major focus of the course is how the incorporation of non-Western
countries into the productive system of global capitalism has disrupted,
distorted and shaped the political organisation and cultural identity of
Third World states.

The first section of the course begins with an examination of how our
understanding of the “Third World” has been constructed through
Western concepts and theory and what this implies for the dynamics of
power and knowledge between North and South. The second section
explores the politics of diversity, revolution and economic change in the
Asian cases of China and India. The third section looks at the
experiences of Brazil and Mexico focusing particularly on industrial
development, dependency, democracy and trade. The fourth section
examines the military might and revolution, nation-building and religion
and shifting power amongst social groups in the struggles for democratic
development in Iran and Nigeria. However, you are expected to
concentrate on the institutions of only three countries and should be
prepared to follow political events in these countries that are reported in
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POL 324 COURSE GUIDE

the media. For this purpose, reading of a good general interest daily
newspaper and a newsmagazine would be helpful

COURSE AIMS

This course aims to acquaint the student with the tools of analysis of the
politics of development and underdevelopment. The tools would enable
you to:

• reasonably apply the principles of the course in everyday living

and reason(s) for development, underdevelopment, inequality and
poverty
• broaden the your views on the dynamics of politics and
economics side-by-side the society on issues of development
• expose you to the geographical spread of the issues involved (the
geographical North and South) is relevant in the discourse, as an
important aspect of political economy
• in this course specific case studies are treated for explanatory
purposes.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

It is to note that this course has general objectives that it sets out to
achieve. But each unit has its specific objectives, which is stated at the
beginning of each unit. I advise that you read them before you start
working through the unit. You may make reference to them in the course
of the unit as self-assessment strategy.
The major and comprehensive objectives of this course are stated below.
By meeting these objectives, it is expected that you have as well met the
aims of the course. On successful completion of the course, you should
be able to do the following:

• identify and explain development and underdevelopment

• appreciate the theories of development
• discuss the external agents of development and
underdevelopment
• define and apply the role of revolution in changing the economies
of the countries used as case studies
• explain revolution, religion, military rule and democracy in the
Third world, and
• state the meaning of corruption and the solution(s) to Third world
underdevelopment

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POL 324 COURSE GUIDE

WORKING THROUGH THIS COURSE

In order to successfully complete this course, the you are required to

read the study units and other related materials. It is necessary to
undertake practical exercises for which the you need a pen, a note-book,
and other materials that will be listed in this guide. The exercises would
aid you to understand and properly grapple with the concepts as you are
presented. At the end of each unit, you will be required to submit written
assignments for the purpose of assessment. At the end of the course, a
final examination shall be written.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED FOR THIS COURSE

It is important that you reflect on preliminary courses on the foundation

of political economy, in order to understand the basis for the existence
of inequality and poverty. It is also important to have knowledge of
colonialism and the history and government of African politics to assist
you in understanding the reason(s) for development and
underdevelopment as they stand, and why they have persisted. It is also
important to read materials on trade relations and the dynamics of
politics involved in order to understand why the weak (in this sense the
developing countries) will continue to be marginalised in the process if
they do not fight for their own emancipation. This if not done will
continue to perpetuate poverty and underdevelopment. Other issues can
be itemised as follows;

1. The course guide

2. Study units
3. Assignment file
4. Relevant textbooks including those listed under each course unit
5. Student may also listen to discussions on contemporary national
and international issues on development
6. It is equally important that student access the internet on related
issues as well as read political economy journals and write-ups
and business newspapers.

COURSE MATERIALS

The major materials which are needed for this course are:

1 The Course Guide

2. Study Units
3. Textbooks and References
4. Assignment File
5. Presentation Schedule
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POL 324 COURSE GUIDE

STUDY UNITS

Politics of Development and Underdevelopment is a 3-credit unit 300

level course for undergraduate Political Science students. There are 4
modules of twenty-one units in this course, with a minimum of five
units in each module. Specifically, module one contains six units. Each
module and the units do not have the same length. In other words, some
modules and perhaps units may be longer or more detailed than others,
because of the nature and scope of issues involved. The four modules
contained in this course are broken down as follows;

Module 1 Understanding Development and Underdevelopment

Unit 1 What is Development?

Unit 2 What is Underdevelopment?
Unit 3 Theories of Development and Underdevelopment
(Modernisation and Dependency as well as Sociological
Theories)
Unit 4 Critique of Modernisation and Dependency Theories
Unit 5 Development in the Industrialised Economies
Unit 6 Underdevelopment in Africa.

Module 2 External Agents of Development and

Underdevelopment in the Third World

Unit 1 Global Capitalism and Globalisation

Unit 2 Britton Woods Institutions (IMF and the World Bank)
Unit 3 Multination/Transnational Corporations (MNCs or TNCs)
Unit 4 The Politics of Debt and Foreign Aid in Africa
Unit 5 North/South Dichotomy and the Search for a New
International Economic Order

Module 3 Revolution and Emerging Economies of Asia and

South America

Unit 1 The Rise of China

Unit 2 The Growing Economy of India
Unit 3 China and India on the March to the First World
Unit 4 Industrial Development in Brazil
Unit 5 Industrial Development in Mexico

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POL 324 COURSE GUIDE

Module 4 Revolution, Religion, Military Rule and Democracy

in the Third World

Unit 1 The Iranian Revolution

Unit 2 Military Rule and Third world Development
Unit 3 Democratisation in Nigeria
Unit 4 Corruption as the Bane of Third world Development
Unit 5 Solutions to the Third world Underdevelopment

TEXTBOOKS AND REFERENCES

After the summary of each unit you will find a list of current and leading
textbooks and relevant reading materials in the area(s) under discussion.
I try as much as possible to provide you with the relevant information on
the core issues in the discourse, but it may also be necessary to consult
the list of provided texts in order to further expand your horizon.

ASSESSMENT FILE

This course provides two assessments in each unit, i.e. the self
assessment exercise, SAE and the tutor- marked assignment, TMA. You
are not meant to submit your answers on the SAEs. They are to assist
you to appraise your level of understanding of the topic. You are to
answer the TMAs carefully and keep them in your assignment file for
submission and marking. This will count for 30% of your total and final
score in the course.

TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

Each unit has at the end a tutor-marked assignment which you are
expected to answer as instructed and put in your assignment file for
submission. The tutor-marked assignment questions are not contained in
this course guide, but they can be found at the end of each unit from
modules 1(unit 1) to module 4 (unit 5) the last unit for this course.

FINAL EXAMINATION AND GRADING

POL 326, will take three hours in the final examination, and carries 70%
of the total course grade. The final examination will reflect the SAEs
and TMAs as contained in the text which you are expected to have
practiced. I strongly advise that you spend time in between your
completion of the last unit and the examination to practice the entire
course. This will definitely get you acquainted and prepared for the
examination.

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POL 324 COURSE GUIDE

COURSE MARKING SCHEME

The following table breaks down the mark allocation for the course.

Assessment Marks
Assignments (Best Three Assignments out of Four 30%
marked)
Final Examination 70%
Total 100%

PRESENTATION SCHEDULE

Your course materials give you important dates for attending tutorials
and the timely completion and submission of your Tutor-Marked
Assignments. Do remember that you are required to submit all your
assignments by the due date. You should guard against falling behind in
your work.

COURSE OVERVIEW AND PRESENTATION SCHEDULE

Unit Title of work Weeks

Activity
Course Guide Week Assignment 1
1
Module 1 Understanding
Development and
Underdevelopment
Unit 1 What is Development? Week Assignment 2
1
Unit 2 What is Week Assignment 3
Underdevelopment? 2
Unit 3 Theories of Development Week Assignment 4
and Underdevelopment… 3
Unit 4 Critique of Modernisation Week 3 Assignment 5
and Dependency Theories
Unit 5 Development in Week 4 Assignment 6
Industrialised Economies
Unit 6 Under-development in Week 4 Assignment 7
Africa
MODULE 2 External Agents of
Development and
Underdevelopment in the
Third World
Unit 1 Global Capitalism and Week 5 Assignment 1
Globalisation
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POL 324 COURSE GUIDE

Unit 2 Britton Woods Institutions Week 5 Assignment 2

(IMF/IBRD)
Unit 3 Multi/Transnational Week 6 Assignment 3
Corporations
Unit 4 The Politics of debt and Week 6 Assignment 4
Foreign Aid in Africa
Unit 5 North/South Dichotomy & Week 7 Assignment 5
the Search for a New
International Economic
Order
MODULE 3 Revolution and Emerging
Economies of Asia and
South America
Unit 1 The Rise of China Week 8 Assignment 1
Unit 2 The Growing Economy of Week 9 Assignment 2
India
Unit 3 China and India on the Week 9 Assignment 3
March to the First World
Unit 4 Industrial Development in Week Assignment 4
Brazil 10
Unit 5 Industrial Development in Week Assignment 5
Module 4 Mexico
Revolution, Religion, 10
Military Rule and
Democracy in the Third
World
Unit 1 The Iranian Revolution Week Assignment 1
11
rd
Unit 2 Military Rule and 3 World Week Assignment 2
Development 12
Unit 3 Democratisation in Nigeria Week Assignment 3
12
Unit 4 Corruption as the Bane of Week Assignment 4
Third World Development 13
Unit 5 Solutions to the Third Week Assignment 5
World Underdevelopment 14

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POL 324 COURSE GUIDE

HOW TO GET THE MOST FROM THIS COURSE

In distance learning, the study units replace the university lecture. This
is one of the great advantages of distance learning: you can read and
work through specially designed study materials at your own pace, and
at a time and place, that suits you best. You are provided exercises to do
at appropriate points, just as a lecturer might give the students in-class
exercise. Each of the study units follows a common format. The first
item is an introduction to the subject matter of the unit, and how a
particular unit is integrated with the other units and the course as a
whole.

The objectives let you know what you should be able to do by the time
the units have been completed. These learning objectives are meant to
guide you in your studies. The moment a unit is finished, you must go
back and check whether you have achieved the objectives. If this is
made a habit then, you will significantly improve your chances of
passing the course. The main body of the unit guides the student through
the required reading from other sources. This will usually be from your
set books or from a Reading section. The following is a practical
strategy for working through the course. If you run into any trouble, you
should telephone the tutor for assistance. Remember that the tutor’s job
is to provide such help. You should not hesitate to call and ask for such
assistance when needed.

1. Read this course guide thoroughly, it is your first assignment

2. Organise a Study Schedule. Design a ‘Course Overview’ to guide
you through the course. Note the time you are expected to spend
on each unit and how the assignments relate to the units.
Whatever method you chose to use, you should decide on and
write in your own dates and schedule of work for each unit.
3. Once you have created your own study schedule, do everything to
stay faithful to it. The major reason why students fail is that they
get behind with their course work. If you get into difficulties with
your schedule, please let your tutor know before it is too late to
help.
4. Turn to unit 1 and read the introduction and objectives for the
unit.
5. Assemble the study materials. You will need your set books and
the unit you are studying at any point in time. As you work
through the unit, you will know what sources to consult for
further information.
6. Keep in touch with your study centre. Up-to-date course
information will be continuously available there.

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POL 324 COURSE GUIDE

7. Well before the relevant due dates, (about 4 weeks before due
dates) keep in mind that you will learn a lot by doing the
assignment carefully. They have been designed to help you meet
the objectives of the course and, therefore, will help you pass the
examination. Submit all assignments not later than the due date.
8. Review the objectives for each study unit to confirm that you
have achieved them. If you feel unsure about any of the
objectives, review the study materials or consult your tutor.
9. When you are confident that you have achieved a unit’s
objectives, you can start on the next unit. Proceed unit by unit
through the course and try to pace your study so that you keep
yourself on schedule.
10. When you have submitted an assignment to your tutor for
marking, do not wait for its return before starting on the next unit.
Keep to your schedule. When the assignment is returned, pay
particular attention to your tutor’s comments, both on the tutor-
marked assignment form and the written comments on the
ordinary assignments.
11. After completing the last unit, review the course and prepare
yourself for the final examination. Check that you have achieved
the unit objectives (listed in the Course guide).

FACILITATORS/TUTORS AND TUTORIALS

Fifteen (15) hours of tutorials are provided as support for this course.

• The dates and location will be communicated to you as soon as

they are ready
• Again the moment you are allocated to a group, the names and
phone numbers of your tutors will be made available to you
• It would be the duty of your tutor to mark/assess and comment on
your assignments and also keep a close watch on your progress
• You should try to submit your tutor- marked assignments on
time, and also be at liberty to consult your tutor
• whenever you feel challenged in your work
• Attend your tutorials regularly and punctually in order not to
leave any gap which may be difficult for you to close
• Active participation in class discussions is known to be of
immense benefit to you as it helps to expose areas where you are
inadequate
• This would assist in remedying the deficiency.

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POL 324 COURSE GUIDE

SUMMARY

The purpose of this course guide is to prepare your mind on the

expectations of this course. You should therefore get ready for an
interesting and fulfilling academic enterprise. It is my sincere hope and
desire that at the end of this course, your perception, understanding and
approach to issues pertaining to development and underdevelopment
would be positively challenged. In the final analysis however, how
much you gained will largely depend on how much you put into it, in
terms of commitment and the zeal to succeed.

I wish you well in the entire programme, and particularly in Pol. 326.
Happy reading!!!

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 MAIN
COURSE

CONTENTS PAGE

Module 1 Understanding Development and

Underdevelopment…………………………. 1

Unit 1 What is Development?.............................. 1

Unit 2 What is Underdevelopment?..................... 12
Unit 3 Theories of Development and
Underdevelopment (Modernisation and
Dependency as well as Sociological
Theories)………………………………… 18
Unit 4 Critique of Modernisation and
Dependency Theories …………………... 28
Unit 5 Development in the Industrialised
Economies………………………………. 36
Unit 6 Underdevelopment in Africa………..…... 40

Module 2 External Agents of Development and

Underdevelopment……………………….. 45

Unit 1 Global Capitalism and Globalisation……… 45

Unit 2 Britton Woods Institutions
(IMF and the World Bank)……………..… 53
Unit 3 Multinational/Transnational
Corporations (MNCs or TNCs)…………… 59
Unit 4 The Politics of Debt and Foreign
Aid in Africa………………………………. 66
Unit 5 North/South Dichotomy and the Search
for a New International
Economic Order…………………………… 74

Module 3 The Emerging Economies of Asia and

South America………………………….... 81

Unit 1 The Rise of China………………………. 81

Unit 2 The Growing Economy of India………… 88
Unit 3 China and India on the March to
the First World………………………….. 97
Unit 4 Industrial Development in Brazil……….. 102
Unit 5 Industrial Development in Mexico……… 109
Module 4 Revolution, Religion, Military Rule and
Democracy in the third world ……………… 114

Unit 1 The Iranian Revolution and

Development……………………………. 114
Unit 2 Military Rule and Third world
Development……………………………. 124
Unit 3 Democratisation in Nigeria…………..…. 133
Unit 4 Corruption as the Bane of
Third world Development………………. 143
Unit 5 Solutions to the Third world
Underdevelopment……………………… 154
POL 234 MODULE 1

MODULE 1 UNDERSTANDING DEVELOPMENT AND

UNDERDEVELOPMEMT

UNIT 1 What is Development?

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 What is Development?
3.2 Characteristics of Development
3.3 Scope of Development
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Reading

1.0 INTRODUCTION

This unit explains what development is all about. Also, it brings into
play the contributions made by various scholars in defining the concept
of development. It equally identifies the characteristics and scope of
development.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, you should be able to:

• define development
• discuss the contributions of development scholars to
understanding the concept of development
• identify the characteristics and scope of development.

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 What is Development?

Today, we live in a world where many societies are extremely poor,

while few others are exceedingly rich. In many countries in Africa, Asia
and Latin America, millions of people are living in abject poverty. Lack
of development has been said to be responsible for this appalling
situation. What then is development?

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POL 324 POLITICS OF DEVELOPMENT AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT

While some people see development as Industrialisation and Modernity

or even Westernisation and its artifacts such as cars, trains, refrigerators,
television, computers, phone-sets, radio, electricity, textiles, schools,
tarred roads, et cetera, for others, development has come to mean the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In other words, to them,
development is the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, illiteracy,
maternal and child mortality, malaria and HIV/AIDS, gender inequality,
and so on. Development is often used in an exclusive economic sense –
the justification being that the economy has a pervasive influence in all
societies and also, the economy is itself an indicator of other socio-
political features of a society. But, development is a multi-dimensional
concept, thus it could be economic, political, social, cultural or even
human. Based on this fact, it has attracted a variety of definitions from
various scholars of different orientations. Here are some of their views:
Development is the progressive movement from traditional society to
the stage of high mass consumption of goods and services. For any
human society that wishes to develop, it must go through five stages of
development as epitomised by the West, particularly the USA, and these
include:

(a) Traditional Stage

(b) Transitional Stage
(c) Take-off Stage
(d) Drive to Maturity
(e) Stage of High Mass Consumption.

W.W. Rostow

Development is a process of induced economic growth, of a social

change in an internally stratified world.
Ankie Hoogewelt

Political development connotes the evolution of a political system to a

desired state of being characterised by advanced political culture and
political structure which entail “cultural secularisation” (the process
whereby members of the society become increasingly rational, analytical
and participant oriented in their political actions) and “structural or role
differentiation” (the process whereby old roles are transformed and new
types of roles emerged coupled with an expanded capacity of the
political system to perform conversion function, system maintenance
function and adaptation function). All these are necessary for state-
building, nation-building, political participation, economic production,
and authoritative distribution of resources.

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POL 234 MODULE 1

The industrialised Western Societies exemplify political systems where

there are cultural secularisation and structural differentiation.

Almond Gabriel and Bingham Powell

Social development is the bundle of technological, subsistence,

organisational, and cultural accomplishment through which people feed,
clothe, house, and reproduce themselves, and explain the world around
them, and resolve disputes within their communities, and extend their
powers at the expense of other communities as well as defend
themselves against others’ attempt to extend power.

Ian Mor

Development is an overall social process which is dependent upon

increased capacity of members of a society to master the laws of nature
(that is science) and apply such laws in the production of tools (that is
technology) with which they can control their environment to meet their
immediate and future needs. It cannot be seen purely as an economic
affair because other segments of the society are also involved.

Walter Rodney

Development is the improvement of the living conditions of the people.

M. M. Yusuf

From the foregoing submissions, it is clear that development scholars

are divided over what constitute development. While some of them see
it from economic perspective, others view it from the political angle, yet
still, some others think it is a socio-cultural phenomenon. Despite their
differences, they all agree that development entails progressive change.
Generally, development could be defined as a holistic process through
which a society experiences economic and socio-political transformation
which improves the living conditions of its inhabitants. It entails both
quantitative and qualitative improvement in all spheres of a given
society. It is the attainment of the desired state of being.

Development is the gradual, and sometimes rapid metamorphosis of a

society from a state of lack to a state of plenty, quality life and
happiness. The industrialised countries of the world such as the US,
Britain, France, Germany, Russia, Canada, Japan, China et cetera, have
achieved development, while it is still a mirage in the Third world
Countries, especially those in Sub-Saharan Africa. Moreover, what is
more desirable to all countries of the globe, today, is not just
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POL 324 POLITICS OF DEVELOPMENT AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT

development, but a development that is sustainable. Sustainable

development is that which “meets the needs of the present generation
without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their
own needs” (Bruntland Report). It involves the prudent use and
conservation of available resources and the transfer of technology and
skills as well as national norms and values from one generation to
another.

From the views of western scholars on development, it could be deduced

that they are not only ethnocentric and ideological, but also tend in some
instances, to confuse economic development with economic growth.
Although we will not at this juncture critique the Western scholarship on
development because that will be treated later in unit 4, it is worthy to
note here the general characteristics of development.

3.2 Characteristics of Development

In spite of the ambiguous nature of the concept of development, it has

some identifiable features. Some countries have been able to achieve
development and as a result, their values and institutions have become
the yardsticks for determining and measuring development around the
world.

A country is said to be developed if it has the following characteristics:

• Adequate social infrastructures such as constant electricity, good

network of roads, potable water, well equipped and functional
schools and hospitals and sound communication networks
• Adequate Security to protect lives and property
• Good governance and political stability
• Industrialisation
• High savings and investments
• Strong economy creating jobs and wealth
• Self sufficiency in food production
• Adequate human capital and technological know-how
• High standard of living for the majority of the people
• Low level of unemployment
• Low level of poverty
• Low level of crimes

Moreover, according to the United Nations Development Programme

(UNDP), societal development can be measured using the Human
Development Index (HDI) and this includes:

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POL 234 MODULE 1

- High life expectancy

- High literacy level
- High income level

In other words, for any society to be regarded as developed, it must be

able to provide those basic amenities that would prolong the life of its
inhabitants, provide education for the majority of its citizens as well as
good jobs that can fetch them enough income to live a quality life.

However, the above UNDP indices of development have been criticised

on the ground that they do not take into cognisance societal inequalities
and the quality of education that is being given to the people as well as
some other vital indicators of development. Majority of the citizens of a
society for instance may have access to education, but that education
may not be qualitative. The HDI on education is calculated based on
number of people who have access to education; it fails to take into
account the quality of that education. It is quality education that is
needed for development.

Also, the income level in a society may rise as a result of increase in the
Gross Domestic Product (GDP), but the bulk of the income may be
concentrated in the hands of the privileged few – the political and the
economic elites. The UNDP’s HDI on income is based on the rise of
national income, and not on national income distribution. It has been
discovered that if the income rise is not fairly distributed, societal
inequality will increase. The gap between the few elites and the rest of
the society who are in the majority will continue to widen even as the
GDP and national income increase.

Despite these few reservations, Human Development Index (HDI) is still

a yardstick for measuring development.

3.3 Scope of Development

We have said earlier that development is a multi-dimensional process,

thus its scope is very broad. It ranges from economic, political to socio-
cultural. It also includes factors like national infrastructure, technology,
transportation systems, information communications and technology,
and military preparedness.

Economic Development: This is a dimension that readily comes to

mind whenever development is mentioned. This is because of the
primacy of the economy in shaping other sectors of human society. The
economy is the foundation of a society, and if it is strong, it will have
positive impact on the political system which is the super-structure.
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POL 324 POLITICS OF DEVELOPMENT AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT

However, if the economy is weak, it will have inimical effects on the

political system. In fact, it is the economic system that produces the
resources to be allocated. And if the resources are not produced in the
first place, there will be nothing to allocate.

Economic development entails increase in the wealth of a nation through

expanded production of goods and services. It includes the rise in
agricultural production, manufacturing and construction as a result of
the introduction of better skills, techniques and technology. Also, it
includes, but not limited to increase in GDP, rise in exports, job and
wealth creation, high per capita income cum high standard of living.

Suffice to state here that economic growth is different from economic

development though, some western scholars would want us to believe
that the two are the same. Economic growth entails increase in GDP,
but that increase may not translate to development. The GDP and the
economy may sometimes grow as a result of improvement in just few
areas of the economy such as crude oil production and, or the price of oil
in the International Oil Market. It may also be induced by increase in the
production of goods and services by a few Multinational Corporations
(MNCs) whose subsidiaries are domiciled in the country, or due to
bountiful agricultural harvests which may increase export of cash crops.
This will in turn increase external revenues for the government
(economic growth). But such revenues may not be utilised to improve
the well-being of majority of the people which economic development
demands. In this case, there is economic growth without corresponding
economic development. This shows that increase in GDP may only
bring about increase in revenues or incomes of both the government and
the privileged few in the society.

Also, unlike economic development, economic growth is not concerned

with whether the increase in revenue and income come from the
utilisation of all sectors of the economy, or just few sectors. Moreover, it
is not interested in whether the increasing national income is evenly
distributed or concentrated in the hands of few individuals.

Economic development is economic growth accompanied by certain

desirable changes such as improvement in the utilisation of all the (or
important) sectors of the economy and these include; agriculture,
manufacturing, human capital, industrialisation, social infrastructure,
mining of both solid and liquid minerals and so on. If the economic
growth comes from one narrow source, the country cannot be said to be
experiencing economic development or transformation. For example, the
per capita income of Kuwait is greater than that of Israel because of
billions of dollars it makes from oil (only one source). But Israel is more
6
POL 234 MODULE 1

developed than Kuwait because virtually all sectors of its economy is

properly utilised and developed.

Economic growth must be accompanied by a general improvement in

all, or at least, important sectors of the economy, for there to be
economic development,. Also, the national income must be evenly or
fairly distributed in such a way that its concentration in a few hands will
be avoided. The peoples’ general welfare should rise along the GDP. If
the vast majority of the citizens remain poor, ill-educated and
unemployed or underemployed, then there is no economic development
even if the GDP and the economy are growing. There is no doubt that
there cannot be economic development without economic growth, but
there can be economic growth without economic development as the
foregoing analysis illustrates. Economic development is characterised by
high income, large savings and investments, high standard of living,
relative economic equality coupled with industrialisation.

Political Development: This aspect of development is also very

important. Politics is not only central to the making of development, but
also vital to its sustenance. Political development is attained when a
political system is able to enjoy popular legitimacy, articulate and
aggregate public interests, authoritatively allocate resources as well as
maintain law and order through strong and functional institutions. In the
opinion of Lucian Pye, equality, capacity and differentiation are the
three important features of political development. Gabriel Almond
described political development as the capacity of the political system to
effectively perform rule-making, rule adjudication and rule application
functions. A society is said to have political development if there is
accountability and transparency in political leadership, respect of the
rule of law, constitutionalism, and periodic free, fair and credible
elections or selection process as well as political stability.

Most importantly, political development entails strong institutions that

have legitimate authority to guarantee equilibrium in the system through
proper management of identity crisis, political participation crisis,
distribution of resources crisis and national integration. It involves
optimum performance of the institutions of state such as the legislature,
the executive, the judiciary, the police, the military, etc.

In contemporary times, political development is equated with liberal

democracy. Thus, countries with matured democratisation processes are
regarded as having political development. However, experiences have
shown that there are countries that do not practice liberal democracy,
yet, they have political development. For example, Russia and China
have their own peculiar styles of leadership which the West often
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POL 324 POLITICS OF DEVELOPMENT AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT

considers as undemocratic because they are not in consonance with the

tenets of liberal democracy. Surprisingly, they have been able to use
these leadership styles to achieve good governance which is the
hallmark of political development.

On the other hand, there are some nations that have been practicing
liberal democracy for years, yet they lack political development. A
typical example is Nigeria. What this means is that it is more correct to
associate political development with good governance than a particular
ideology or form of government. Moreover, it is most unlikely that
economic development can take place without political development
first. This is because it is the political development that provides the
needed leadership that would steer the ship of economic development.
Political development is characterised by good leadership and political
stability.

When we talk about governance, it is important to note that it is a multi-

layered concept. This is so because it involves a lot of issues, including
even the family. For instance, how one manages his family could be said
to involve some aspects of governance. Again, how the community,
local government, state, central/federal government and the emerging
issues in the process of globalisation (HIV, AIDS, Food Security,
Migration, Poverty, Maternal Mortality, Ignorance, etc) are handled or
managed involve governance. Our major concern however is, the role
governance plays in national development.

For purposes of clarification, we shall attempt to define governance in

order to properly situate it contextually. In doing this, we need to
historicize it, since it was not a buzz-word until perhaps recently. As
observed, “… until the later 1980s ‘governance’ was not a word heard
frequently within the development community”. (de Alcantara, nd).
However, the word ‘governance’ has been routinely used for centuries to
refer to the exercise of authority within a given sphere. It was employed
as a synonym for the efficient management of a broad range of
organisations and activities, including modern corporation (corporate
governance) or university, to the issues of global governance, presently.
The concept may have been applied to many situations in which no
formal political system could be found, it still implies the exercise of a
political process. It involves “… building consensus, or obtaining the
consent or acquiesce necessary to carry out a programme, in an arena
where many different interests are in play”, (de Alcantara, nd).

In its wide applicability however, the term has been referred to the basic
problems of political order, such as legitimacy and efficiency. More so,
the lack of any necessary linkage of the term to the state has made it
8
POL 234 MODULE 1

useful to a growing number of participants in the development debate in

recent times. Again, the relative morality of the term ‘good governance’
in the international arena has facilitated attempts to reform state
programmes and bureaucracies in many countries by appeal to technical
and less political standard, than that evoked by calls ‘for the reform of
the state’.

As it stands, attempts have been made to define governance by

researchers and intellectuals alike. It has been defined as “… the
traditions, institutions and processes that determine how power is
exercised, how citizens are given a voice, and how decisions are made
on issues of public concern” (Institute on Governance). According to the
United Nations Development Programme, UNDP, (1997) report,
governance is “… the complex mechanism, processes, relationship and
institutions through which citizens and groups articulate their interests,
exercise their rights and obligations and mediate their differences”. In
other words, governance is not synonymous with government, but a “…
process whereby societies or organisations make their important
decisions, determine whom they involve in the process and how they
render account”.

Socio-Cultural Development: This is another essential dimension of

development. It entails improvement in social infrastructure. Regular
supply of power, potable water, good road networks, functional and
quality schools, sound communication network, good health care system
and adequate security, are some of the characteristics of social
development.

Also, human capital falls under socio-cultural development. This entails

optimal harnessing of human potentials which translate to increased
human knowledge and skills. Human capital is very vital because
without it neither economic nor political development is possible. Lack
of development in the Third world has been largely attributed to the
dearth of human capital. In a knowledge economy where ideas and skills
are necessary catalysts, human capital is inevitable. It is the fulcrum of
societal development.

Moreover, socio-cultural development involves the evolution of national

norms, values and identity. All these are pre-requisite for nation-
building and national integration which are in turn necessary for total
societal development.

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POL 324 POLITICS OF DEVELOPMENT AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT

4.0 CONCLUSION

Development means different things to different people. To some

people, it is the improvement of the economy, while to others, it is a
political transformation. Yet to some others, it is a social change or
movement towards a desired state of being. At the epi-centre of
development is man. Hence, the ultimate goal of development is to
improve the people’s welfare and quality of life by harnessing the
available resources, and creating resources where they are not available,
to meet their immediate and future needs.

No society fully embodies all the development ideals, but there are some
societies that have approximated or achieved these ideals to a reasonable
degree. Such societies are regarded as developed.

5.0 SUMMARY

This unit has been able to define Development as the holistic process of
gradual or rapid metamorphosis of a society to a desired state of being
characterised by improved standard of living and quality life. It entails
progressive change or significant transformation in a society. It also
brought to the fore the views of some development scholars about the
concept of development. Rostow defined it from economic perspective
to mean economic growth. Almond and Powell viewed from political
angle to mean political evolution of a society characterised by increased
structural differentiation and cultural secularisation. Rodney saw it as a
social process via which people master science and technology with
which they cater for their basic needs and that of their environment.
The unit has also shown the multi-dimensional nature of development
by explaining its economic, political and socio-cultural scope as well as
its contemporary characteristics which include; adequate social
infrastructures, expanded human capital, strong economy, political
stability, low rate of unemployment and crimes, high standard of living
and so on. Development does not mean presence of abundant natural
resources, but the prudent management of material and human resources
to ensure the greatest happiness of the greatest number of people in the
society.

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

i. State briefly your understanding of the concept of development.

ii. Describe the contemporary features and scope of development.
iii. Does presence of abundant human potentials and mineral
resources translate to development? Substantiate your answer
with adequate illustrations.
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POL 234 MODULE 1

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

What is development?

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING

Almond, A. Gabriel. & Powell, G. Bingham (1966). Comparative

Politics: A Developmental Approach. Boston: Little Brown
and Co.

Brunt, L. & Commission Report (1987). Sustainable Development – Our

Common Future. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Hoogevelt, Ankie (1978). The Sociology of Developing Societies.

London: Macmillan.

Morris, Ian (2010). Social Development. Stanford University.

Pye, Lucian (1966). Aspects of Political Development. Boston: Little

Brown and Co.

Rodney, Walter (1972). How Europe Underdeveloped Africa. London:

Bogle-L’Overtures Publications.

Rostow, W.W (1960). The Stages of Economic Growth: A Non-

Communist Manifesto. Cambridge: Cambridge.

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POL 324 POLITICS OF DEVELOPMENT AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT

UNIT 2 WHAT IS UNDERDEVELOPMENT?

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 What is Underdevelopment?
3.2 Features of Underdevelopment
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor- Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Reading

1.0 INTRODUCTION

This unit attempts to explain the concept of underdevelopment. It also

examines the causes as well as the manifested characteristics of
underdevelopment in the Third World countries.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, you should be able to:

• define underdevelopment
• identify both the external and internal causes of
underdevelopment in the Third World
• discuss the features of underdevelopment.

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 What is Underdevelopment?

In more recent times, the phenomenon of underdevelopment has gained

momentum in both national and international discourse. Maybe because,
as the global wealth continues to increase in this age of globalisation,
only very few nations are gaining and progressing from such expansion,
while others, many of whom are found in the Third World, have
continued to experience underdevelopment. Despite the billions of
dollars that annually go into the eradication of underdevelopment, it
seems the problem instead of reducing, is increasing.

Underdevelopment is not absence of development, nor the absence of

human and natural resources. It means the inadequate or insufficient
level of development in the Third World as a result of the exploitation or
12
POL 234 MODULE 1

the under-utilisation of their human and material resources, or a

combination of both factors. Underdevelopment depicts an appalling
situation where the human and socio-economic potentials of a given
society have either been externally exploited to the detriment of its
inhabitants, or have not been fully or optimally harnessed by the
government for a better and quality living of its citizens.

Underdevelopment makes sense only as a parameter for comparing

levels of development across the globe. Every society has developed in
one way or another. Some societies have developed more by being able
to master science and technology and deploy such superior knowledge
in the production of tools with which they meet their needs, and even
exploit, subjugate and dominate other societies that have “lesser”
knowledge of science and technology, and this, directly or indirectly
stagnates development process of the latter while accelerating the
development of the former.

Underdevelopment is a consequence of Industrial Revolution. Many

countries of the world have been experiencing underdevelopment for
more than 250 years – since the Industrial Revolution. Before then, the
level of development in all societies across the globe was relatively
equal though there were little variations in some cases. Every society
before then, have developed in one way or another at its own pace, and
to address its own peculiarities. There was no naked exploitation of one
country by another as such before then. Precisely, for centuries, great
empires like those of China, India and what is today known as the Arab
nations were the leaders in wealth and technology. But their
technological innovations did not take off to become a revolution in the
production of goods and services.

However, the Industrial Revolution took the globe like a storm and
altered development equations across the world. The Industrial
Revolution led to the use of machines in production, and this led to mass
production which generated surplus value, and this led to capitalism
which created the quest for profit maximisation, and this led to
imperialism (subjugation of other nations in search for raw material,
cheap labour and markets for finished goods) which led to colonialism,
and this led to neo-colonialism which is said to cause underdevelopment
in the periphery. The transformation of production, thus embarked on,
has helped the West stay the leader in new technological development.
While the exploiting powers or the industrialised capitalist states
(example, USA, Britain, France, Germany, Japan, etc) are described as
“developed” or “core” or “metropole” or “centre of the periphery” or
“rich” societies, the socio-economically exploited societies are described
as “undeveloped” or “poor” or “periphery” or “satellite” or
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POL 324 POLITICS OF DEVELOPMENT AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT

“underdeveloped” or “Third world” or most recently, “developing”

countries. The term “underdeveloped” is fast disappearing in
international lexicon because it is considered derogatory, and it is being
replaced with “developing” which is considered to be more polite and
courteous.

However, the term underdeveloped is still closely associated with the

Dependency School who believe that in the global economy, there are
centrifugal forces at work, strengthening the already rich core, while
keeping the periphery poor, and in a state of permanent
underdevelopment. The underdeveloped countries are found mostly in
Africa, Asia and Latin-America (though with few exceptions following
the recent socio-economic development in Brazil, China, India and
Asian Tigers –Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand).
Underdevelopment depicts the poor socio-economic conditions of the
developing countries.

In his work – The Political Economy of Growth, Paul Baran argued that
it was the search for the external outlet to invest economic surplus that
indirectly led to underdevelopment. He defined economic surplus as the
difference between society’s actual current output and its actual current
consumption. Economic surplus can be saved and invested, but it can
only be generated if a country produces more than it consumes. By
producing more and consuming less, the industrialised capitalist nations
generated and saved a lot of economic surplus, but without
corresponding internal outlets for investing the accumulated surplus.
This compelled them to search for and create external outlets for the
investment of the economic surplus. This led to imperialism and later,
colonialism and neo-colonialism. That was why the ex-colonies (satellite
states) were created and designed to serve as avenues for investments,
and most importantly, as markets for finished goods from the colonising
powers (the metropole). Manufacturing which would later shape and
define global economy was never encouraged in the satellite states. All
these, individually, and in combination led to the underdevelopment of
the productive forces which have continued to undermine development
process in the Third World.

In his own view, Andre Gunder Frank asserted that the colonising states
constitute the “Centre” of development, while the colonies constitute the
“Periphery”. Underdevelopment is not original nor the starting point of
the periphery, rather it is a result of the stagnation of their development
by their contact with Western Capitalist system and colonialism. This
contact incorporated the colonies into the world capitalist system at a
subjugated position, and thereby created development in the core and
underdevelopment in the periphery. The centre (which is capitalist)
14
POL 234 MODULE 1

cannot engender any meaningful development outside its domain. Andre

Gunder Frank described this process as “the development of
underdevelopment”.
In consonance with the above view, Walter Rodney, in “How Europe
Underdeveloped Africa” posited that:

Imperialism was in effect the extended

capitalist system, which for many years
embraced the whole world – one part
being the exploiters and the other the
exploited, one part being dominated and
the other acting as overlords, one part
making policy and the other being
dependent.

Moreover, apart from the aforementioned factors which now manifest in

the form of globalisation, bad leadership and corruption appear to be
some of the major causes of underdevelopment in the Third World.
Virtually all the countries experiencing underdevelopment today have a
history of corruption, bad governance and political imbroglio.

3.2 Features of Underdevelopment

Underdevelopment is a feature of underdeveloped states. These states

have certain characteristics that mark them out from the developed
nations of the world. These include the following:

• Imperialism, Slave Trade, Colonialism, Exploitation and

Dependency
• Export of Primary Commodities (such as cotton, rubber, cocoa,
groundnut, palm oil, crude oil etc)
• Low Manufacturing Activities
• Corruption and Bad Governance
• Political and Social Instability
• Inadequate social infrastructure (such as electricity, potable
water, good roads, well equipped schools and functional
hospitals, etc)
• Weak Economy
• Weak Institutions
• Obsolete Technologies
• Low Per Capita Income
• Low Standard of Living
• Low Life Expectancy
• High Poverty Rate

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POL 324 POLITICS OF DEVELOPMENT AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT

• High Unemployment Rate

• High Crime Rate
• Insecurity
• Living on Charity

All these above stated problems are common to all countries of the
world that are presently experiencing underdevelopment though their
magnitudes vary from one country to another. At one point or another of
their history, the underdeveloped countries were all annexed, enslaved,
colonised and exploited by the industrialised capitalist states. Their
economies were designed to be dependent; hence they could only
produce primary products whose prices are often unjustly determined by
the industrialised capitalist nations. This, combined with corruption and
bad governance that later ensued, resulted in the non-provision of the
basic amenities of life.

All these factors collectively weakened their economies, and the

implications have been abject poverty, poor standard of living, social
inequality and wars. Today, most of these countries depend largely on
charity to eke out a living, or to even survive.

4.0 CONCLUSION

There is no doubt that imperialism, slave trade, colonialism and neo-

colonialism have been largely responsible for underdevelopment in the
Third World, and internal factors such as corruption, bad governance,
and political instability are also integral part of the problem and
therefore, should always be taken into cognisance in the analysis of
underdevelopment anywhere in the world.

5.0 SUMMARY

In this unit, we argued that underdevelopment is not absence of

development or dearth of human and material resources, rather it is the
inadequate level of development in the Third World which is caused by
either external exploitation that dates back to industrial revolution and
has continued till now in form of globalisation and, or the under-
utilisation of the available human and mineral resources by the
governments of the Third World countries as a result of corruption and
bad governance. Underdevelopment could only be understood in relation
to development. It is fallout of the industrial revolution and the
consequent export of capitalism and imperialism by the capitalist
Europe, USA and Japan to the rest of the world, and the resultant
exploitation of human and material potentials. It is also partly caused by
internal factors in the Third World such as crass corruption and bad
16
POL 234 MODULE 1

leadership. Underdevelopment is a feature of developing societies

which are characterised by lack of basic social infrastructure, weak
institutions, weak economy, backward technology, dependency, high
unemployment rate, pervasive poverty, high crime rate, social crises and
poor standard of living.

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

i. “Underdevelopment is not absence of development.” Discuss.

ii. Apart from imperialism and more recently, globalisation, what
are the other causes of underdevelopment in the Third World?
iii. “Underdevelopment is a feature of underdeveloped societies.”
iv. Describe the features of underdeveloped societies and cite
appropriate examples.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

“Underdevelopment is not absence of development”. Discuss.

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING

Frank, Andre Gunder (1989). The Development of Underdevelopment.

Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Baran, Paul (1959). The Political Economy of Growth. Harmonsworth:

Pengiun Beacon Press.

Polanyi, Karl (1957). The Great Transformation. Boston: Boston Press.

Rodney, Walter (1972). How Europe Underdeveloped Africa. London:

Bogle-L’Overtures Publications.

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POL 324 POLITICS OF DEVELOPMENT AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT

UNIT 3 THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 What is Theory?
3.2 Modernisation Theory of Development
3. 3 Dependency Theory of Development
3.4 Political Economy of Development
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Reading

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Both Western and Third World scholars have come up with various
theories aimed at explaining development and underdevelopment. Such
theories attempt to reveal why some countries are developed, while
others are not; why some countries are exceedingly rich, while others
are extremely poor; and why some countries appear to be amenable to
change and development, while many others seem to be vulnerable to
retrogression and underdevelopment, as well as how underdeveloped
countries can fast-track and achieve development. This unit vividly
explains these various theories with particular emphasis on
Modernisation and Dependency theories.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, you should be able to:

• define a theory.
• explain Modernisation and Dependency theories.
• apply these theories in your analysis of development and
underdevelopment around the world.

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3. 1 What is a Theory?

A theory is a set of ideas that are logical and which establishes a

correlation between causation of a phenomenon and its effects. A

18
POL 234 MODULE 1

theory does three things – It helps us to understand (describe), explain

and predict a phenomenon.
Therefore, theories of development help us to comprehend and analyse
the concepts of development and underdevelopment as they relate to the
world we live.

3.2 Modernisation Theory

This is the oldest theory of development. Modernisation theory sees

development from the prism of western civilisation. Its major exponents
include Gabriel Almond, Bingham Powell, David Coleman and Lucian
Pye. Also, some classical economists and sociologists such as Adam
Smith, W.W Rostow, Henry Maine, Ferdinand Toennies, Emile
Durkheim, Max Weber, and so on, did make significant contributions
towards the advancement of modernisation theory. According to this
School of Thought, development simply means industrialisation and
modernity which are exemplified by the Western industrialised capitalist
nations.

Almond and Powell in their essay titled “Comparative Politics: A

Developmental Approach”, and Almond and Coleman in their piece
titled “The Politics of Developing Areas” argued that development is the
evolution of a political system through series of stages, from a
traditional state to modernity characterised by equality, cultural
secularisation and structural differentiation. Cultural secularisation is
the process whereby members of the society become rational, critical
and analytical in their socio-political actions. Their orientations towards
politics become pragmatic and participatory as a result of the increase in
their knowledge of the political objects, norms and values (Cognitive
Orientation) and also because of the increase in their feeling of
attachment, involvement and rejection of the political objects and issues
(Affective Orientation), as well as the increase in their objective
judgments and opinions about the political objects and issues
(Evaluative Orientation). When this happens, a participant or civic
political culture replaces parochial and subject political culture which
initially characterised the political system. On the other hand, Structural
Differentiation is the process whereby roles change in the society. Old
roles are transformed and new roles accompanied by new structures to
perform them emerge. Division of labour and specialisation ensue, and
this results in the total transformation of the society. At this point, the
society achieves development having attained its optimum cultural
secularisation and structural differentiation, and as a result, acquired the
capacity to maintain law and order, to attract socio-political
participation, distribute resources and privileges accordingly, and to win

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POL 324 POLITICS OF DEVELOPMENT AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT

the loyalty, support and commitment of its citizens which is nation

building.

Lucian Pye while elaborating the above mentioned views of Almond

and Powell, noted that a society is developed to the extent it has
“development syndrome which includes: equality (popular involvement
in political activities and socio-political recruitment based on
achievement rather ascription), capacity (government’s ability to
influence its subjects and execute policies), and role differentiations
(division of functions and specialisation). With attributes, the society
would be able to manage crisis of identity, crisis of legitimacy, crisis of
participation, crisis of distribution and crisis of integration.

They all agreed that a society’s development is tied to its capacity to

strike a balance between demands and support or inputs and outputs, and
restore system equilibrium by performing satisfactorily rule making, rule
application and rule adjudication functions. For these scholars, the
industrialised capitalist countries have achieved these attributes and that
is why they are developed. The Third world countries lack these
characteristics and that is the reason for their underdevelopment.
Therefore, the Underdeveloped World can achieve development by
imbibing the development attributes of the Capitalist West.

Also, some Western sociologists have attempted to explain why the

West is developed, while the Third world is not, and how the latter can
achieve development. In his view, Henry Maine submitted that
development is a movement from a society characterised by status to the
one characterised by contract. A status society is ascriptive,
particularistic and non-individualistic, while a contract society is
achievement oriented, universalistic and individualistic.

To Ferdinand Toennies, development emanates from Gemeinschaft to

Gesellschaft. Gemeinschaft society is tradition and status bound. Life
chances and life styles are determined by birth and there are little or no
chances for individualism and tendency to act according to market
norms, hence, Gemeinschaft is similar to Maine’s status society. On the
other hand, Gesellschaft is analogous to contract society, and in such
society, there is room for individualism, and people’s socio-political
actions are guided by market norms. It is rather a clear case of
consanguinity and co-residentship.

Furthermore, Emile Durkheim theorised that the pre-modern society is

characterised by mechanical solidarity, while organic solidarity is the
feature of a modern society. Mechanical solidarity and organic solidarity

20
POL 234 MODULE 1

share similar characteristics with Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft,

respectively.

Max Weber also described two types of societies – (1) Traditional

society which is characterised by traditional authority whereby
legitimacy of authority rests on the belief system and the sanctity of the
local norms and values the le as a type of society where society. (2)
Modern society which is characterised by rational, legal and
bureaucratic authority whereby legitimacy of authority lies on
acceptance of the laws made by men and those who enforce such laws
and orders.

Talcott Parson further theorised that traditional and modern societies

have five characteristics. For Traditional society, these include; (1)
Affectivity (influenced by emotions in their socio-political actions); (2)
Collective-Orientation (acting in groups such as family, age-grade,
religious fraternity, etc); (3) Diffuseness (Diffusion of roles and
relationship such that the whole of the personality is involved); (4)
Particularism (judgement is not based on universally accepted
principles, but rather on limited beliefs); (5) Ascription (social status and
reward are based on birth instead of achievements). On the other hand,
modern societies are characterised by neutrality and objectivity, self-
orientation, specificity, universalism and achievement.

For these scholars, the Western countries are Contract, Gesellschaft and
Modern societies and that is why they are developed, while the Third
World countries are Status, Gemeinschaft and Traditional societies and
that is why they are underdeveloped. Therefore, the only way Third
World countries can achieve development is by discarding their
traditional feature and emulating the values and norms of the West.

Moreover, Western economists were not left out in this quest for a
theory that can explain the causes of development and
underdevelopment across the globe. Adam Smith attributed the increase
in the wealth of nations to development which was made possible by the
increase in production and capitalist principles. Similarly, W.W. Rostow
described development as economic growth which could only be
attained by passing through five stages which he called “Stages of
Economic Growth”.

These include:

(1) the Traditional Stage

(2) the Transitional Stage

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POL 324 POLITICS OF DEVELOPMENT AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT

(3) the Take-off Stage (where savings and investments increase

significantly and revolutionise tools and methods of production)
(4) the Drive to Maturity Stage
(5) the High Mass Consumption Stage. In Rostow’s calculation, it is
only the USA that has attained the stage of high mass
consumption, or even surpassed it. He argued that every society
that desires development must go through these stages of
economic growth, and that the Western countries that are
developed today passed through these stages to achievement.
Therefore, non-Western countries that desire development should
copy the development paradigm of the West.

All in all, the modernisation theorists see development from the prism of
western civilisation. For them, development means industrialisation and
modernity or Westernisation. They argued that the West is developed
because it has certain socio-political and economic attributes that are
amenable to positive change and development. The underdeveloped
states don’t possess such attributes, thus they lack development. But,
they can achieve development by trying to be like the West via the
imbuement of Western culture. Today such Western culture expresses
itself in form of capitalism or globalisation which advocates for
liberalisation and market economy where the so-called “invisible hands
of the forces of demand and supply” regulate the economy.

3.3 Dependency Theory

Dependency theory is also known as Underdevelopment theory/the

Radical School of Thought/the Neo-Marxist theory. It came as a direct
response to the short-comings of the Modernisation theory in explaining
why the core is developed, while the periphery is underdeveloped. Its
proponents include; Andre Gunder Frank, Walter Rodney, Frantz Fanon,
Samir Amin, Claude Ake, et cetera.

Dependency theory sees development and underdevelopment as two

sides of the same coin in the sense that they are the inevitable outcomes
and the physical manifestations of the World Capitalist system and its
inherent contradictions and exploitations. The theory classified the
world into two – the Core or Centre (which is made up of the
industrialised capitalist nations), and the Periphery or satellite (which is
made up of the colonised and poor countries of the world). Dependency
theory argues that the export of capitalism by the West to other parts of
the World and its resultant colonialism cum neo-colonialism is
responsible for the underdevelopment and dependency of the Third
World. Capitalism is driven by the quest for profit maximisation, the
theory argues. The quest for profit maximisation compelled the
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POL 234 MODULE 1

Europeans to search for cheap raw material, cheap labour and markets
for their finished goods. This led to colonialism and the subsequent neo-
colonialism through which the resources of the colonised were, and are
still being exploited. In this regard, Claude Ake in his classic work – A
Political Economy of Africa, submits that:

The contradictions of capitalism not only transform it, they also

transplant it. The transplanting of capitalismarises from those
contradictions which reduce the rate of profit and arrest the
capitalisation of surplus value. Confronted with these effects, it was
inevitable that the capitalist, forever bent on profit maximisation, would
look for a new environment in which the process of accumulation could
proceed apace. Capitalists turned to foreign lands, attacked and
subjugated them and integrated their economies into those of Western
Europe.

This is perhaps why V. I. Lenin submitted that “imperialism is the

highest stage of capitalism”. Colonialism and neo-colonialism led to the
incorporation of the economies of the colonised peoples in the world
capitalist economic system at a subjugated position. This produced two
consequences in the world – development in the industrialised capitalist
states, and underdevelopment as well as dependency in the colonised or
Third World countries.

The process of underdevelopment, laments Immanuel Wallerstein,

started as far back as 16th century (1450-1640) during mercantilism and
slave trade, and later, colonialism, during which the Western Europe
enriched itself with the human and material resources it siphoned from
the other continents, particularly from its colonies in Africa and Latin
America where millions of slaves and huge raw materials were
transferred to Europe. The plunder of Africa or rather, Asia and Latin
America by European capitalist powers, enhanced development in
Europe in one hand. On the other hand, it led to underdevelopment of
the colonies and their dependency on the former for survival.

That is to say that the development of the Centre is as a result of the

exploitation and the consequent underdevelopment of the periphery.
Therefore, the relationship between the Periphery and the Centre could
be likened to that between a seed and a plant. Just as a seed has to die in
order to germinate and give life to plant, the periphery had to be
underdeveloped in order to give development to the Centre. But while
the relationship between a seed and a plant is natural and symbiotic, that
between the Periphery and the Centre is man-made and parasitic.

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POL 324 POLITICS OF DEVELOPMENT AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT

Andre Gunder Frank, like other Dependency theorists, believes that the
Periphery feeds and nourishes the Centre with its cheap labour and
cheap primary commodities (cocoa, cotton, palm oil, rubber,
groundnuts, crude oil, etc), while the Centre stagnates and under
develops the Periphery with its capitalist greed, export of expensive
finished goods, unfavourable terms of trade and exploitative
international politico-economic capitalist policies and institutions such
as globalisation, the IMF and the World Bank. All these factors
individually and collectively, have led to underdevelopment of the Third
World Countries and their seeming perpetual dependency on the
Industrialised Capitalist States.

Therefore, the Dependency School of Thought recommends that the

only way the Third world can achieve development is to “delink” their
economies from their source of exploitation and underdevelopment
which is the International Capitalist Economic System, and chart a new
path to development which should be built on socialist principles rather
than on the foundation of exploitation of one country by another which
capitalism advances.

3. 4 Political Economy of Development

Our discussion here focuses on how Political Economy perspectives can

help us develop greater clarity about the forces promoting and impeding
better development outcomes. Scholars have looked at the issues from
various stand points, as we also noted in our discussions. Some
perspectives believe that development can take place only in a
democratic system, while others contend that development can easily be
attained in an autocratic and authoritarian regime.

However, development across the globe has occurred both in autocratic

and democratic regimes. Even so, some regimes who claim democratic
credentials today did not demonstrate the full elements of democratic
regimes as we know them today. In other words, there were at the point
of inception some elements of autocracy or authoritarianism, which
enabled them to drive development. The same cannot be said about
Africa, because the level of development in Africa today seems to have
defied all development theories.

It is important to understand the nature of development and purpose of

democracy in Africa. Ekeh (1993: 53 – 54) has identified four major
issues, as follows;

1) The impact of modernisation theory in the early 1960s which

emphasised economic prosperity as an essential condition of
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POL 234 MODULE 1

stable democracy. This was the basis for the quantum of

economic assistance by the U.S. Government to a number of
African countries in the 1960s, and which was a miniature
representation of the Marshall Plan for Europe;
2) There was a strong emphasis on institutional building as a
precondition for the emergence of stable democracies in Africa,
in order to ward off the appeals of communism in Africa;
3) The setting of intellectual agenda in the 1960s for the study of
democracy from political sociology, (as represented by the works
of William Kornhauser’s Politics of Mass Society; Tocqueville’s
Theory of pluralism; Seymour Lipset’s Political Man; and
Gabriel Almond and Sidney Verba’s The Civic Culture, which
laid emphasis on the sociological and psychological factors and
conditions which also anticipated the favoured political culture of
democracy in Africa,; and
4) The assumption in the 1960s that lucky nations would become
democracies while less fortunate ones would fall apart.

All these perspectives are political economy efforts to drive

development. In essence, there is always this interplay of politics and
economics side-by-side the society in the process of development.

4.0 CONCLUSION

Both Modernisation and Dependency theories have made bold attempts

to explain the genesis of development and underdevelopment in our
world. Both Schools of Thought have increased our understanding of the
two phenomena, thus we are now placed in a better position to analyse
the sources of the wealth of nations and development in one hand, and
on the other hand, the causes of global inequalities and
underdevelopment. However, each theory has its own short-comings.
These will be discussed in unit 4.

5.0 SUMMARY

This unit has been able to extensively explain the two major theories of
development – Modernisation and Dependency. The Modernisation
theory sees development from the prism of Western civilisation. Its
advocates include Gabriel Almond, Bingham Powell, Lucian Pye, W.
W. Rostow, etc. To this School of Thought, development means
industrialisation and Western modernity, or simply put, Westernisation
as exemplified by the Industrialised Capitalist Nations of the World.
According to Modernisation theory, these countries have been able to
achieve development because they are Capitalist, Contract, Gesellschaft,
Modern, and Democratic societies characterised by progressive
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POL 324 POLITICS OF DEVELOPMENT AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT

attributes such as liberal economic tendencies, participant political

orientations, equality before the law, innovative capacity, division of
roles and specialisation. Modernisation theory argues that the Third
world countries are underdeveloped because they lack the above stated
characteristics of the West, and therefore, the only way they could
develop is to copy the Western culture and its development patterns. In
other words, they should embrace capitalism and adopt Western
institutions and technology.

On the other hand, Dependency theory debunked the validity and

relevance of Modernisation theory in understanding and explaining the
underdevelopment of the Third World. Its exponents include; Andre
Gunder Frank, Walter Rodney, Cluade Ake, etc. The theory argues that
the underdevelopment of the Third World countries is a direct
consequence of the development of the Industrialised Capitalist Nations
who exploited the resources of the former through imperialism and neo-
colonialism as well as via the incorporation of the Third World
economies into the global capitalist economic system at a subjugated
position in which the Third World produce what they do not consume
(cash crops like cocoa, cotton, rubber etc) and consume what they do not
produce (finished goods like milk and tea, radio, television, car,
refrigerator, air-conditioner, generators, computers, phones, etc). Also,
in this capitalist incorporation, the West fix the prices of the goods and
services, hence the Third world exports (mainly primary commodities)
are under-valued and under-priced unlike the finished goods from the
West which are over-valued and over-priced. All these have led to the
underdevelopment and dependency of the Periphery (Third World) on
the Centre (Advanced Capitalist nations). The only way out of
underdevelopment according to the Dependency theorists, is total
delinking of the Third World from the international capitalist system.

SELF- ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

i. What is the central thesis of Modernisation theory?

ii. Discuss Dependency theory.
iii. In your own opinion, what factors are responsible for
underdevelopment in the Third World and global inequalities,
and how can they be solved?

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

Explain the major crux of modernisation theory and dependency school

of thought.

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POL 234 MODULE 1

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING

Ake, Claude (1981). A Political Economy of Africa. London: Longman.

Frank, Andre Gunder (1976). Capitalism and Underdevelopment in

Latin America. New York: Monthly Press Review.

Rodney, Walter (1972). How Europe Underdeveloped Africa. London:

Bogle-L’Overtures Publications.

Wallerstein, Immanuel (1970). “The Colonial Era in Africa: Changes in

Social Structure.” In: L. Gann & P. Duigann. (Eds). Colonialism
in Africa. 1870-1960. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

27
POL 324 POLITICS OF DEVELOPMENT AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT

UNIT 4 CRITIQUE OF MODERNISATION AND

DEPENDENCY THEORIES

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 Shortcomings of Modernisation Theory
3.2 Shortcomings of Dependency Theory
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Reading

1.0 INTRODUCTION

In the previous Unit, we discussed the various arguments of

Modernisation and Dependency theories. This unit critiques each of
these theories in order to bring out their short-comings. It also
recommends a synergy of the strengths of both theories in addressing the
crisis of development in the world today.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, you should be able to:

• discuss the limitations of Modernization theory

• discuss the limitations of Dependency theory
• give a balanced view of development theories and apply such
views in the analysis of development and underdevelopment
issues around the world

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 Shortcomings of Modernisation Theory

We have earlier explained that Modernisation theory sees development

as industrialisation and Western modernity which is a consequence of
certain progressive values that are possessed only by the advanced
capitalist nations of the world. It argues that the Third World nations do
not have such values, and that is why they are underdeveloped.
Therefore, if they want to develop, they should imbibe western culture
and adopt its institutions.

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POL 234 MODULE 1

However, a critical examination of Modernisation theory will reveal that

it is not only deficient and conjectural, but also myopic and misleading.
Below are some of the deficiencies of Western scholarship on
development which Modernisation school of thought represents.

1. Modernisation theory is ethnocentric, euro-centric and

teleological. It regards western culture and institutions as the best
and superior to other nations’ cultures. It presents western values
as progressive and amenable to development, while others are
not. In essence, it regards development as a unilinear process
which can only be achieved by imbibing western culture and
adopting its institutions. In this way, development becomes
synonymous with “trying to be like the West” or Westernisation.
Therefore it has an end in view. But history has shown that other
societies without Western culture and institutions can develop. A
typical example is China. In fact, every society (both western and
non-western) has a capacity to develop, and all societies had
developed in one way or another, though some have developed
more than others, like Ancient Egypt was once leading in Africa
and was known to be the cradle of civilisation. Britain once led in
Europe. China once led in Asia. Therefore, no culture is superior
to another culture development wise. What matters most is the
ability of the people of any nation to transform their culture to
trigger off development in order to meet their immediate and
future needs. That is to say that development cannot be
“Westernisation”. Even the West is a new comer when it comes
to the origin of development. It has been anthropologically
proven that Africa is the cradle of human civilisation.

2. Another misleading argument of Modernisation school of thought

is that the Third World can develop by acquiring the artifacts of
Western civilisation, or better put, western technology. For years
now, underdeveloped states have been importing Western-made
cars, electronics, textiles (suites, shoes etc), and even western
type of buildings, yet the Third world is still not developed.
Although few elites in the Third world drive the best of Western-
made cars and build mansions as their houses, in most cases there
are no good roads to drive those cars, and their mansions exist
side-by-side with slums. The Third world in some instances lack
the technical-know-how to operate and maintain these
technologies, and thus depend on the West for their operations
and repairs. The West has even capitalised on this deficiency of
skills and knowledge in the Third world countries and made them
a dumping ground for Western products and obsolete
technologies. Today, across the Third world states, there is the
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POL 324 POLITICS OF DEVELOPMENT AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT

presence of all the artifacts that make the West developed, but in
all these states, it is either these artifacts are in short-supply, or
substandard, or dysfunctional. Thus, there are roads but they are
full of potholes, there are schools but they are ill-equipped, there
are hospitals but they are not functional, there is electricity but it
is epileptic. All these indicate that importation of western
technology does not translate to development. In fact, it appears
that the more the Third world states import western technology
and culture, the more underdeveloped they become.

3. Moreover, Modernisation theory is unscientific and imperialistic

because it is both value-laden and ideology-bound. It tries to foist
on the Third world countries western ideology of capitalism as
the answer to their underdevelopment. In this regard, Claude Ake
in his master piece titled “Social Science as Imperialism: the
Theory of Political Development” argued that Western
scholarship on development amounts to imperialism because it
tries to impose capitalist values on the Third world. He further
asserted that the two Western criteria for development –
structural differentiation and cultural secularisation are abstracted
from familiar Political Science characterisation of the distinctive
features of the Western political systems. Based on this fact,
development becomes synonymous with Westernisation and the
quest for development becomes a matter of making developing
countries more like the West. That is to say the study of the Third
world in the context of this theory of political development is to
explore how it can be like the West.

The exponents of Modernisation theory have always argued that

no other ideology apart from capitalism and its institutions can
bring about development. But we have seen the communist
Russia and China achieve development under socialism. Again,
the Modernisation school recommended capitalism (which is now
in the guise of market economy or globalisation) as the only
therapy for development crisis in the Third World. Under
globalisation, the Third world countries are made to believe that
they could achieve economic growth and development if they
open up their economies and embrace liberalisation, and allow
the invisible hands of market forces to regulate their economies.

However, the Third world countries have since adopted capitalist

ideology, yet it could not bring the promised development.
Today, they have embraced globalisation by opening up their
economies, removing national barriers to foreign trade and
investments, privatising their public enterprises and deregulating
30
POL 234 MODULE 1

the public sector, yet, the promised economic growth and

development are nowhere to be found. In fact, it appears the more
they opened up their economies through privatisation,
liberalisation and deregulation, the more exploited, dependent
and underdeveloped they have become. This shows that this
particular recommendation by Modernisation theorists is aimed at
furthering exploitation, dependency and underdevelopment in the
poor countries of the globe, rather than fast-tracking their
development.

4. Modernisation school of thought has also been criticised for

being a historical. In other words, the theory fails to take into
cognisance the historical events that shaped and reshaped the
cause of development around the world. It underplays the impact
of slave trade on Africa’s development. But it is a known fact that
during slavery millions of able-bodied Africans were forcefully
taken to Europe and America thereby denying Africa the needed
man-power for development. Also, Modernisation theory de-
emphasises the impact of colonialism on development and how
different types of colonialism affected countries of the world
differently. It is on record that Africa where Extractive
Colonialism took place witnessed more exploitation than colonies
in South America and Asia. In fact, from all indications,
colonialism and neo-colonialism penetrated and disarticulated
African economies and structured them in such a way that they
would perpetually remain dependent and underdeveloped. This is
partly the reason why Africa seems not to be succeeding where
other colonised continents such as Asia, have succeeded.

5. Modernisation theory is riddled with fallacy of taxonomic

dualism. Thus, it divided the entire world into two opposite
societies – the rich nations in one side and the poor nations on the
other side. The theory assigns development and everything good
to the advanced nations, while it assigns backwardness and
everything that is bad to the poor nations. Thus, the advanced
capitalist Western nations are democratic, accountable and
responsive to the needs of the people, stable, command loyalty
from the citizens, progressive, creative, innovative and inventive.
On the other hand, the poor nations are undemocratic,
unaccountable, unstable, non-progressive, lack legitimacy,
creativity, innovation and invention.

However, social realities have shown that no continent is

completely made up of rich nations, so also no nation is
completely developed where all its citizens are rich, and contains
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POL 324 POLITICS OF DEVELOPMENT AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT

everything that is good. Even in advanced societies like America

and Britain, there are rich and poor people and there are also
good characters and people with questionable character. Likewise
in underdeveloped nations like Nigeria, there are both poor and
rich people, and there are those that have good character and
others who do not. In other words, every society, be it developed
or underdeveloped has both positive and negative sides. The
difference between the developed and the underdeveloped is that
in the former there is significant level of social infrastructure and
majority of its citizens experience high standard of living, while
in the latter there is deficit of social infrastructure and majority of
its citizens are poor. Again, the poor nations are scattered all over
the globe, they could be found in Asia, Africa, America and even
Europe. Hence, poverty has no geographical limitation though
Africa appears to be the worst hit by the disease. From the
foregoing, it is incorrect to dualise the world the way
Modernisation school did.

Moreover, this dual classification sees the West as being superior,

while the Third world is inferior. And as long as the Third world
students and scholars as well as policy-makers continue to accept
the Western theory of development and anchor their quest for
development on it, they in effect acknowledge their inferiority
and the superiority of the West. Thus, their drive for development
becomes a manifestation of their belief in their own inferiority
and the reinforcement of that belief. This would translate to
looking up to the West since they occupy the superior and
enviable good state of being. With this type of mind-set the will
to assert one is undermined, and the tendency to be dependent on
the West is reinforced, and the Third world peoples become
increasingly available for Western exploitation and domination.
6. Furthermore, Modernisation theory is concerned about order and
system maintenance, thus it consigned development to a static
status when it is a known fact that development is a dynamic
process. The theory advocates for the maintenance of the status
quo in the name of system stability or equilibrium, but it is
factual that some societies have experienced development
through a revolution or radical departure from the status quo.
Typical examples are Russia after the Bolshevik revolution and
China after the Chairman Mao’s revolution. Moreover, it appears
that part of the solution to the Third world underdevelopment
problem would be radical change from the culture of corruption
and impunity.

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POL 234 MODULE 1

3.2 Shortcomings of Dependency Theory

In recapitulation, Dependency theory is also known as

Underdevelopment School of Thought. It blames the West for the
underdevelopment of the Third World. The theory argues that
underdevelopment is a consequence of colonialism and neo-colonialism
which led to the exploitation of the resources of the Third world and the
ensued incorporation of their economies into the global capitalist system
at a subjugated position in which their human and material resources
further exploited by the industrialised capitalist nations. It states that
independent capitalist development in the periphery is impossible, and
therefore the only way the periphery can develop is to delink totally
from the world capitalist system and chart a new path of development.
As strong and convincing as the Dependency theory is, it still has some
limitations. These include the following below:

Firstly, the Dependency theory’s broad notion of Centre-Periphery

relations in the global state economic system is ambiguous. The lumping
of developed nations in one bloc tagged “centre” or “metropole”
assumes there are commonalities among all developed nations whether
capitalist or socialist. Also, the lumping of the underdeveloped nations
into another bloc tagged “periphery” or “satellite” assumes that all
underdeveloped have the same level of exploitation and
underdevelopment. But we all know that there are variations in real
world situations. For instance, Dependency School said that it is the
advanced capitalist West that exploits the Third world. But in recent
times, advanced socialist countries like China and Russia, have joined in
this exploitation by making the underdeveloped countries dumping
ground for weaponry and substandard electronics. Again, there are some
advanced capitalist states that export primary commodities like crude
oil. An example is Canada. Can we then say that Canada is also being
exploited through her export like the underdeveloped countries?
Moreover, there are some underdeveloped nations that produce finished
goods and export such goods to other countries. An example is South
Africa which apart from diamond, exports car (a finished product). Can
we then say that South Africa (an underdeveloped country) is exploiting
other underdeveloped countries through the export of its finished goods,
but on the other hand, it is also being exploited by other capitalist
nations any time it exports its diamond?

The critics of Dependency theory are of the view that its exponents
should revisit their Centre - Periphery classification and tools of
analysis, and come up with a more representative schema that would
accommodate the differences particularly in economic relations among
nations of the world.
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POL 324 POLITICS OF DEVELOPMENT AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT

Secondly, the Dependency School is so much consumed by the

exploitation of the resources of the Third world nations by their ex-
colonisers that it ignores the role of corruption, bad governance and
political instability in the underdevelopment of the Third world nations.
Although the impact of imperialism and neo-colonialism on Africa’s
development for instance, cannot be overemphasised, and neither can
the role of corruption and bad leadership be underplayed. It is obvious
that the presence of large scale corruption and bad governance in the
Third world have led to the mismanagement of huge material and human
resources, and this has contributed in no small measure to its
underdevelopment.

Therefore, it is wrong for the Dependency theory to attribute the crisis of

development in the Third world to only colonialism and Western
exploitation. Other factors such as corruption and political imbroglio are
also impediments to Third world development.

Thirdly, total delinking from the global capitalist system is one of the
major recommendations of Dependency School as the only answer to
the Third World development crisis. It argues that the underdeveloped
states cannot achieve development as long as they remain incorporated
into the world capitalist system.

However, experiences of the Asian Tigers like Taiwan, Singapore, and

South Korea have shown that the underdeveloped countries can achieve
development while still engaging in, or being part of the global capitalist
relations. Also, Dependency theory fails to appreciate the law of
relativity and interdependence of nations of the world because no nation
is an autarchy or has all it requires for its development. On this note, the
idea of total delinking or isolationism from the global economic system
becomes likely impracticable, unfashionable and unprofitable. What
appears possible however, is selective or partial delinking through a new
international economic order in which they terms of trading and other
economic relations should be mutual and beneficial to both the
developed and underdeveloped nations.

4.0 CONCLUSION

It could be deduced from the fore-going analysis that Modernisation and

Dependency theories have some limitations. However, both of them did
offer useful explanations about the possible causes of the crisis of
development in the Third world particularly Africa. What is therefore
needed is to build a synergy between the propositions of both Schools of
Thought and use it in tackling the problem of underdevelopment,
exploitations, inequalities and social unrests around the world.
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POL 234 MODULE 1

Both theories seek to provide answers to why the Global South lagged
far behind the Global North in terms of comparative level of wellbeing
and development. They also explain why the development experiences
within the Global South differs so widely. Indeed, the diversity evident
in the Global South invites the conclusion that underdevelopment should
be explained by a combination of factors.

5.0 SUMMARY

This unit has critiqued the modernisation and underdevelopment

theories of development. It revealed that while Modernisation theory is
unscientific, ethnocentric, ideological and historical, and amounts to
imperialism as it tries to foist on the Third World capitalist values,
Western culture and institutions which deepen exploitation and
dependency rather than development, Dependency School on the other
hand, suffers from fallacy of over-generalisation and the neglect of
internal factors like corruption and political instability in shaping and
perpetuating the problem of underdevelopment. Despite all these
limitations, both theories have some strong points which if synergised,
could be useful in tackling the problem of development in the world.

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

i. Why is Modernisation theory inadequate for understanding,

explaining and solving the crisis of development in the Third
world?
ii. What are the limitations of Dependency school of thought?
iii. “The two major theories of development are parallel lines that
can never meet.” Discuss.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

According to Claude Ake, “the tenets of modernisation theory are not

only untenable but also amounts to imperialism.” Do you agree?

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING

Ake, Claude (1979). Social Science as Imperialism: the Theory of

Political Development. Ibadan: Ibadan University Press.

Lijphart, Arend (1977). Democracy in Plural Societies: A Comparative

Exploration. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.

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POL 324 POLITICS OF DEVELOPMENT AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT

UNIT 5 DEVELOPMENT IN THE INDUSTRIALISED

ECONOMIES

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 A Brief Appraisal of Development in the Advanced World
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Reading

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Having critiqued the theories of development and unveiled their various

limitations, we are now better placed to reappraise development as it
applies to the industrialised countries of the world.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, you should be able to:

• analyse objectively development in the advanced world

• itemise the Third world’s contribution to the development of the
advanced countries.

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 A Brief Appraisal of Development in the Advanced

World

Most scholars and policy-makers from the industrialised countries of the

world have always argued that their development was as a result of their
progressive culture, strong democratic institutions and good leadership
which are superior to, and are lacking in the Third World (W.W. Rostow
and others). In other words, development in the advanced nations, is a
consequence of their good values, creativity, inventions and innovations.
To them, the underdeveloped nations have made no contributions to the
development of the industrialised nations, that in fact, even the little
development in the Third world is as a result of their contact with the
industrialised capitalist West, without there would have been no
development at all in the Third world particularly Africa.

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POL 234 MODULE 1

Although it could be disputed that Western values are superior to non-

western values because no culture is superior to another, it is a known
fact that their creativity, disciplined political leadership and strong
democratic institutions contributed significantly to their development.
But that is not to say that the Third world countries did not contribute to
such development. If the truth must be told, the material and human
resources of the Third world nations especially those in Africa and
South America not only contributed, but also sustained, and have
continued to sustain development in the industrialised countries of the
world particularly the West. Just imagine the following scenario.

1. Imagine if there were no slaves from Africa and South America

to work in the European and North American Plantations. This
would have significantly reduced production of goods such as
refined sugar. The reduction in production would have translated
to reduction in profits. This would have reduced the amount of
savings for new investments and research which are all necessary
for development. Europe and North America would not have
developed at the rate they did if Africa, Asia and South America
did not provide the needed man-power in form of slaves to work
in their plantations and as a result, boost production, profits,
savings and investments as well as research, which sustained
their development.

2. Imagine if there was no imperialism and the Third world nations

were not colonised. Their cheap raw materials wouldn’t have
been exploited to service industries in the West after the
industrial revolution. The implication would have been, since the
machines required raw materials to produce goods, most of the
industries in the West would have closed operations as a result of
lack of raw materials, while some others would have operated at
losses instead of profits because of the expensive and few raw
materials from Europe. If this had happened, invention and
innovation would have been discouraged and industrial
revolution stalled, and the pace of development in Europe and
America substantially reduced.

3. Imagine if the Third world economies were incorporated into the

global capitalist system at a just and fair position, and in which
they also produce and export finished goods. The Third world
would have been making enough gains and surplus values and
would not be experiencing unfavourable balance of payment.
Based on this, there is every likelihood that the Third World
development would have equaled or be close to that of the
industrialised countries.
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POL 324 POLITICS OF DEVELOPMENT AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT

4. Imagine if the global terms of trade and other international

economic relations are designed and implemented for mutual
benefits of all the participating countries, Africa would not have
been contributing just about 1% to the global trade. The world
resources would have been symbiotically shared and this would
have translated to even global development with some little
variations.

Imagine also if thousand of skilled Africans did not migrate to the US

and Europe, there would have been shortage of human capital to fast-
track development in the industrialised world. It is on record that an
average of 30,000 Africans migrate to the US and Europe every year.
About 25% of doctors trained in Africa work abroad in developed
societies. In the United States alone, African immigrants are the highest
educated set of immigrants. There are about 640,000 African
professionals in the US, and about 360,000 of them hold PhD, about
120,000 of them are medical doctors from Nigeria, Sudan, Ghana and
Uganda. Others are professionals who are making their mark in various
fields of human endeavours (Archbishop Ndungane cited in Igwe,
2010). The implication of this is that through brain drain, human capital
is exploited from Africa to fine-tune development and refresh the
population in the advanced countries of the world. Hence without such
exploitations, development in the advanced countries would have been
slow or even stalled. Although Africa also benefits from such human
capital relations in form of brain gain, the benefit is not substantial and
its positive impact on Africa’s development is very little.

SELF- ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

i. Critically assess development in the advanced nations of the

world.
ii. In your own opinion, could development in the advanced nations,
have proceeded without the resources from the Third world
countries?

4.0 CONCLUSION

Having imagined all these possibilities, it is now understandable that

Europe, North America and Japan and even emerging economies like
China, India, and South Korea, would not have developed at the speed
they did if not because of the ever-flowing stream of human and
material resources from Africa in particular. Although internal factors
such as creativity, industrial revolutions, disciplined political leadership
and progressive values contributed significantly to the development of

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POL 234 MODULE 1

the advanced nations, exploitation of African resources nay the Third

world remains the life-wire that sustains that development.

5.0 SUMMARY

This unit has objectively reappraised the issue of development as it

applies to the advanced nations. It revealed that development in the
advanced world is a function of both internal and external factors which
include advanced nations’ creativity, inventions and committed and
accountable political leadership and democratic institutions (internal
factors), as well as the exploitation of Third world resources particularly
Africa (external factor). Without the external factor, development in the
advanced nations would have been slow and perhaps unsustainable.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

“Development in the Western Capitalist countries is a function of both

exogenous and endogenous factors.” Explain.

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING

Amin, Samir (1974). Accumulation and Development. A Theoretical

Model. Review of African Political Economy, Vol.9.

Igwe, Stanley (2010). How Africa Underdeveloped Africa. Port-

Harcourt: Professional Printers and Publishers.

Marx, Karl (1976). Capital. A Critique of Political Economy. Vol.1.

Penguin Books.

Rodney, Walter (1972). How Europe Underdeveloped Africa. London:

Bogle-L’Overtures Publications.

39
POL 324 POLITICS OF DEVELOPMENT AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT

UNIT 6 UNDERDEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 A Second Look at Underdevelopment in Africa
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Reading

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Africa has the highest number of underdeveloped countries of all the

continents in the world. In fact, underdevelopment has become
synonymous with Africa. More often than not, African leaders and
scholars blame the West for their underdevelopment especially as it
relates to their economic predicaments. But there are indications that
apart from external exploitation, there are other internal factors that have
contributed to Africa’s underdevelopment. This unit takes a second look
at Africa’s underdevelopment with the aim of finding out the internal
obstructions to the continent’s development.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, you should be able to:

• explain underdevelopment in Africa objectively

• state those internal impediments to Africa’s development.

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 An Appraisal of Underdevelopment in Africa

Africa is the richest continent in the world in terms of natural resources,

yet it is the poorest continent in terms of socio-economic development.
The story of Africa is that of a continent with a paradox of being so rich,
yet very poor, so endowed with human and material potentials, yet very
underdeveloped economically and otherwise.

Walter Rodney and other exponents of the Dependency School of

Thought traced Africa’s underdevelopment to imperialism and
colonisation through which Africa was partitioned in Berlin Conference
40
POL 234 MODULE 1

of 1884/85 by foreign invaders - the European Powers, and its

development stunted by the exploitation of its resources. For Rodney, an
indispensable component of modern underdevelopment is that it
expresses a particular relationship of exploitation - the exploitation of
one country by another. All of the countries named as
‘’underdeveloped’’ in the world are exploited by others; and the
underdevelopment with which the world is now preoccupied is a product
of capitalist, imperialist, and colonialist exploitation. Africa and Asian
societies were developing independently until they were taken over
directly or indirectly by the capitalist powers. When that happened,
exploitation increased and the export of surplus ensued, depriving the
societies of the benefit of their natural resources and labour.

However, it is true that colonialism and neo-colonialism obstructed, and

have continued to obstruct in no measurable way Africa’s quest for
development, it is a more fundamental truth that internal factors have
impeded Africa’s development more than any other factors. Just
consider the following possibilities:

1. Imagine if after the flag independence there was no corruption in

Africa, and its resources were judiciously managed by its leaders,
the condition of social infrastructure in Africa today would have
improved significantly, and poverty would have been a history, or
reduced to a reasonable degree. It is on record that African
countries since independence have made billions of dollars from
the export of their natural resources, but over 90% of such
revenues has been either embezzled or mismanaged by their
political leaders. For instance, it is believed that in Nigeria alone,
about 400 billion dollars have been stolen from its externally
generated oil revenues, and siphoned to private foreign accounts
by the past political leaders. Imagine what that amount could
have done if it was prudently utilised to provide basic amenities
in the country, electricity supply would have been sufficient and
regular, schools would have been well-equipped, hospitals would
have been functional, all roads would have been tarred, many
industries would have been built and sustained, standard of living
would have risen, and poverty level would have been very low
and inconsequential, and most importantly, underdevelopment
might not have continued after independence.

2. Imagine if there was no political instability in Africa after

independence, the continent would have experienced more
development. It is on record that immediately after independence,
most African states were engulfed by military coup, rancorous
struggle for political power and the resultant prolonged political
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POL 324 POLITICS OF DEVELOPMENT AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT

imbroglio and civil wars, all of which hindered, and have

continued to obstruct development efforts in Africa. From North
to South, East to West, there is hardly any country in Africa that
has not experienced either military take-over or civil war, or both.
The stories of Sudan, Tunisia, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Kenya,
Ghana, Congo, Liberia, Somalia, Nigeria and numerous others,
are that of countries torn apart by coup d’etat, autocratic
leadership, political instability and civil war. Any wonder Claude
Ake submitted that “by all indications, political conditions in
Africa are the greatest impediment to development”. The African
political elites are so much overwhelmed by the struggle for state
power that everything else including development is
marginalised. This is partly and largely responsible for Africa’s
underdevelopment.

3. Also, imagine if there was continuity of economic policies by

successive governments or regimes in Africa. What we have seen
over the years among the various military and even civilian
governments in Africa is a situation where each government
came to power with its own economic and development agenda
that was entirely different from its predecessor’s. There is no
continuation in public policy of government. This partly explains
why there are many uncompleted or abandoned development
projects across various countries in Africa. This is not surprising
because most African politicians play politics of rancor and
bitterness, and see their opponents as political enemies, and vice
versa. Hence, if the opposition happens to grab power, its first
preoccupation is usually to dismantle all the features of the old
regimes including their economic policies irrespective of how
good and developmental such policies may be. This is part of the
reasons why Africa is underdeveloped.

Imagine if there is patriotism and commitment on the part of African

political leadership to embark on auto-centric development and, or to
utilise judiciously loans from the IMF and World Bank which are
sometimes given with good intentions, most African countries would
have experienced development while still being part of the global
capitalist system just like the Asian Tigers. Even the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) would have been achieved long before
now. Sadly and regrettably, Africa, more than any other continent, lacks
patriotic and committed political leaders who are interested in the
general good of the people.

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POL 234 MODULE 1

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

i. “Europe exploited Africa, but Africa underdeveloped Africa.”

Discuss.
ii. “Africa’s underdevelopment is man-made, hence its solution lies
in the hands of man.” What do you think is the solution to
underdevelopment in Africa?

4.0 CONCLUSION

From the analysis so far, it is very clear that apart from colonial legacies,
there are also internal factors such as corruption and political instability
which are strong impediment to Africa’s development. It is therefore
high time that African political leaders stopped blaming imperialism for
the continent’s economic woes. It behooves the African political
leadership to rise up to the occasion through self rebirth and self-
designed development strategies to rescue Africa from the abyss of
poverty and underdevelopment.

5.0 SUMMARY

This unit has been able to re-assess underdevelopment in Africa. It

unveiled how both imperialism and internal impediment of corruption
and political instability have combined and arrested Africa’s
development. It argued that African would have developed if its political
leaders have pursued development with patriotism, commitment, vigor
and honesty.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

“Political leadership is the greatest impediment to development in

Africa”. Is it true?

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POL 324 POLITICS OF DEVELOPMENT AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING

Ake, Claude (1996). Democracy and Development in Africa. Ibadan:

Spectrum Books Limited.

Falola, T. & Afolabi, N. (Eds). (2008). Trans Atlantic Migration: The

paradoxes of Exile. New York and London: Routledge.

Igwe, Stanley (2010). How Africa Underdeveloped Africa. Port-

Harcourt: Professional Printers and Publishers.

Okeke, G.S.M. “The Uprooted Emigrant:” The Impact of Brain Drain,

Brain Gain and Brain Circulation on Africa’s Development.” In:

Rodney, Walter (1972). How Europe Underdeveloped Africa. London:

Bogle-L’Overtures Publications.

44
POL 324 MODULE 2

MODULE 2 EXTERNAL AGENTS OF

DEVELOPMENT AND
UNDERDEVELOPMENT

Unit 1 Global Capitalism and Globalisation

Unit 2 Britton Woods Institutions (IMF and the World Bank)
Unit 3 Multinational/Transnational Corporations (MNCs or
TNCs)
Unit 4 The Politics of Debt and Foreign Aid in Africa
Unit 5 North/South Dichotomy and the Search for a New
International Economic Order

UNIT 1 GLOBAL CAPITALISM AND

GLOBALISATION

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 Global Capitalism and Globalisation.
3.2 Global Capitalism
3.3 Globalisation
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Reading

1.0 INTRODUCTION

This unit examines the impact of international capitalism and

globalisation on the Third world. It interrogates the present construction
of the global economic system which from all indications is enriching
some few countries in the North while at the same time deepening
poverty and underdevelopment in the South. In other words, it unveils
the evils of global capitalism and how globalisation is a veritable
instrument for their perpetuation.

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POL 234 POLITICS OF DEVELOPMENT AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT

2.0 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, you should be able to:

• identify the origin of global inequality

• explain why globalisation is affecting different nations of the
world, differently
• state why in the Third world especially Africa the “state” is still
needed to pilot the economy.

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 Global Capitalism and Globalisation

3.2 Global Capitalism

The Third world nations particularly those in Africa are underdeveloped

today not because of the incorporation of their economies into the global
capitalist system, but because of “how” their economies were
incorporated. Colonialism and neo-colonialism disarticulated and
monetised the Third world economies and made them to be part of the
global capitalist economy at a subjugated position. From the out-set,
their economies were designed to produce mainly primary commodities
or raw materials to service the industries in the Metropole. The
Metropole or advanced capitalist economies were designed to produce
finished goods that are marketable both in the Periphery and in the Core
or Centre.

Again, the international regulations guiding the exchange of the raw

materials from the Periphery and the finished goods from the Core are
formulated and executed by the advanced capitalist nations to their
advantage, but to the detriment of the Third world countries. The
advanced capitalist nations deploy their exalted position in the global
economic system to fix the prices of both primary commodities and
finished products even though they often claim that such prices are not
fixed by any country, but rather by the invisible forces of demand and
supply which guide market economy. Prevailing realities have revealed
that the so-called invisible market forces are very visible and are often
manipulated by the advanced capitalist nations using their high influence
in global institutions such as the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

International trade is essential to developing countries because having

been integrated into the global capitalist order, international trade has
become the major source of external revenue with which they could
pursue development. However the problem with global trade is that it is
46
POL 324 MODULE 2

tilted in favour of the industrialisd nations. The terms of trade and

payment system are always unfavourable to the Third World countries
particularly those in the South of the Saharan Africa. The forceful and
unjust incorporation of the African economies into the international
capitalist economic system at a position in which they produce what
they do not consume (cash crops often exported to the industrialised
countries as raw materials), and consume what they do not produce
(finished goods such as cars, tea, electronics, ICT, etc) has continued to
make Africa vulnerable to this open exploitation by which the advanced
capitalist nations buy the raw materials at cheap prices and process
them into industrial goods which they sell back to Africa at exorbitant
prices. They use their privileged position in global affairs to fix both the
prices of raw materials and that of finished goods. This usually results in
trade deficits and unfavourable balance of payment in Africa because
African countries often end up importing more than they export. The
table below shows this great disparity in global trade.

Table 1:World Merchandise Train in 2010

REGIONS EXPORT VALUES WORLD TOTAL
(IN DOLLARS)
Europe 5.6 trillion 38%
Asia 4.6 trillion 32%
North America 1.9 trillion 13%
Middle East 916 billion 6%
CIS (Russia and 588 billion 4%
Ukraine)
South America 575 billion 4%
Africa 500 billion 3%
TOTAL 14.679 trillion 100
Source: World Trade Organisation (WTO) 2011 Press Release

From the above table, it is obvious that in 2011 Africa contributed only
3% to the global trade. In 2012, Africa’s contribution has even fallen to
less than 2%. The reason is not because its goods are too small in terms
of quantity, or amount of time and energy spent on their production, but
because its goods are mainly primary products which are usually under
priced by the industrialised nations. This is unlike finished goods from
the industrialised world whose prices are very high as fixed by them.

Not even the World Trade Organisation (WTO) which came into
existence in 1995 to address the deficiencies and the inherent prejudices
of the Defunct General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT) which
was established in 1948 to regulate trade among nations, has been able
to tackle this injustice. Not even the creation of World Trade Tribunal

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POL 234 POLITICS OF DEVELOPMENT AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT

by WTO to address and redress disputes and breaches of rules and

regulations arising from international trade could right this protracted
wrong in global trade relations.

The bitter truth is that the WTO, typical of any element of global
capitalism, is serving the interests of the rich capitalist nations which
have been deploying different strategies to reinforce and perpetuate their
domination of the global economy. Globalisation appears to be the latest
strategy of this capitalist domination agenda. It is this that we now turn
to.

3.3 Globalisation

Globalisation is a short form for a cluster of interconnected phenomena

and the term is used to describe, alternatively, a process, a policy, a
predicament or the product of vast invisible global forces producing
tremendous changes worldwide. The leading analyst on globalisation is
Thomas Friedman, (see the World is Flat…)

Globalisation can be seen from two different perspectives –

globalisation as interdependence of nations and globalisation as
imperialism. For the Liberal School, globalisation is process of greater
integration and interdependence of nations for mutual benefits and
global development. Francis Fukuyama in his book titled “the End of
History and the Last Man Standing” opines that globalisation represents
the victory of political and economic liberalism that is evidenced in the
triumph of the western ideas and values and the exhaustion of viable
systemic alternatives to western liberalism. For the advocates of
globalisation, nation states should open up their economies through
deregulation and removal of all national barriers to international trade
and investments in so as to enjoy fully the inter-dependency, mutual
exchange of goods and services as well as development opportunities
which globalisation offers. They further argue that “government has no
business in business”, and therefore should not intervene in the
economy, but play minimalist role.

On the other hand, Radical School of thought views globalisation as the

universalisation of capitalism through international economic policies
with the aim of deepening the incorporation and dependency of the
peripheral states on the developed capitalist nations. “Globalisation has
come with new alliances that are purely economic and ideological…the
forces that control the globalisation process are capitalist with an agenda
of promoting economic liberalisation and enthroning capitalism on the
world stage as the global ideology” (Babawale, 2007). For the
antagonist of globalisation, it is a well calculated strategy by the North
48
POL 324 MODULE 2

to expand the operations of their Multinational Corporations for profit

maximisation using the Information and Communication Technology
(ICT). This however exploits and impoverishes more the already
underdeveloped countries of the world. Based on this very fact, they
regard globalisation as the highest stage of imperialism since it
subjugates the Third World and appropriates its wealth to the West.

For the purpose of this course, the definition offered by the radical
school appears to be more realistic and in tandem with the prevailing
realities in the Third world. There is no doubt that globalisation offers
some positive opportunities or gains to the entire world. For instance, it
makes states of the world to be more interconnected and interdependent
through trade and investments enhanced by improved Information and
Communications Technology (ICT) like computers, mobile phones,
internets and so on. In the words of Akinboye (2008), globalisation has
brought a tremendous revolutionary transformation on our planet as a
result of changes that have also taken place in ICT, all of which have
cumulatively led to the villagisation of the globe. The interconnectivity
emanating from globalisation is such that what affects one country can
be seen and felt across the world, or can even affect or influence many
other countries that are thousands of miles away. This is because the
world has become a global village networked by ICT. Hence with just a
click of buttons, you will know, see and even contribute to what is
happening in any part of the world, even the most remote. The good
thing about this global development is that there is now more global
response to world issues or disasters such as Tsunami, climate change,
terrorism etc.

However, whatever the gains of globalisation may be, its fallouts far
outweigh its gains. It has integrated the world economies such that
whatever affects one country particularly the big powers affect the entire
world. In other words, it transfers the problem of one country to other
countries that perhaps do not contribute to the problem. For instance, the
Global Recession which lasted between 2007 and 2009 started in USA,
but spread like wild-fire to other countries of the world including
Nigeria.

Also, the effects of globalisation differ from one nation to another.

While the industrialised nations gain more, the underdeveloped nations
gain less. Moreover, the underdeveloped nations are more adversely
affected by globalisation than the developed nations. The reason being
that unlike the latter, the former are characterised by weak social
infrastructure, low export prices, unfavourable terms of trade, debt
crisis, and lack of bargaining power in international relations.

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POL 234 POLITICS OF DEVELOPMENT AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT

Khor (2000) laments that globalisation is very uneven process with

unequal distribution benefits and losses. The uneven and unequal nature
of the present globalisation process is manifested in the fast-growing
gap between the world’s rich and poor people, and between developed
and the developing countries, and in the large differences among nations
in the distribution of gains and losses.

Therefore, the argument that the Third World states like Nigeria would
reap bountifully from globalisation if they open up their economies is
misleading. For example, over the last few years, it has been observed
that the more Nigeria embraced globalisation through privatisation and
deregulation, the more underdeveloped it has become. In fact,
experiences have shown that un-checkmated globalisation is a double-
edge sword. Even USA which champions globalisation around the world
is aware of this simple fact. That is why the state (government) is still
central to the US economy. The State still pays unemployment
allowance to the unemployed Americans. Also, when the US was hit
hard by the global economic meltdown in 2008, President Barak Obama
came up with a government intervention policy known as “Bailout”
through which the government rolled out billion of dollars to bank-roll
and save some of the troubled US companies such as the AIG, General
Motors (GM), Citi-Bank etc, from bankruptcy and collapse, having been
hugely affected by the global financial crisis. This is the same country
that has been compelling the Third world governments not to intervene
in their economies, but rather liberalise and allow the market forces to
be the regulator.

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

i. “Global capitalism has produced comparative price advantage for

the West in the world trade.” Discuss.
ii. Has globalisation enhanced or undermined development in the
Third world?
iii. Do you think Africa is ripe for non-government intervention in
the economy?

4.0 CONCLUSION

The recent global financial crunch (2007/2008) has opened the eyes of
many leaders of various countries to see the complex social and
environmental consequences of unrestrained markets which
globalisation advocates for. Global capitalism which is today in the
guise of globalisation is founded on the foundation of exploitation of
many by a privileged few, and that is partly responsible for the global
inequalities and the resultant class struggle cum development crisis
50
POL 324 MODULE 2

across the world. Therefore, it behooves the Third world nations to

exercise some caution while dealing with globalisation otherwise they
will be totally consumed by it. It is also worthy to note here that the
Third world countries especially those in Africa are not yet ripe for full
liberalisation and globalisation.

We therefore conclude that the reduction of state to a minimalist status

as prescribed by globalisation will eventually lead to the crucifixion of
the state. But economies in the Third world particularly those in Africa
still require the full attention of the state or government to provide not
only the enabling ecology for businesses to thrive, but also the ever-
needed adequate regulations. Allowing the market forces to regulate
African economies with their weak institutions will only result in further
exploitation, hardship and underdevelopment.

5.0 SUMMARY

In this unit, we have been able to critically examine the phenomena of

global capitalism and globalisation. We argued that global capitalism in
all its various manifestations was designed from the outset to enrich the
industrialised capitalist world at the expense of the Third world
development. We further asserted that the forceful disarticulation,
monetisation and the unjust incorporation and subjugation of the Third
world economies into the world capitalist system in which they produce
what they do not consume, and consume what they do not produce, has
produced an unfair comparative price advantage for the western finished
goods as over the primary products of the Third world. This has
contributed to more development in the West, but has deepened
underdevelopment in the Third world particularly Africa. Finally, it is
advised that the governments of the Third world states to be very careful
as they engage in the on-going globalisation process so as to mitigate its
fallouts while maximising its gains.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

“Globalisation has continued to have both positive and negative impacts

in the Third World.” Discuss.

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POL 234 POLITICS OF DEVELOPMENT AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING

Akinboye, Solomon (2008). Globalisation and the Challenge for

Nigeria’s Development in the 21st Century. Available on the
internet at http://www.Akinboye Solomon and Globalisation.
Retrieved on August 16, 2012

Babawale, Tunde (2007). Nigeria in the Crises of Governance and

Development: Retrospective, Prospective Analysis of Selected
Issues and Events. The Political Economy of Development,
Governance and Globalisation. Volume 1, 2 Lagos: Concept
Publications.

Khor, Martin (2000). Globalisation and the South –Some Critical Issues.
Ibadan: Spectrum Books Limited.

WTO (2011). Trade Growth to Ease in 2011, But Despite 2010 Record
Surge, Crisis Hangover Persists.

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POL 324 MODULE 2

UNIT 2 BRITTON WOODS INSTITUTIONS (IMF AND

WORLD BANK)

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 IMF and World Bank
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Reading

1.0 INTRODUCTION

This unit examines how the major International Financial Institutions

have been contributing to the development and at the same time
underdevelopment of the Third world countries particularly those in
Africa. It unearths how loans from the IMF and the World Bank to the
periphery facilitate “development” on one hand, and how conditions
usually attached to such loans further underdevelopment on the other
hand. The unit also unveils how the developed nations used their high
voting power and influence to design and manipulate policies of these
institutions for their benefits, but to the detriment of the poor nations of
the world especially those in Sub-Saharan Africa.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, you should be able to:

• analyse the contribution of the International Financial Institutions

to global development
• state the contribution of the International Financial Institutions to
global inequality and underdevelopment in the Third world
• identify the central role of funding and politics in deciding who
gets financial assistance and under what conditions, from global
financial institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank.

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 IMF and World Bank

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and International Bank for

Reconstruction and Development – IBRD (World Bank) were conceived
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POL 234 POLITICS OF DEVELOPMENT AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT

in 1944 during the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference

in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, United States of America. They
came into existence in 1945 when their articles of agreement were
signed by the first member states. However, in the trade area, the
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was also established,
and after GATT transformed in the 1990’s to World Trade Organisation
(WTO). While the major mission of the World Bank was to help the
countries that fought the 2nd World war to rebuild their devastated
economies, the IMF was to provide the needed global financial services
such as adequate funding, sound financial advice, global trade and
balance of payment management, and to carryout technical /financial
research and make available the reports of such research to countries
that may need them so as to improve global economy (Blanco and
Carrasco, 2012). With the help of America’s Marshal Plan combined
with the efforts of both IMF and World Bank, European economies were
rebuilt and development was restored to Europe.

Since then, the functions and focus of the IMF and World Bank have
shifted to mainly developing countries that are still having enormous
economic problems, and are in dire need of development. However,
these Bretton Woods institutions have not been able to replicate what
they did to European economies after the world war 11, rather they have
become veritable instruments in the hands of the developed nations
particularly the capitalist West who are their major financiers and
decision makers, for the exploitation and underdevelopment of the
periphery.

The advanced capitalist countries have been able to perpetrate and

perpetuate these exploitation and dependency in the Third World partly
because they are the major financial contributors to the IMF and World
Bank, They have the highest voting powers in these institutions, and
they do not hesitate to use such powers to benefit themselves at the
expense of the Third World. By virtue of their financial contribution to
these global financial institutions, the Western nations are the decision
makers and as such they dictate who gets what, how and when. This is a
clear manifestation of the aphorism that he who pays the piper dictates
the tune. The G-7 members (United States, Canada, United Kingdom,
France, Italy, Germany and Japan) are top contributors to the World
Bank and IMF, and together they control over 40 percent of the votes.
The US is the only country with a super-majority power to block any
decisions of the World Bank. The World Bank president is always an
American and the president of IMF is always European. Therefore, the
developing World has little or no say over the policies of these
international financial institutions.

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POL 324 MODULE 2

There is no doubt that the World Bank and IMF support development in
the Third world countries by given them loans or grants for development
projects such as rural electrification, rural telephony, health care,
construction of dams and irrigation channels for agricultural production,
urban renewal (construction of street roads, waste management, and
provision of potable water and street lights in some urban cities) and
some other World Bank and IMF Assisted Projects.

However, the conditions that are usually attached to these loans and the
manner in which the projects they are meant for are executed do more
harm than good to the economies of the Third world. In Africa for
instance, the interest rate IMF and the World Bank attach to their loans
for countries in the continent is so high that at times one wonders if
these institutions are really development-oriented, or are they profit-
oriented? It would have been a different thing if these institutions are
commercial banks or enterprises whose major goal is profit
maximisation. In a situation where they were set up with a mandate to
fast track global development, it becomes worrisome when these global
financial institutions pay more attention to interest rate on loans and
profit making rather than development. Even the conditions for
servicing such loans are sometimes designed in such a way that the
recipient countries cannot fulfill them, and as such would have to pay
through their nose to service the debt and arrears that would accumulate
over time. Any wonder many countries in Africa suddenly became
heavily indebted nations and had to be granted debt relief so that their
already bankrupt economies can remain afloat.

Another inimical condition usually attached to loans from IMF and

World Bank is the insistence by these institutions that the recipient
countries must not only pay for consultancy which often takes half of
the loan, but also purchase the materials that would be used to execute
the projects from the West, notably the major financial contributors to
the institutions. The consultants are of course expatriate from the
institutions or the West. The danger of this is that consultancy alone
consumes significant percentage of the loan thereby leaving little or
nothing for the execution of the projects. Also, the recipient states spend
huge part of the loan on importation of materials which otherwise could
be sourced or produced locally. For example, in 2010/2011, the World
Bank granted Nigeria millions of dollars on loan to control malaria
which is one of the major child killer diseases in the country. However,
one of the conditions attached to the loan was that Nigeria must import
the materials for the programme such as “insecticide treated mosquito
nets” from America and Europe. We all know that Nigeria has the local
capacity to produce insecticide treated mosquito nets of course, but she
was not allowed to do so. Then fundamental question is: if developing
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countries are not allowed to produce goods as simple as mosquito nets,

how can they attain self-sufficiency or even development which the
World Bank claims to be facilitating? These strategies are not only
inappropriate, but also constitute impediments to the developing
countries quest for sustainable development.

Moreover, imposition of market economy driven reforms has become a

constant feature or condition of IMF and World Bank loans. It is a
known fact that more often than not the so-called development partners
foist on developing countries reforms that are based on market economy
principles through the IMF and World Bank. Most at times, they don’t
mind cooperating with even corrupt regimes in the Third World
inasmuch such regimes agree to open up their economies so that the so-
called invisible hands of forces of demand and supply would regulate
the prices of goods and services.

Polanyi (1944) has argued that this very principle of self-regulating

market is not only untenable, but also utopian because government
always intervenes and regulates the economy even in advanced capitalist
nations like Britain, USA, etc. A recent example was the use of billions
of dollars as bail-out (giving public money to distressed private
companies) by the US government during the 2008 and 2009 global
economic melt-down to save companies like the General Motors (GM)
and Citi-Bank from bankruptcy and possible collapse. In fact, the
imposition of open market system on the developing countries is being
used to exploit them because once they open up their economies; the
developed nations do not waste time to saturate the Third world markets
with cheaper and more quality goods which often have competitive edge
over the locally made goods. This creates low demand for locally
produced goods, but high appetite for foreign goods. The implication is
that local industries are kicked out of business due to low patronage, and
the dependency of developing countries on industrialised nations is
deepened.

It is worthy to note at this juncture that some of the IMF and World
Bank led Reforms in the Third World are at times in conflict with the
internal development plans of developing countries. This is what Ake
(1996) called ‘competing agendas’ and according to him, “nowhere is
the conflict more evident than in the rift between the Bretton Woods
institutions and African governments over approaches to African
Development. The Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP)” of 1986 in
Nigeria is one of such IMF/World Bank led reform and development
initiative that had catastrophic consequences on Nigerian economy. Up
till today, Nigeria is yet to recover from the negative impact of the
austerity measures and the devaluation of naira which were part of SAP.
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Nevertheless, the IMF and World Bank are sometimes unwilling to fund
development programmes in the Third World countries or even help
them when they are experiencing economic crisis. A typical example is
the inadequate funding of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
It is on record that the MDGs may not be achieved by the year 2015
largely because of the failure of the World Bank and IMF perhaps donor
agencies to meet their financial pledges to the MDGs. But the same
institutions are always ready to dish out billions of dollars to help the
Western nations whenever they are in economic crisis. For example, the
IMF has committed billions of dollars in bailout to the Euro-Zone Debt
Crisis with little conditions attached. Nobody is asking Greece, Italy,
Poland and Spain to use their Foreign Reserve to solve their debt
problem. If Africa countries were to experience such debt crisis, it is
unlikely that IMF would extend such gesture to them, and moreover, the
IMF would have compelled such countries to use their Foreign Reserves
and tackle the problem just as it happened during the debt relief in which
Nigeria for instance had to spend 12 billion dollars of her Foreign
Reserve on debt-buy-back so as to have 18 billion dollars debt relief.

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

i. Discuss how the top financiers of IMF and the World Bank
influence the policies of the institutions and determine who gets
what, how and when from the institutions.
ii. Judging from the prevailing global economic problems, do you
think the world still requires the services of the IMF and World
Bank? Explain.
iii. Suggest ways to manage the IMF and the World Bank so that
every country, be it rich or poor, developed or underdeveloped,
capitalist or socialist, can benefit evenly or fairly from the
institutions.

4.0 CONCLUSION

From the foregoing analysis, it is clear that the international monetary

machines such as the IMF and World Bank are double edged sword
which on one hand support global development, on the other hand
contribute to the underdevelopment of the Third World through its
policies. We therefore conclude that these International Financial
Institutions are more or less veritable instruments in the hands of the
advanced capitalist countries for deepening dependency and
underdevelopment in the Third World states particularly those in Africa.
Thus, they should be reformed in such a way that their policies will
always benefit both the rich and the poor countries of the world

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irrespective of a country’s financial contribution to the institutions or

voting power in the institutions.

5.0 SUMMARY

We have been able to appraise the activities of some global financial

institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank. These institutions
were set up to fine tune global economic development through provision
of adequate loans or funding and economic advisory services to nations
of the world particularly the poor ones. Unfortunately, these institutions
have not satisfactorily fulfilled this mandate in the Third World. They
have rather become a willing instrument in the hands of their major
financiers which happened to be America and Europe, to perpetuate the
international capitalist economic order and foist capitalist policies on the
Third world which in the short-term and long-run benefit the West at the
expense of the Third World. The overall objective is to deepen
dependency and underdevelopment in the Third World for the economic
well-being of the West.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

“IMF and World Bank are sometimes used to further the exploitation
and underdevelopment in Africa and the Third world in general.” Do
you agree?

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING

Ake, Claude (1996). Democracy and Development in Africa. Ibadan:

Spectrum Books Limited.

Blanco, Sandra & Carrasco, Enrique (2007). “The Functions of IM and

the World Bank.” In: University of IOWA Center for
International Finance and Development (UICIFD) E-Book.
Available on the internet
athttp://blogs.law.uiowa.edu/ebook/uicifd-ebook/part-1-ii
functions-imf-world-bank. Retrieved on 16 September, 2012.

Polanyi, Karl (1957). The Great Transformation. Boston: Boston Press.

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POL 324 MODULE 2

UNIT 3 MULTINATIONAL
CORPORATIONS/TRANSNATIONAL
CORPORATIONS (MNCs or TNCs) AND
GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 Multinational/Transnational Corporations
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor- Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Reading

1.0 INTRODUCTION

There is a raging debate among scholars and policy makers about the
role of Multinational Corporations (MNCs) in global development. To
some analysts, MNCs contribute positively to development particularly
in the Third World. To others, MNCs are agents of underdevelopment in
the Third world. Yet, to some others, MNCs play both positive and
negative roles in the Third World development.

This unit therefore examines the activities of MNCs in the Third world
so as to bring to the fore their pros and cons which invariably contribute
to development and underdevelopment.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, you should be able to:

• analyse the activities of MNCs in developing countries

• pinpoint the contributions of MNCs to global development and
underdevelopment.

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 Multinational Corporations (MNCs) are also sometimes

known as Transnational Corporations (TNCs)

Since World War 11, (WW11) one of the key non-state actors that plays
an increasingly powerful role is the corporate actor. There are basically
three different kinds of corporate actors, MNC’s, TNC’s and Business
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Alliances. The first two are most prevalent in International Political

Economy. Whilst most people do not bother to make a distinction
between MNC’s and TNC’s, there is a distinction worth making. MNC’s
are generally referred to as national companies that have foreign
subsidiaries. In a sense they are clones of the parent company. TNC’s
generally have a local perspective when it comes to sales, service, public
relations and legal affairs, but they have a global perspective when it
comes to parts, machines, planning, research and development, finance,
marketing, pricing and management. In essence, TNCs usually view
themselves as separate non-national entities. This distinction may be
easily blurred.

In more specific terms MNCs are foreign private enterprises whose

parent companies and headquarters are located in the home countries of
their owners, but have subsidiaries spread across different other
countries of the world. The operation and management of the
subsidiaries are directed from the headquarters which are located
thousands of miles away. MNCs operate in the various sectors of the
economy ranging from oil and gas, mining, banking, manufacturing,
electronics, automobile, construction to ICT. Examples of MNCs in
Nigeria include: Shell Petroleum, Chevron, UAC, Toyota, Kia, LG,
SAMSUNG, Thermocool, Nokia, MTN, Standard Chartered IBTC and
numerous others. The cardinal goal of these companies is profit
maximisation and repatriation of such profits to their home country. The
benefits and costs attributed to MNCs have been many and complex.
This has made them highly controversial non-state actors, especially in
the global South where MNCs are frequently seen as the cause of
exploitation and poverty.

There is no doubt that MNCs do make some positive contributions to the

development of their host country. For instance, they pay royalties and
taxes to the government of their host country. Thus, they are potential
source of revenues to the government. Also, MNCs do provide
employment to the indigenes of their host communities. Some of the
indigenes or citizens of the country where MNCs are sited are usually
employed to work in these companies. This helps in solving the
unemployment problem. Moreover, MNCs in fulfillment of their
corporate social responsibility do provide social infrastructure in their
host communities. In other words, they sometimes help the government
to provide basic amenities such as roads, hospitals, potable drinking
water, schools and electricity for the well-being of the citizenry. In some
instances, they give scholarship to the indigenes of their host
communities.

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However, MNCs particularly those operating in Africa do engage in

insalubrious practices which directly and indirectly further
underdevelopment. First is the unwholesome act which emanates from
their mode of operations. It has been discovered that MNCs secretly
engage child labour. In an attempt to make huge profits, MNCs now site
their subsidiary plants in countries with large population like China,
India and Brazil where labour is cheaper. They produce their goods in
such countries and export them to other countries at high price. In
addition to this, some MNCs do employ under-age children to work in
these factories, and worst still these children are usually under-paid.
Some of the cases of child trafficking if properly investigated may have
links to some of these MNCs factories. This act amounts to child cum
human capital exploitation which is neither good for the development of
such countries nor the Third world where most of these children are
trafficked from.

Second, although MNCs in the Third world do employ citizens of their

host countries, such employees are usually under-paid when compared
to their foreign counterparts working for the same MNCs either in the
host country or home country. For instance, while a Nigerian manager in
Chevron may be earning 400 thousand naira monthly as salary, a foreign
manager with even less qualification may be earning 20 thousand dollars
monthly. When this is converted into Nigerian currency, it runs into
millions of naira. This amounts to exploitation, and the implication of
this exploitation is that workers of MNCs in the Third world are paid
salaries barely enough for subsistence. Thus, at the end of every month,
they are left with little or nothing for savings and investments. This
partly explains why there is low savings and investments among
developing states. And without big savings and investments, economic
development is likely to remain low or unattainable.

Third, since the primary objective of MNCs is to maximise profit, they

do not hesitate to compromise quality of goods and services meant for
the Third world consumption. Hence, some electronic gadgets and other
goods exported have been found to be less in quality when compared to
those consumed in the advanced nations. Although we acknowledge the
complicity of the Third world leaders and comprador bourgeoisie who in
order to make abnormal profit partner with the MNCs or even encourage
them to produce and export substandard goods to their countries. Worst
still, the prices of these goods are very exorbitant when compared to
what they cost in Europe and America. Hence, cars, refrigerators, air-
conditioners, TV and radio sets, handsets, etc cost less in oversea
markets. This unjustifiable variation in prices amounts to exploitation of
the Third world resources and the danger of this is that the Third world
countries are exploited of their hard earned monies and their foreign
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reserve depleted to service trade and payment deficits. This often leaves
them with little or no funds for capital projects and development.
Fourth, in some cases, the MNCs do not keep their terms of contract nor
abide by the rules and regulations which ought to guide their operations
in their host country. Most at times, MNCs abuse international best
practices just in an attempt to save cost and maximise profits. In Nigeria
for example, there have been cases where Multinational oil companies
operating in the Niger Delta failed to carry out Environmental Impact
Assessment on prospective oil blocs or fields before exploration. Apart
from illegal bunkering and vandalisation which do cause oil spillage,
there have been several cases where oil spillage was the fault of the
multinational oil companies which sometimes use substandard oil
facilities and cut corners in order to make more profit. Gas flaring has
become constant feature of oil exploitation in the Niger Delta. All these
have led to air, land and water pollutions and total environmental
degradation in the region. The implication of this is that the fauna and
flora in the Niger Delta have been destroyed and the people’s means of
livelihood (fishing and farming) endangered, and this directly and
indirectly retards their development. In 2010, the United Nations
Environmental Programme (UNEP) Report on Ogoni land revealed that
the oil spillage there and the subsequent environmental damage was
caused by Shell’s negligence and non-adherence to the International
Best Practices as regards to taking proper care of the environment where
crude oil is being exploited. According to the Report, the damage caused
by the oil spillage in Ogoni land alone will cost about 1 billion dollar
(that is about 150 billion naira) to be cleaned. Up till date, the company
(Shell Petroleum) has done nothing to clean up the oil spillage and
compensate the Ogoni people. Other oil producing communities have
similar story in respect to the activities of the multinational oil
companies. It is worthy to note at this juncture that these multinational
oil companies cannot try this breach of international best practices or
allow oil spillage or gas flaring in their home country.

Fifth, on the surface it may appear that MNCs inject capital into the
economy of their host country through Foreign Direct Investments
(FDIs). Even if they do, “FDI has a negative effect on domestic savings,
as it gives room for the recipient country to increase its consumption.
FDI generates… negative effects on the flow of foreign exchange on
two accounts: financial and trade. On the financial side, FDI brings in
capital but also leads to a steam of outflow of profits and other
investment incomes. This outflow increases through time as the stock of
foreign capital rises. Thus, FDI has a tendency to lead to
decapitalisation” (Ghazali cited in Khor, 2000). In other words, MNCs
promote and indulge in capital flight.

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In Nigeria for instance, MNCs make billions of dollars in profit every

year, but more than 80% of this surplus value is repatriated to their
home countries to advance and consolidate development, whereas
nothing or little is invested back into the Nigerian economy which is in
dire need of capital and development.

Furthermore, MNCs sometimes deliberately cause political instability in

their host country by sponsoring military coup d’etat in order to remove
any government whose policies they consider unfavourable, and replace
it with a puppet one that will accept bribe and allow them to cut corners.
With their enormous wealth and international connections, MNCs has
the capability to finance and execute military coups. An example was
the forceful overthrow of Salvador Allende’s government in Chile in
1973 in which a multinational corporation (International Telegraphs and
Telecommunications) doing business in the country sponsored
(Babawale, 2007). It is believed in some quarters in Nigeria that the
bloody coup of 1976 which led to the death of the then military Head of
State – Gen. Murtala Mohammed, was sponsored by some MNCs that
considered the government’s reforms to be unfavourable. The
implication of MNCs-induced political instability is that it creates
unfriendly environment for investment and allows corruption to thrive,
and this is anti development.

MNCs are only interested in profit making. The only reason why they
pay taxes, create jobs and carryout some corporate social responsibility
is because such acts are necessary for their operations and existence as
well as continuous exploitation of the resources of their host country.
Accordingly, (Blowfield, 2005) argues that the presence or absence of
international companies in a country can affect its development, but we
should not lose sight of the fundamental fact that such companies
engage with developing economies for commercial reasons, not
developmental ones. Although there may be areas of overlap between
development and business goals, it is important to understand where
there are gaps and contradictions.

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

i. How do MNCs contribute to the development and

underdevelopment of the Third World?
ii. What role does politics play in shaping the activities of MNCs in
the Third World?
iii. Describe the positive and negative impacts of the MNCs
operations in Nigeria citing appropriate examples.

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4.0 CONCLUSION
From the prevailing social realities, it is clear that the activities of MNCs
in the Third World contribute to development, and at the same time
furthers underdevelopment. MNCs are ready to do anything including
killing and pollution of the environment so as to maximise profit. We
therefore conclude that the on-going underdevelopment crisis in the
Third World is partly caused and deepened by the exploitation of the
Third World resources by the MNCs together with their conspirators –
the comprador bourgeoisie.

5.0 SUMMARY

This Unit has been able to define Multinational Corporations (MNCs) as

those foreign enterprises whose parent companies and headquarters are
located in their home country, but have subsidiaries sited in different
countries of the globe. MNCs engage in almost every sector of the
economy – namely; banking, manufacturing, oil and gas, ICT and so on.
Their major goal is profit maximization. They contribute to the
development of the Third World through provision of revenues to the
government, employment to the citizens of their host country and social
services to their host communities.

However, MNCs also contribute to the underdevelopment of the Third

World through their exploitative activities which includes; child labour,
human capital exploitation, price of goods exploitation, quality of goods
compromise, capital flight and political instability. All these they do
through the help of their partners in exploitation – the comprador
bourgeoisie.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

Explain the role of MNCs in the development of the Third world.

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING

Babawale, Tunde (2007). “Nigeria in the Crises of Governance and

Development: Retrospective Prospective Analysis of Selected
Issues and Events.” The Political Economy of Development,
Governance and Globalisation. Vol. 1( 2), Lagos: Concept
Publications.

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Blowfield, Michael (2005). “Corporate Social Responsibility:

Reinventing the Meaning of Development.” In: The Economist,
Jan. 20th.

Khor, Martin (2000). Globalisation and the South –Some Critical

Issues. Ibadan: Spectrum Books Limited.

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UNIT 4 THE POLITICS OF FOREIGN AID AND DEBT

IN AFRICA

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 Foreign Aid in Africa
3.2 Foreign Debt in Africa
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Reading

1.0 INTRODUCTION

This unit looks at the impact of foreign aid and debt on Africa’s
development. To do this, it examines the politics of external assistance
and debt in Africa. It argues that most foreign aid to Africa has strings
attached which in a long-run undermine development in the continent.
Also, foreign debt has been deployed by the developed countries of the
world and their International Monetary Machines to intimidate the Third
World countries into accepting and implementing liberal policies which
often lead their economies into deeper crisis.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, you should be able to:

• identify how foreign aid is used by advanced capitalist countries

to undermine Africa’s development
• establish a link between the crisis of development in Africa and
the politics of foreign debt
• explain why the advanced capitalist nations are always willing to
give foreign aid to African countries despite the prevalence of
corruption and bad leadership.

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3.0 MAIN CONTENT

Politics of Foreign Aid and Debt in Africa

3.1 Foreign Aid in Africa

Foreign aid is the material and non-material assistance which a country

that is in need receives from another country, other countries and, or
international aid agencies. Foreign aid comes in a variety of forms and is
used for a variety of purposes. Some aid consists of outright grants of
money, some of loans at concessional rates, and some of shared
technical expertise. Most foreign aid bilateral and is termed Official
Development Assistance (ODA) - meaning the money flows directly
from one country to another. Another increasing portion is now
channelled through Global Intergovernmental Institutions, like World
Bank and hence, is known as multilateral aid. The motives/purposes of
aid is targeted at poverty reduction, through economic development,
environmental protection, reduced military spending, enhanced
economic management, promotion of democratic governance and
human rights, etc.

In other words, it is any financial, material or human assistance from a

donor country to a recipient country. That is to say foreign aid may be in
form of money, humanitarian (e.g. rescuers, medical doctors, lawyers,
engineers, etc) or materials such as food, medications, building
materials, weaponry and so on. Almost every developed nation has an
aid agency through which it renders help to poor countries of the world.
One of the most famous of such aid agencies is the United States Aid for
International Development (USAID) which gives billions of dollars in
aid to poor countries across the world particularly those in Africa, Asia
and South America. Poor countries receive aid from the rich nations and
international organisations like the United Nations, European Union,
World Bank, etc, to address one developmental need or the other. Thus,
on the surface, foreign aid may be given for the provision of social
infrastructure; or to support democratisation policies; or to cushion the
effects of natural disasters such as drought, earthquake, tsunami,
flooding, etc, or to wage war on terrorism.

War and crisis have made most countries in Africa so poor that they
depend largely on foreign aid to survive. A typical example is Somalia
which is referred in most literature as a “failed state”. Moreover, all
countries in Africa including Nigeria receive one form of foreign aid or
another. However, there is hardly any of such foreign aid that has no
string attached to it. In some cases, foreign aid is tied to a particular
reform or liberal policy or project of the donor nation. Such reform or
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project is more often than not designed to promote economic well-being

and influence of the donor nation at the expense of the recipient country.
In fact, foreign aid is sometimes used to promote imperialism in Africa.

For example, the use of foreign aid to promote European languages such
as French etc, to the detriment of developing countries’ indigenous
languages and values. This often creates cultural vacuum in the Third
World. Unfortunately, development is imbued in culture and the best
way to kill a culture is to destroy its language. All these mechanisms
only serve one purpose – deepening of imperialism or neo-colonialism
by inculcating Western values and culture on the Third world so as to
perpetuate the parasitic dependent relationship between the West and
developing countries.

Another good example is that sometime foreign aid is debased from the
urgent primary needs of the recipient country. For instance, Egypt
receives about 1.3 billion dollars worth of military aid from the US
every year. This is a country that many of its people still don’t have
access to basic social amenities like constant electricity, good network
of roads, functional hospitals, well equipped schools and so on. Imagine
if the foreign aid to Egypt for military training and acquisition of
weaponry is rather given for job creation and provision and
improvement of social infrastructure. Surely, if that is done, millions of
Egyptians will be lifted out of poverty.

It is important to note that, many donors have become frustrated with the
slow growth rates of many Global South recipients. They resent the aid
recipient countries do not have the core Western values that they believe
are crucial for progress and prosperity, and they see this as standing in
the way of development. They have thus grown increasingly insistent on
‘conditionality’ or demands which the aid recipients must meet to
receive assistance. On top of this, Global South countries complain that
the Global North donors should provide ‘trade not aid’, to improve their
global position. They see aid as an inducement of neo-colonialism and
neo-imperialism. They also resent the conditionality criteria for
receiving aid imposed by the IMF and other multinational institutions.

They thus advocate for trade and investments as substitutes for aid.

There is no doubt that insecurity is one of the major banes on Africa’s

development. But the rising insurgency, terrorism and insecurity on the
continent are consequences of the rising unemployment and poverty.
This therefore requires economic solution rather than military
crackdown. Moreover, foreign aid is most times tied to liberal policies
such as privatisation and deregulation under which the Third world
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countries are compelled to open up their economies with promises of

rapid economic benefits. Regrettably, such policies usually end up in
compounding the problems of the Third world rather than solving them.
The truth is the more they opened up their economies, the poorer they
have become, whereas the richer the advanced capitalist nations have
become.

3.2 Foreign Debt in Africa

Many countries of the world borrow external loans to finance their

revenue deficits and development needs. In the fourth quarter of 2012,
the United States had the highest foreign debt in the world at nearly
USD16 trillion. The United Kingdom was second, USD10.1 (see,
Global Finance @; www.gfmag.com/component/content/article/119...).
Foreign debt or external debt is part of the total debt that is owed to
creditors outside the country. The debts include money owed to private
commercial banks, other governments, or international financial
institutions like the IMF and World Bank. The debt may be comprised
of fees for goods and services or outstanding credits due to a negative
balance of trade. Total foreign debt can be a combination of short-term
and long-term liabilities. Some Africa countries obtained foreign loans
from International Financial Institutions (IMF and World Bank) and
bilateral sources with the intention of using them to fast-track
development, but that never happened. Rather the loans they collected
deepened their underdevelopment more. Most observers of international
affairs believe that the origin of Africa’s debt crisis could be traced to
the “petrodollar recycling” of the 1970s. During this period, the price of
crude oil rose geometrically in the international oil market. Thus oil
exporting countries made billions of dollars, but some of them
particularly those in Africa and Latin America in an attempt to build
massive social infrastructure so as to achieve rapid development, started
borrowing foreign loans thinking that the oil boom would continue, and
with billions of dollars accruing to them from the sale of crude oil, they
could easily repay the cheap loans. However, the global economic
recession of the early 1980s gave a blow their dreams. Following the
recession, the price of crude oil in the international oil market dropped,
exports of developing countries decreased, the value of dollar increased
relative to other currencies, global interest rates increased and the
foreign reserves of the developing countries dropped since they relied on
them heavily for their international transactions. Worst still, their foreign
loans started to double since they carry floating interest rates which
increase along global interest rate (Carrasco, 2007).

To compound the situation, the creditor nations and institutions later

started attaching additional conditionality to the loans. First, the floating
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interest rate metamorphosed into compound interest rate. It was this

development that really caused debt crisis in the Third World especially
in Africa because the debtor countries’ debts skyrocketed at a speed that
made it increasingly difficult not only to repay the debts, but even to
service them. Year after year, the debts kept accumulating - both in
principal and in arrears. The cost of debt servicing alone became very
high such that it surpassed the amount borrowed. This was and is still
the fate of most debtor nations. To give life to this analysis, let us use
Nigeria to illustrate. Before the debt relief granted to Nigeria in 2006,
she owed approximately 34 billion dollars to the London and Paris Club
of Creditors. But the truth is that actual total amount that Nigeria
borrowed was only 17 billion dollars, and she had spent 18 billion
dollars on servicing and repayment. Despite the fact that Nigeria spent
more than the amount she borrowed ($18 billion - $17 billion), she still
owed 34 billion dollars. This was the major reason why the debt profile
of developing countries doubled from 500 billion dollars to 1 trillion
dollars between 1980 and 1985, and doubled again between 1985 and
2000 (Carrasco, McClellan and Ro, 2007). The implication of this was
that money which the debtor nations would have used for development
is often spent on debt servicing and repayment. This has become one of
the major sources of capital flight and underdevelopment in Africa.

Furthermore, another issue worthy of note is “odious debt”. Alexander

Sack cited in Carrasco et al (2007) remarked that a debt is presumed to
be odious if it satisfies the following criteria: First, if it was contracted
by a despotic and corrupt regime. Second, if it was not used for the
general interests or needs of the citizenry and third, if the lenders knew
about the first and second situations, but continued to lend the money.
Examples of odious debts abound in Africa. In South Africa, IMF and
Bilateral Lenders ignored the apartheid regime’ crime against humanity,
and continued to pour in billions of dollars to the government. At the
end of the Apartheid, the successor government was saddled with a
foreign debt worth 21 billion dollars. Another good example is Nigeria
where the various military regimes were lent billions of dollars by the
London and Paris Club of Creditors, the IMF and World Bank. Most of
these loans were either used for white elephant projects like the
Ajaokuta Steel Mill, or used to buy properties like houses in foreign
countries or siphoned into private bank accounts domiciled in the USA
and European Banks. No wonder Le Monde (1990) cited in Igwe (2010)
revealed that:

Every franc given to impoverished

Africans comes back to France or is
smuggled into Switzerland by African
bureaucrats and politicians.

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And the most pathetic aspect of this is that a significant percentage of

the siphoned money which is deposited in foreign banks indirectly
comes back to Africa as loans on which interest must be paid. This is
why some scholars are of the opinion that the popular perception of
Africa as “heavily indebted continent” is sometimes misleading. The
truth is that despite Africa’s debt liability, it still remains a “net creditor”
to the rest of the world particularly the capitalist North. Africa’s foreign
assets far exceed its foreign liabilities. The problem is that while these
assets are owned by private Africans most of whom cornered the
commonwealth of their various countries, the liabilities are public and
owed by African people at large through their governments. The
accumulated capital flight from Africa in the past four decades is
estimated at 700 billion dollars in real terms, and over 900 billion
dollars if interest earnings are added. This overwhelmingly exceeds its
overall debt stocks (Ndikumana and Boyce, 2011a).

Apart from capital flight caused by debt servicing and repayment, more
than half of the loans borrowed every year are siphoned out of Africa.
Often at times, the loans depart the same year they are borrowed with
significant proportion ending up in private accounts at the very foreign
banks that provided the loans in the first place. The same International
Financial Institutions or creditor nations that made the official lending
would help the corrupt African leaders that were entrusted with
borrowing for their countries to misappropriate the loans. The same
creditors would turn blind eye on the illicit wealth accumulation by the
corrupt African leaders, and even offer them the comfort and protection
of the banking secrecy laws, to pursue unlawful and parasitic
enrichment. The same creditors would turn back and say ‘African
leaders are corrupt’ and that is why the loans were mismanaged by them
(Ndikumana and Boyce, 2011b). In this way, enormous wealth is
siphoned out of Africa to the developed North. In other words, the
wealth of the poor countries is used to subsidise and finance
development of the rich nations of the world. What an irony!

Moreover, even the so-called debt relief has not saved Africa from this
exploitation. More often than not, debt forgiveness is granted after the
actual debt or loan has been indirectly repaid by the debtor nation
through debt servicing. Worst still, in most cases the debtor nation is
compelled to pay half of the accumulated arrears and interest on the debt
or buy back significant percentage of the total debt in a single
settlement, as one of the conditions to have the remaining part of the
debt cancelled. No wonder Chiakwelu (2009) describes the Nigerian
Government payment of about 12 billion dollars to the London and Paris
Club of Creditors so as to have 18 billion dollars debt relief, as “the

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largest transfer of wealth in the modern time” by a relatively poor

country to wealthy nations.

Africa is a continent beset with dire problems – diseases, wars and

economic instability are still ravaging the continent, the least thing that
Africa needs at this difficult time is enormous capital flight in the name
of debt-buy-back or debt servicing, Every penny in Africa is needed to
curb these array of problems so as to improve the quality of life in a
continent that is regarded as the cradle of human civilisation.

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

i. How do the donor nations use foreign aid to advance their

political and economic interests in Africa?
ii. Does odious foreign debt contribute to the underdevelopment of
Africa? Explain.
iii. Why are developed nations often willing to give foreign aid and
loans to African countries despite the pervasive corruption and
lack of good leadership among African politicians?

4.0 CONCLUSION

Foreign aid and loans to Africa serve more the interest of the donors and
the creditors. The politics of foreign aid and debt is used not only to
unduly influence African economy, but also to control its resources for
the benefits of the advanced nations of the world. We therefore infer that
foreign aid and debt have done more harm than good to Africa’s
development.

5.0 SUMMARY

So far, we have been able to analyse the politics of foreign aid and debt
in Africa. We have shown that other than development, foreign aid and
debt are being used by the advanced nations to promote their economic
interests in the Third world. This is usually done to the detriment of the
Third world economies. Just as most foreign aid is tied to liberal reforms
and projects that will consolidate the undue influence of the donor
nation on the recipient nation’s economy, foreign debt is designed to
empty the foreign reserves and external revenues of African countries.
The overall aim is to deepen dependency and economic exploitation in
Africa.

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6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

“Foreign aid has done more harm than good to Africa’s

Development.” Discuss.

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING

Carrasco, Enrique, McClellan, Charles. & Ro, Jane (2007). Foreign

Debt Forgiveness and Repudiation. In: University of IOWA
Centre for International Finance and Development (UICIFD)
E-Book.http://blogs.law.uiowa.edu/ebook/uicifd-ebook/part-4-i-
foreign-debt-forgiveness-and-repudiation.

Carrasco, Enrique & Ro, Jane (2007). Remittances and Development. In:
University of IOWA Centre for International Finance and
Development (UICIFD) E- Book.
http://blogs.law.uiowa.edu/ebook/uicifd-ebook/part-4-ii-
remittances-and-development

Chiakwelu, Emeka (2009). Nigeria Payment of Foreign Debt: The

Largest Transfer of Wealth in Modern Time.www.Afripol.org

Igwe, Stanley (2010). How Africa Underdeveloped Africa. Port

Harcourt: Professional Printers & Publishers.

Ndikumana, L. & Boyce, James (2011). “Africa’s Odious Debts :How

Foreign Loans Bled a Continent.
http:/www.afdb.org/en/news-and-events/article/Africa-odious-
debts.

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POL 234 POLITICS OF DEVELOPMENT AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT

UNIT 5 NORTH/SOUTH DICHOTOMY AND THE

SEARCH FOR A NEW INTERNATIONAL
ECONOMIC ORDER

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 North/South Dichotomy
3.2 The Call for a New International Economic Order
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Reading

1.0 INTRODUCTION

This unit brings context and understanding to the dichotomy between

the developed North and the underdeveloped South. Also, it examines
the call for a new international economic order as the only way to bridge
the ever rising gap between the developed nations and the Third world.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, you should be able to:

• identify why the rich nations are getting richer, while the poor
nations are getting poorer
• explain why underdeveloped nations are calling for a new order
for global economic relations
• analyse the reasons the status quo ante in the international
capitalist economic system may last for a long time despite its
deficiencies.

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

North/South Dichotomy and the Search for a New International

Economic Order

3.1 North/South Dichotomy

The earth is divided into two hemispheres, north and south, at the
equator. This divide represents a popular way of describing the
inequalities that separate rich and poor states. By and large, these two
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groups are located on either side of the equator. Global inequalities arise
from exploitation of many countries by a few others and this
exploitation manifests itself in global capitalism, imbalance terms in
international trade and payment, biased policies of international
monetary machines and exploitative activities of MNCs and their home
governments in the periphery. All these have polarised the world into
two – nations that are exceedingly rich and others that are extremely
poor. While the rich nations are mainly found in the north of the equator,
the poor ones are mainly found in the southern hemisphere. This is the
reason why the former is referred to as the “North” while the latter is
referred to as the “South”.

The North or West is characterised by political stability, economic

prosperity and development, whereas the South is riddled with political
instability, economic stagnation, war and crisis cum underdevelopment.
The South always blames the North for its underdevelopment which it
attributes to imperialism, colonialism and neo-colonialism. On the other
hand, the North often refutes this blame, but rather attributes the lack of
development in the South to its internal factors such as retrogressive
political and socio-economic culture, bad leadership, corruption as well
as war and crisis. At a time, even some Western economic theorists did
argue that underdevelopment is only a stage in the development ladder.
For example, according to W. W. Rostow’s thesis on Five Stages of
Economic Development, underdevelopment is only a stage that nations
pass through on their way to becoming developed. Thus, nations of the
world will all get rich and developed in a matter of time.

However, the existing social realities around the world have shown that
the classical economic theory of development was wrong. Since the
World War II, the income gap between rich and poor nations has
widened dramatically. While in 1950 the poor countries had an average
per capita income of $164, the industrialised countries’ per capita
income averaged $3,841. Hence the income differential was $3,677.
Three decades later, in 1980 to be precise, as the per capita income in
the industrialised countries soared to $9,648, the poor countries’ income
only rose to an average of $245, thus the absolute income gap nearly
tripled to $9,403. This was clear evidence that the rich countries are
getting richer, while the poor countries are getting poorer in terms of
relative wealth. In the thirty-year period, the little income increase in the
poor countries was an average of $2.70 per year – an amount less than
what a North American might spend for a lunch. Even up till the new
century, the gap has continued to increase. By 2001 for instance, the gap
has even become greater as the rich nations’ income increased to
$26,710, while the poor countries averaged only $430 in gross national
income, yielding an income differential of $26,280. This means that the
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relative gap had become even greater by 2001 than it was in 1980, with
the income of the low-income countries equal to only 1.8 percent of that
of the industrialised countries. In other words, since 1950 the relative
gap between rich and poor countries had widened by 60 percent
(Seligson, 2008).

Mitchell Seligson further argues that the Third world countries are in
double jeopardy because apart from the rising gap between them and
industrialised nations, there is another growing gap separating their own
rich and poor citizens. Therefore, many poor people who live in poor
countries are not only falling behind the citizens of rich nations, but also
the more affluent or bourgeois countrymen.

Also, it will be misleading to speculate that the gap between the rich
nations and poor countries will soon be narrowed simply because
sometimes the economic growth rates of the latter out-perform those of
the former. For example, it will take Pakistan with a population of 152
million people, 1,152 years to close the gap, while emerging economies
like China where economic growth rates have been far higher than in the
industrialised countries, will spend 64 years to close the gap on the
assumption that China would maintain a steady economic growth for
many decades (Passe-Smith, 2008). The continuous exploitation of the
rest of the world by the United States and Europe has produced what
(Mayer-Foulkes, 2006) describes as the “great divergence” which is the
simultaneous emergence of development and underdevelopment.

The consequences of the ever increasing gap between rich nations and
poor states can be seen every day. In international arena, the tensions
between the North and South dominate debates in the United Nations
and other international fora. The poor countries now demand a New
International Economic Order (NIEO) so as to stem many years of
economic exploitation of the South by the North and ensure symbiotic
international economic relations and benefits.

But before we turn to the call for a New International Economic Order
(NIEO), it is worthy to note at this juncture that both the developed
nations and the Third world countries have all contributed to the
prevailing underdevelopment in the latter and the ever-increasing global
inequalities. Thus, factors such as neo-colonialism, unjust terms of trade,
exploitative activities of MNCs, biased policies of IMF and World
Bank, corruption, political instability and war have all contributed both
individually and collectively, to the crisis of development around the
world.

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3.2 The Call for a New International Economic Order

…tensions and disagreements between developed and developing

countries continue: the latter expect a greater degree of special treatment
than industrialised countries have afforded them. This demand was
expressed comprehensively in the New International Economic
Order and the Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of States
promoted by UNCTAD in the 1970s. Although the Charter was never
accepted by developed [sic] countries and is now dead, the
political, economic, and social concerns that inspired it are still present.
The Charter called for restitution for the economic and social costs of
colonialism, racial discrimination, and foreign domination. It would
have imposed a duty on all states to adjust the prices of exports to their
imports (Matsushita, Schoenbaum and Mavroidis, 2003).

The above assertion by Matsushita et al brings context and

understanding to our subject of discussion. In the 1970s, the Third world
through the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
(UNCTAD), pushed for a New International Economic Order (NIEO)
which is a set of proposals asking for fair terms of trade; increased
development assistance; transfer of technology to the developing
nations; debt cancellation; internal control of the operations of MNCs in
the developing nations’ territories; central planning as against free
market; replacement of Bretton Woods institutions which have
benefitted the West most particularly the United States; with democratic
and mutual international financial organisations and so on. The central
thrust of NIEO is the restructuring of global economy so as to permit
greater participation of, and benefits to developing countries. The call
for NIEO has led to the North-South Dialogue (a discussion between the
industrialised and developing countries on economic relations and
development) which culminated to the declaration and adoption of “a
Programme of Action and a Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of
States” by the UN General Assembly in 1974. Nevertheless, the North-
South Dialogue could not convince the industrialised nations to accept
the NIEO entire proposals.

The Third world demand for a New International Economic order

emanates from three facts: First, that there is something fundamentally
wrong with the prevailing International Capitalist Economic System
which needs to be corrected. Second, that something wrong is blamable
on the past and present exploitative policies of the industrialised
Western countries. Hence, they should atone for their exploitation of the
Third world resources by accepting the obligations of the New
International Economic Order. Third, that a change in the International
Order requires a massive shift of political and economic powers from
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the domination of the West to the voting General Assembly of the

United Nations as well as the restructuring and democratisation of the
UN Security Council and IMF, World Bank cum WTO in order to give
the Third world countries fair representation and voice in global affairs
particularly those that affect their economies. Unfortunately, the Third
world lacks the political capability and economic wherewithal to alter
the prevailing global order and institute the proposed New International
Economic Order (NIEO). Thus, NIEO can be a reality only when the
great powers particularly the super power – the United States of
America support it.

However, the industrialised capitalist nations have refused to accept and

support the call for a New International Economic Order on the ground
that the development aid they give to the Third world is enough to
transform its economy and atone for the perceived injustice in the past
and present economic relations, if any.

The North also argued that even if they were to compensate the South
for Trans-Atlantic Slavery and Colonialism, “who should the
compensation go to?” they asked! Is it to the Third world countries who
sold their countrymen and women into slavery, or to the descendants of
the ex-slaves who are now domiciled in Europe and America and whose
living standard is better when compared to those in their ancestral homes
in Africa and Asia?

Moreover, the industrialised North equally argued that corruption, bad

leadership and political instability are the major bane of Third world’s
quest for sustainable development, other than the prevailing
International Economic Order.

Having faced strong resistance from the industrialised North, the Third
world countries tried to promote their development through regional
blocs aimed at fostering greater political and economic cooperation and
integration. For example, in Africa, the New Partnership for Africa’s
Development (NEPAD) was evolved. However, as a result of pervasive
war and crisis in the continent, and lack of political will, consensus and
commitment among African leaders, NEPAD has not achieved its goals,
and it is unlikely to do so in a foreseeable future.

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

i. What is the cause of global inequality and the North-South

Dichotomy?
ii. Is the New International Economic Order a reality or just a mere
political rhetoric of the Third world? Explain.
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POL 324 MODULE 2

iii. Why has the North-South Dialogue failed to solve the problem of
exploitation and global inequalities?

4.0 CONCLUSION

The prevailing inter-play of powers and intrigues in International

Politics as regards to the Third world call for a New International
Economic Order (NIEO), it is very obvious that the industrialised North
will continue to oppose such moves, and any future attempt to
restructure the present International Capitalist Economic System,
because allowing such restructuring is tantamount to relinquishing their
privileged position in global economic relations. That will amount to
end of their economic exploitation of the South and the consequent
decline of their global influence and dominance and economic
development. Based on these facts, we therefore conclude that the
industrialised North preserve and maintain the status quo ante in the
International Economic Relations because the system still favours them.

5.0 SUMMARY

In this unit, we have been able to dissect the various arguments about
the North-South Dichotomy and the call for a New International
Economic Order (NIEO). We said that there is a general consensus over
the dramatic increase in economic gap between the rich and poor
countries, and its grave consequences for global development. However,
there are divergent views between the developed North and the
underdeveloped South over the real causes of this ever-increasing
economic disparity. While the South attributes its underdevelopment,
and the rising global inequalities to the past and present exploitative
policies of the industrialised capitalist North, on the other hand the
North is quick to refute the allegation, but rather attributes the South’s
underdevelopment and global inequalities to corruption, bad leadership,
war and crisis that characterise most countries of the southern
hemisphere. We reconciled these accusations and counter-accusations
between the North and the South by arguing that both sides of the
Spectrum have contributed to the crisis of development across the world
through imperialism, exploitative policies, corruption and bad
governance. We equally revealed that the North’s fear about the New
International Economic Order is that such order will ultimately alter its
privileged international economic position and dominance and
subsequently decline its global influence and economic growth and
development. Not even the North-South Dialogue has been able to allay
this fear; hence the antagonism between the two-sides of the dichotomy,
continues.

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6.0 TUTOR- MARKED ASSIGNMENT

What are the major causes of global inequality? How do they relate to
the North-South dichotomy?

6.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING

Matsushita, Mitsuo, Schoenbaum, Thomas J. & Mavroidis, Petros C.

(2003). The World Trade Organisation: Law, Practice, and
Policy. Oxford University Press.

Mayer-Foulkes, David (2006). Development and Underdevelopment:

1500-2000.

Passe-Smith, John T. (2008). “Characteristics of the Income Gap

Between Countries.” In: Seligson, Mitchell A. & Passé-Smith
John T. (Eds). Development and Underdevelopment: The
Political Economy of Global Inequality. Fourth Edition. USA:
Lynne Rienner Publishers.

Seligson, Mitchell A. (2008). “The Dual Gaps: An Overview of Theory

and Research.” In: Seligson, Mitchell, A. & Passé-Smith John, T.
(Eds). Development and Underdevelopment: The Political
Economy of Global Inequality. Fourth Edition. USA: Lynne
Rienner Publishers.

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POL 324 MODULE 3

MODULE 3 THE EMERGING ECONOMIES OF ASIA

AND SOUTH AMERICA

Unit 1 The Rise of China

Unit 2 The Growing Economy of India
Unit 3 China and India on the March to the First World
Unit 4 Industrial Development in Brazil
Unit 5 Industrial Development in Mexico

UNIT 1 THE RISE OF CHINA

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 The Chinese Revolution
3.2 The Post Mao Economic Reforms
3.3 Industrial Restructuring in China
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Reading

1.0 INTRODUCTION

China is the most populous country in the world and the fastest growing
economy in the world as well. It is also a significant political power. It
hosts one-fourth of the global population. China’s global impacts are
highly significant in terms of trade, investment, the environment and
governance. The birth of China as a nation in recent history lies on the
bitter civil war between the Communists and Nationalists in the
twentieth century, when the nation was harassed by Japanese
colonialism which was not only exploitative, but also oppressive and
inhuman. The atrocity committed by Japanese during this occupation
has remained a subject of discord between two Asian powers, especially
when the Japanese tried to justify her action in a history text which
generated the “textbook controversy”. However, the victory of Mao
Zedong led communist fighters over Chiang Kai-shek’s Kuomintang
(KMT) in 1949 and the declaration of People Republic of China on
October 1 same year marked the turning point in the struggle of China
against perceived imperialism. The war against Japan was effectively
won with end of the World War II and the defeat of Axis powers in
1944. Consequently, the Mao led government inherited dilapidated state,
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POL 324 POLITICS OF DEVELOPMENT AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT

wrecked by both civil and international wars, embedded in agrarians

economy in a sub-continental scale, but mobilised under the communist
ideology which became the foundation of state building.

This unit is the brief story of the rise of China from the dust of civil and
international wars in 1949 to the second biggest economy, sixty years
after, highlighting the revolution; the post Mao reforms on trade and
foreign investment and the restructuring of the industrial sector in the
light of competitive mode and the need for profitability in State- Owned
Enterprises (SOEs).

2.0 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, you should be able to:

• discuss the centrality of the revolution in the foundation of

modern Chinese economy
• highlight post Mao reforms on trade and investment
• explain the perennial restructuring of the country’s industrial
sector to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 The Chinese Revolution

Revolution is “a social phenomenon involving fast-moving fundamental

changes in the social, economic, cultural production relations in society,
and which are associated with the coming into position of dominance of
a new ruling class” (Nnoli, 1986:92). The Chinese Revolution reflected
all the variables of the above definition, as it led to the end of the liberal
government of the Nationalist Party in China and its replacement with
another set of ruling elites of Communist school, led by Mao Zedong in
1949. Understandably, Revolution is a long term process which does not
end with the insurrection, war and violence as well the overthrowing of
the order, but also include the post violence effort at state and nation
building which reflect the dominant ideology of the dominant elite in a
given society. Therefore, the aspect of the Revolution in the Asian
country discussed in this section dwells majorly on the post 1949 socio-
economic policy of the communist party which becomes the foundation
stone of modern Chinese-economy.

With the United States support of the Nationalist General Chiang Kai-
Shek during the civil war and his subsequent defeat and self exile in
Taiwan, the communist China cut-off relationship with America and
Japan which by and large had remained the global and regional capitalist
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powers respectively, hence, the reshaping of the state according to

communist dictates. Land was seized and redistributed to the landless
peasant, so also was ban of private ownership of the means of
production. By 1951, the “three anti/five campaigns were launched to
eradicate corruption across the urban centre and culprits were sent to
labour camp for correction.

The first five year plan (1953 – 58) had the thought of reduction of
Chinese over dependence on agriculture which was supported by the
Soviet, who provided the needed resources for the building of industrial
plants. The success of this projects reduced Chinese dependence on
agriculture as well as Soviet assistance. There was price control
mechanism and education was given priority to increase the literacy rate
of the Chinese, so also was the collectivisation which encourages large
scale forming with the coming together of small land holders to work
and share the proceeds of the land. More so, the hundred flower
campaign” opened the government to criticism, which was later
suppressed and culprits punished for anti-revolutionary ideas and
postures.

However, the development was successful leading to the second five

year plan tagged “the Great leap forward” by Ween (1958 – 62).
“The Great Leap Forward” involved the further amalgamation of the
small collective farms into larger Communes, which farmers worked on.
Some of the peasants were assigned to provide labour for infrastructural
development as well as work in the iron and steel industry. The grains so
produced were collectively harvested and proportion sent to the central
government for redistribution and export, so also was the production
quotas in steel production. However many believe that this period
coincided with famine due to scarcity of grain and witnessed violence
against the people and the environment. Consequently, the government
relaxed the commune system and encouraged small farmer holding to
reduce the effect. China imported grains from Australia and Canada to
supplement domestic production.

Observing the gradual emergence of the new elite and the tendency to
appropriate the gain of the new era by this group, Mao Zedong launched
the “Cultural Revolution” in 1966 to keep the state in perpetual
Revolution. Red Guard was formed and sent across board to check the
excesses of government officials at all levels. Urban dwellers and
students were sent to the countryside where they were taught by the
peasants on the primacy of agriculture and other rural living. So also
was the establishment of “barefoot soldiers” whom the peasants train as
health workers to meet with the increasing needs of the rural people. In
net, there was mass relocation and dislocation of people across the
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country, disruption the conventional family lifestyle. By the time it was

declared over in 1969, as some argued in 1976, the social inequality in
the distribution of state resources was reduced and the integration of the
various strata of the society further strengthened. It also marked
beginning of fast-track economic growth (Gao, 2008), advances in
science and technology as illustrated in the launching of satellite,
explosion of the first H-Bomb as well as the commissioning of Chinese
first nuclear submarine, Mao Zedong, the founder of People Republic of
China died on September 9, 1976 which marked the end of the
Revolution.

3.2 The Post – Mao’s Reform of the Economy

Chinese economy remained close until the visit of President Richard

Nixon in 1972, when the West started to established diplomatic
relationship with the communist state and ban on foreign Direct
Investment was formally lifted. However, it was the passing of new law
permitting Joint Venture by Dieng Xiaoi-Ping in 1979 that provided the
needed framework for its implementation. Some four Special Economic
Zones (SEZ), were established and given preferential tax-regime and
administrative free hand to foreign firms operations in Shenzhen,
(border near Hong Kong), Xhuhai (border near Macau), Shantou (border
near Taiwan) and Xiamen (directly across Taiwan straits).

Interest was the lower taxation of 15% of income of foreign affiliated

firms in the zones compared with the 33% prevailing rate for the
domestic firms, so also was the tax holiday of two years. Besides, the
zones were set up outsider the industrial hubs of China to avoid the
contamination of the domestic industries and economy. The success of
the four SEZs opened the door for the approval of fourteen coastal
cilices with similar concessions. Again, the monopoly of Foreign Trade
by the state needed as these foreign firms were allowed to export their
products and import raw materials with relative ease. However,
domestic firms had to do same through state controlled mechanisms,
illustrating the operation of two regimes in one state, since the domestic
firms where bound to pass through Foreign Trade Companies (FTCS)
established by the government. Unlike the Foreign Invested Enterprises
(FIEs), domestic firms’ imports were not duty free. These Measures
exert more tariff and non-tariff barrier on the domestic firms’
participation in the global market; while encouraging foreign investment
primarily for expert to other countries.

By 1986 further liberalisation of the export trade was achieved with the
introduction of “Twenty Two Regulations” which removed the
restriction of the location of Foreign Invested Enterprises (FIEs) and
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also reduce their taxes especially those invested in “export oriented”

projects and “technological advanced” projects which improves the
technological capacity of the domestic industry. In most cases, the
Central Government handles the initial approval of the establishment of
these FIEs but the administrative controls were left in the hands of the
provincial authorities. The net effect of these was the pouring of Foreign
Direct Investment in the 1980s which slowed down after the Tiananmen
Square killing of 1989. By the turn of 1990, Hong, Kong and Taiwan
investor took advantage of cheap labour for export processing of their
product to every part of the globe. The Japanese as well as Western
Multinationals also invest in China in order to benefit from the large
market. All said, China reformed her economy in such a way that export
is encouraged while the domestic market is shielded from the dumping
of Western countries – hence the tightening of the import procedures for
the domestic firm. These contributed to China’s emergence as the
“export machines of Asia”; with this policy of export consciousness,
balance of payment has always been in the favour of this communist
state.

3.3 Industrial Restructuring in China

Big industrial layout and heavy plants were the common sites of
industrialisation across the world in the twentieth century and China was
not left out of the rush for these plants, especially with soviet support
which was critical in the First Five Year Plan discussed earlier. This
continued throughout the last part of the last millennium, but the first
decade of this century has witnessed the change from “the bigger-is-
better” concept of industrialisation and the drive for science and
technology intensive industry. Naughton (2005) observed that “the 11th
Five Year Plan (2006 – 2010) lays emphasis on human resources
technology development and scientific approach to development”. This
position has signaled Chinese desire to transform the economy from the
low cost exported machine to a highly technological hub capable of
delivering the best in the competitive global economy. Already
development in the Information Technology Sector is moving towards
the achievement of this goal as state dominance of the industrial sector
is highly skewed toward natural resources and utilities sectors; while
“hybrid mixture of ownership and corporate governance patterns has
been combined with aggressive policies to foster alliances with global
leaders in industry and research facilitating the speedy “development of
management and innovation capabilities” (Ernst and Naughton, 2008).
The Central Government using legend computer (now Lenovo) has
evolved Management Buy-Out (MBO) as a strategy for the privatisation
of the hi-tech sector which involve the licensing of innovation made in
government owned institutions to pioneer researchers and managers as a
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way of encouraging innovation and setting up private individual on

sound footing to run the IT Industry. Thus today, Chinese Industrial
Sector has the hierarchy of the central government at the top running
important and large state owned firms, while at the bottom lies most of
the Town and Village Enterprises (TVE); initial commune structures and
the small State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) converted to private owners
through the MBO policy which has ensure orderly transition of these
firms from public to private ownership.

Again, the government control firms in the critical sectors were

committed to the newly (2002) established state – Owned Assets
Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), whose
responsibility amongst others is to ensure the focus of individual firm on
“core competencies” to ensure profit maximisation. Understandably,
Government firms are not waste pipe through which public funds are
wasted but they are restructured and mandated to make profit like any
other private business entity, hence they remain the veritable
instruments of state capitalism in the communist state: a paradox indeed.
All told, China has the largest continuous national history (about 400
years) and was politically, militarily and economically dominant in its
region for most of that period. After the liberalisation reforms and neo-
Confucian cultural revolution in the late 1970s, China began to make
appreciable progress. Massive external (manufacturing) investment was
first attracted based on education and cheap skilled labour while equally
massive internal investment has been mobilised in modern infrastructure
and urban facilities. A key feature of China’s rapid growth is seen to
have been its ability to reform its economy very quickly to become more
efficient. Indeed, China has huge human resources and potential
markets. It has a high class education system. Past obstacles have been
successfully navigated. All these have positioned China, formally
regarded as a sleeping giant to awaken and play an increasingly active
role on the global stage.

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

i. Highlight trade and investment reform in Post Mao China.

ii. Identify and discuss the paradox of state capitalism in the
communist China.
iii. Identify the contributions Mao Zedong in the foundation of
modern China.
iv. Identify the restructuring strategies of Chinese industrial sector in
the 21st century.

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4.0 CONCLUSION

China in modern history emerged into the cold war environment at

independence, but successfully adapted herself to the task of national
building. The consciousness of self- sufficiency and export- driven
strategy given her superior balance of trade and payment at all time,
making it the fastest growing economy despite the global economic
recession of 2008. Chinese ingenuity in adapting to changes in the
global economy and the effectiveness of these strategies remain a source
of discourse in years to come.

5.0 SUMMARY

The People Republic of China was founded on the communist ideology

but has successfully practiced state capitalism which encourages export
and discourages import as well as copy technologies and adapts them to
the environment with high level of innovation of managing the economy
in the ever changing world.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

Identify and discuss the paradox of state capitalism in communist China

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING

Ernst, D. & Naughton, B. (2008). “China’s Emerging Industrial

Economy: Insights from the IT Industry.” In: Christopher
McNally (Ed.). China’s Emergent Political Economy: Capitalism
in the Dragon’s Lair. London: Routledge.

Gao, M. (2008). The Battle for China Past. London: Pluto Press.

Lardy, N. (1992). Foreign Trade and Economic Reform in China 1978 –

1990. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Naughton, B. (2005). The New Common Economic Programme: China’s

Eleventh Five Year Plan and What it Means. China Leadership
Monitor (16).

Nnoli, O. (1986). Introduction to Politics. Ikeja: Longman.

Steinfield, E. (1998). Forging Reform in China: The Fate of State –

Owned Industry. New York: Cambridge University Press.

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UNIT 2 THE GROWING ECONOMY OF INDIA

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 The Indian Economy in Early Days (1947 – 75)
3.2 Evolutionary Deregulation of the Economy (1975 – 90)
3.3 The Post – Crisis Growing of Indian Economy Since 1991
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Reading

1.0 INTRODUCTION

India is a Third World country with all the negative indices inherent in
the countries of the South. Her position at independence was pathetic
due to the challenge of food security which had “culminated in the
deaths of three million people in Bengal in 1943 – 44” (Corbridge,
2009) as famine ravaged the region. She is the second most populous
country in the world after China, with a sub-continental landmass
submerged in agrarian economy with the attended underdevelopment
and general poverty common to all primary producers in the World
Economy. This unit therefore is a short narrative of the turnaround in the
Economy of India. Analysing the policy of central planning of Nehru in
post independence leading to “Hindu growth”, the evolutionary
deregulation from 1975 and adoption of liberalisation as the result of
balance of payment crisis, which has boost the economic growth and
reduce poverty in the Asian country.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, you should be able to:

• identify the era of government planned and regulation of

economy in India
• discuss the gradual process of deregulation of Indian economy
and its impact
• explain in the growth of the economy after the crisis forced
deregulation in 1991.

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3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 The Early Days of Indian Economy (19457 – 75)

The British granted India Independence in 1947 after about two

centuries of attempt at Empire building without corresponding economic
development. Although, there was heavy investment in the rail system;
which crisis – crossed major town and cities, as well as the effort at
developing. Punjab colonies, its system of both property and
commercial law and the textile industries in Ahmadabad and Bombay,
maybe, the Bihar and Orissa iron and steel industry; much were left
undone, especially in Bengal where the permanent settlement of 1793
encouraged feudal land tenure system. More so, British culture of
regarding anything indigenous to the people as backward and primitive
dealt serious blow on the Indian craft industries and promoted the
importation of finished goods from Britain, a common colonial practice
of keeping the colonies as the producers of primary product and market
for finished goods as discussed earlier.

India, 19478 to 1950 was a transition period, when the parliament

played the role of Constituent Assembly leading to the emergence of
Federalism and parliamentary republic, with an onerous task of nation
building of the divergent ethnic and nationalities into a stable and
prosperously nation capable of meeting the basic needs of the people.
This responsibility fell on the shoulder of Prime Minister Nehru, after
the death of Gandhi in 1948. Given the logical consistency of populist
theory and it practice in the Soviet Union, Nehru favoured a centrally
Planned Economy which was functional as evidence in Moscow to
facilitate the integration of his 565 princely states and provide direction
of the conservation component states officials who may not see the need
for long term planning.

Conscious of the disadvantage of comparative advantage theory and

practice to the Third World, the Development Plans of 1950 and 60s
understood the danger of remaining a primary producers and the double
jeopardy of price and quantities demanded resting in the hands of the
developed North; therefore adopted the strategic of encouraging and
protecting local infant industries with high tariff barrier against
importation of those goods produced in the country. This strategy
required the importation of heavy machines and equipments which led
to balance of payment deficit. Again, Foreign Direction Investment was
not encourage as the economy was meant to self-sustaining, Nehru and
his team believed that personal and government savings would form the
pool of the resources needed for the development which was to be
complemented by foreign aid and grants from friendly nations. The large
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scale industrialisation was envisaged to be the foundation of

transforming Indian steels, pouter and chemicals into finished products,
which would be affordable to the teeming population. Agriculture was
also an asset in planned system as land reforms would release excess
land held by unproductive local feudal lords to those with the capacity to
generate optimum outputs.

It must be understood that Central Planning means government

intervention in the Economy; hence legal frameworks were on acted to
give backing to the policies. In 1948; the Industrial Policy Resolution
reserved three sectors to the state which was increased to fifteen in 1956.
However, the industrial licensing came through the Indian Development
and Regulation Act of 1951 (Franked, 2005) which mandated
government permission for embarking on commercial activities in
certain key sectors. Thus government’s ambition of large scale
industrialisation and capital intensive development led to neglect of
agriculture as reflected in the second five year Plan 1957 – 62 when
agriculture had 17.5% allocation as against 34.6 in the First Five Year
Plan. These polices resulted in over dependence of the economy on
foreign aid including United State Food Aid. Compounded by heavy
defence spending blue to war with China in 1962 and Pakistan in 1965,
inflation sets in with the decline in stable food production leading to
heavy criticism of the Nehruvian economics policy at his death in 1964.
Lai Shastri took over the leadership from Nehru and immediately
embarks on reform until his death in 1966. He gave priority to
agriculture and relaxed the state grip on the economy, which was
followed by the devaluation of the currency and liberalisation of import.

This attracted further and aid and foreign direct investment which did
not go down well with Indian industrialist, who at the time enjoyed
government protection. Again, Indira Ghandi who succeeded Shastri
added impetus to the reform by further devaluation of the Rupees and
cultivation of high yielding Mexican wheat as advised by the United
states resulting in the doubling of India food grain production by 1970,
hence the elimination of dependence on United States food aid and
reduction of the level of poverty as well. The relaxation of the state
control was however short-line, as the internal politics of the congress
party which threatened Indira Ghandhi position forced her into alliance
with Communist Party of India (CPI). Marxist orientation and Indians
perception of the limited liberalisation as United States directed policy
forced the government to embark on the next round of state driven and
autarkic era of India industrialisation history between 1969 and 1974
generating the monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practice Acts of 1969
and the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act of 1974. While the former
intended to control large private companies; the later restricted the
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equity participation of foreign interest to 40%. Besides key sectors of

banking, insurance, copper, steel and food grain business were
nationalised (Panagariya, 2008). These measures failed to improve the
economy as expected and hence prepared the ground for the second
phase of Indian Economic Development.

3.2 Evolutionary Reforms of Indian Economy (1975 – 1990)

The rate of economic growth and development in other Asian export

oriented countries such as Singapore, Taiwan and China became
challenging to the Indians, with several reports generated within the
think-tank tilted towards the reform of the economy and the reduction of
state control of the economy. Such Reports include that committee on
import and export policies; report of the committee on controls and
subsidies (Ministry of Finance), Report of the Commitment on Trade
Policy (Ministry of Commerce) and Reports on Industrial Licensing and
Related MRTP Aspect (Ministry of Finance, 1985). These Reports
indicted the developmental state model, centrally planned which was to
make the state autonomous from dominant elites and interest groups.
The entrenched interest at local level did not share the central
government vision, rather they embarked on protection and promotion
of primordial agenda inimical to overall objectives of the central
government. Worse still, the state was hijacked by three vested interests;
the rich farmers (who objected to agrarian reform), industrial
bourgeoisie (indigenous businesses who benefit from the state induced
scarcities and obstructed competition and innovation) and corrupt
bureaucrats (who made so much wealth form the “permit – License –
Quota Raj (Government Licensing of 1951) which was part of Import
Substitution Industry (ISI) and almost all of whom enforced
unproductive rent-seeking behaviour on smaller businesses and ordinary
citizens (Corbridge, 2009; Frankel, 1978 ;Barhand, 1984; Bhagroat,
1993). Accommodation of this interest within the government led to
waste and inefficiency as public good was hardly promoted leading to
the growth rate of about 2.0% described as “Hindu’s growth rate in the
70s.

However, the Ghandis (Indira and Rajiv) in the 1980s initiated gradual
reform withdrawing overbearing state control of the economy. A
coupled of joint venture agreements were struck in the automobile
industry. Indira dumped the populist and anti-foreign capital slogans and
expunged most of the obstructive aspect of the monopolies and Trade
Practices Acts of 1969 which caged the expansion of mega businesses in
the key sectors. These businesses were allowed to source for credit
outside the shores of India. Most importantly, concrete steps were taken
to curtail the excessive tendency of Indian labour in the organised
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sector; so also was tax concession given to private investors as

encouragement to move. These measures stimulated the economy led by
private sectors which complemented permeated impact of Greek
Revolution Technology from Punjab to West Bengal as a result of
government massive investment in irrigation and power. Thus, by 1989
– 90, the percentage of Indians living in absolute poverty was said to
been reduced to less than 39% compared with 51% in 1977 – 78
(Corbridge, 2009). Again, Rajiv Gandhi’s interest in electronics and
radio as an ex-pilot align his interest in the technological development of
India. Hence, his regime deregulated the telecom sector hitherto
dominated by the government and created centre for the Development of
Telemetric which produced switch for telephone exchanges in the rural
areas and was subsequently license to private company for mass
production. Besides the information Technology received boost with the
marriage of technocrats and engineers the Department of Electronics in
the Prime Minister’s office who supported the excellent engineers
produced within the country higher institutions and colleges in their
ambition in entrepreneurship. They were licensed leading the emergence
of India as an IT hub with comparative advantage of low wage, cheap
imported computer and excellent institution of higher learning which
could still be attributed to the vision of Nehru in the planning of the
education sector the Indian state.

3.3 The Post – Crisis Growth of Indian Economy from 1990

The evolutionary reforms of the preceding section did not include, the
much needed export orientation as practiced by other Asian states
neither were multinationals encouraged to invest in the country which to
a large extend would have government resources to concentrate on other
sectors. These were compounded with the increase in government
expenditure in the education sector in the backward and caste society.
This took a chunk of resources considering the numerical strength as
well as the subsidisation of grains to the poor, industrialist and
expenditure on defence. More so, tax evasion was rampant as state
officials engaged in sharp practices leading to loose of revenue. The
government was relying on commercial borrowing from banks that were
skeptical of political climate with the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi in
1989, the rise in oil price at the outbreak of Gulf war, the end of cold
war and disintegration of the Soviet Union – a major source of grants
and aid. The net effect of these and other factor was the looming
financial crisis due to growing fiscal deficit in government expenditure
which stood eased at 10.1% in 1990.

This provided the needed opportunity for reform minded technocrats

within the government to push for further withdrawal of government
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control of the economy, the devaluation of the currency, economic

globalisation and private entrepreneurship. Given the unsustainability of
the governments source of funding import obligation and danger of
default on such obligation; understanding its impact on the economy in
May 1991, opposition to pro-liberal reforms was less compare to any
other period in the history of India, therefore import substitution
orientation was downgrade for the upliftment of export oriented
economy. With Dr. Manhoman Singh as the Finance Minister India
approached the International Monetary Fund for conditional loan which
enabled her to meet the obligation and restructure the economy;
although not entirely to the dictates of the Bretton Woods Institution
since the inputs of Indian technocrats were respected. More so, India
enjoyed more flexibility in conditionality than any average country in
dealing with the IMF. This saved India from the embarrassment since
her Foreign Reserve was only enough to Finance two weeks’ worth of
import.

Consequently, the Rupee was devalued by about 20%. There was deep
cut in defence spending as well as subsidies for exports, sugar and
fertilizers (Corbridge, 2009). The obnoxious and corruption riddled
industrial licensing of 1951 was “dismantled in all but 18 designated
industries (including drugs and pharmaceuticals, cars and Sugar), and
for all locations save for twenty – three cities with populations above
one million people where licenses were still required for new ventures or
project expansion” (Corbridge and Hariss, 2000: 153). Better still,
Foreign Direct Investments were allowed in India which attracted
thousands of Multinational companies across the globe. Tariff
liberalisation also came into effect which reduced the cost of production
and encouraged completion in goods and services within the country.
Indira Gandhi’s Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) of 1974
which restricted foreign equities to 40% was replaced with the
framework which allowed 51% foreign equity; a read impetus for
foreign investment which hitherto, was an aberration.

The net effect of the reform is the fast development of the economy and
globalisation of Indian economy and companies. Bharati enterprises for
instance, in partnership with foreign companies is not the largest in India
expanding even to Nigeria, so also is the Infosys, a software company
with initial start-up capital of $250 in 1981 by young engineers
produced in Indian Tertiary institutions which has grown to $4billion by
2008 despite less than half a million dollars sales as at 1989. The
automobile has also witnessed a rave evolution as Tata has become a
global brand, acquiring steel companies across the globe and produced
the cheapest car - Nano in 2008 acclaimed to be the world cheapest car,
sold at $2,500. Again the corporate citizens have learnt good business
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practices with the opening up and partnership with others across the
globe and entrepreneurial talents and skills freed for innovation;
resulting in new and competitive product across board.

The reform also promoted the efficiency of the stock Exchange. The
initial resistance of Bombay Stock Exchange to reforms and
computation led to the establishment of National Stock Exchange in
1993 which became the largest by 1995 and fully computerised, forcing
the Bombay institution to follow thereby enhancing transparency in the
sector as “India received 24 billion Dollars each between foreign direct
and portfolio investment, respectively, between 1992 and 2002”
(Tendulkar and Bhavani (2007). The Telecom Sector also expanded, as
noted as mobile telephony surpasses the fixed lines which were
controlled by the government. Rural Telephony gained momentum and
the monopoly of the government owned MNTL and BSNL was broken,
bringing about efficiency and wider reach. So also was the Aviation
sector, which was open to the Private Airline for the first time in the
1990s generating the Air Corporations Acts of 1994 which liberalised
the sector leading to the surge in Airline traffic from 13 million in 2000
to 37 Million in 2008. There was another success story in the Indian
Railway where increasing the numbers of coaches and increase in
freight rate for heavy goods like iron ore has lead to the turn-around of
the hitherto ailing industry. All said the reform brought transformation
to the infrastructural sector, thus contributing to the continuous growing
of the economy at GDP of 7% per annum.

Internationally India has become an important actor. Forming the ‘I’ in

BRICS group of nations, India plays an important role in the leadership
of the emerging markets and developing nations. India boasts of a
culture of entrepreneurship and innovation, pioneering in the globe IT
services industry and has a global Diaspora that are leaders in various
fields.

The growth of the Indian economy is somewhat unusual in that it has

done so with very little export. Compared to a country like China that
has relied heavily on manufacturing products for export, India has
exported very little. But one of the great strengths India has in growing
its economy is its very good education system. India has become a major
player in the high tech field because of its highly educated workforce.

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

i. Discuss the major phases of Indian economic development.

ii. Identify the variables which influenced the development of
Indian economy between 1947 and 1974.
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iii. Identify the major changes in the economic policies and why?
iv. Highlight the major economic reforms of post 1991 India.

4.0 CONCLUSION

The post cold war era coincided with the financial crisis; the spring
board of reforms which led to the current growth of the economy. The
Western financial institution such as International Monetary Fund (IMF)
can be pertinent in development if the technocrats of the beneficiary
countries understand the nitty-gritty of their countries and what is
needed to be done. This will curtail the acceptance of all the
conditionality and policies of the foreign institution which most of the
time undermine the interest of the beneficiary state.

5.0 SUMMARY

India was underdeveloped at independence in 1947 because of British

exploitative policies. The founding fathers turn to excessive control of
the economy which breeds corruption and inefficiency. However,
reforms especially in the post-cold war era generated a lot of
development and hope which is ongoing.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

Discuss the main phases of Indian economic development.

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING

Tendulkar, S. & Bhaviani (2007). “Understanding Reforms: Post 1991

India.” New Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Corbridge, S. & Harriss J. (2000). Reinventing India: Liberalisation.

Hindu Nationalism and Popular Democracy. Cambridge: Polity
Press.

Corbridge S., The Political Economy of Development in India Since

Independence. In: Paul Brass (Ed.).(2009). Handbook of South
Asian Politics. London: Routledge.

Panagariya, A. (2008). India: The Emerging Giant. New Delhi: Oxford

University Press.

Frankel, F. (2005). India’s Political Economy 1947 – 2004. New Delhi:

Oxford University Press.

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Frankel, F. (1978). India Political Economy, 1947 – 1977: The Gradual

Revolution. Princeton: University Press.

Bardhan, P. (1984). The Political Economy of Development in India.

Oxford: Blackwell.

Bhagwati, J. (1993). India in Transition: Freeing the Economy. Oxford:

Clarendon.

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UNIT 3 CHINA AND INDIA: ON THE MARCH TO THE

FIRST WORLD OR CORE STATES

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 Features of Core States in World Economy
3.2 Comparing China and India with Core States
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Reading

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The first two units of this module concentrate on the reformation and
restructuring processes which enhanced the economic development of
India and China; leading to speculation that the third world countries can
“catch-up” with the first world or to put it differently; there is a
possibility that the periphery states would meet up with the core states in
terms of “economic development. These units, following the speculation
reminds you of the dominant features of the core states in world
economy and compares them with prevalent situation in China and
India. This is to help you in understanding the position of these
countries and the possibility of further development.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, you should be able to:

• analyse the concept of core states in world economy

• measure Indian and Chinese Economies with core states
• state their position in the world economy system.

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 Features of Core States in World Economy

In module 1, unit 5, you were introduced to the Theory of World

Economy, especially the Core, Semi-periphery and periphery states’
stratification which incidentally shows that the core states are in the
“First world”; the semi-periphery – second world the features of the core
states or first world in the global economy. Please not that the core states
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are sometimes referred to as “North” in the political economy parlance

whose features include:

a) Power broker in the world system devoid of external

manipulation by other actors
b) Control by dominant world capitalists who manipulate internal
and external environments to utmost advantage
c) Upholding the liberal capitalist values of modernisation as
pathway to development among others.
d) Controls and indoctrinates world media on capitalist orientation
and centralises entrepreneurship and innovation in technology as
the twin factors for economic growth and development.
e) Possession of military and diplomatic skills and might to further
perceive interest in the global arena.
f) Headquarters of the multinational/ transnational corporations,
from where market expansion and domination strategies are
conceived and hatched.
g) Governmental support of economic infrastructure and provision
of subsidies to enhance capital accumulation.
h) Preference for Liberal Democracy and promotion of the
fundamental rights of the citizenry.
i) Flexibility in political stratification as well as social mobility
within the strata of the societies.
j) High industrialised and capital intensive approach to production
of goods and rendering of services.
k) Ownership of Foreign Direct Investment instruments and global
market domination
l) Possession of preference for cultural values as portrayed by the
media – facilitating cultural colonialism for market expansion
and individualism.
m) Net exporters of value added products and importers of primary
products from the Third World.
n) The net consumers of global energy and other resources.
o) The hubs for Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
where Research and Development (R & D) are highly prioritised.
p) Highly diversified economies, focusing on the production of
multi-purposes manufacturing products compared with the
extractive economy of the Third World.
q) Possession of high per capita GNP. For instance, the core states
had an average of USD 27, 680 in 2000, compared with USD
1,230 of the Third World.
r) High literacy, low population growth, excellent infrastructural
facilities and low death rate.
s) High standard of living, low cost of living, low inflation and rate
of unemployment.
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t) The greatest source of global pollution; especially, the emission

of greenhouse gases.

3.2 Comparing China and India with Core States

China and India are two Asian countries whose development is a subject
of discourse in different fora with some speculation of “catching – up”
with core developed states of Europe and North American. The Big
Question is: are they really catching up?

Answering this puzzle would amount to the total acceptability of the

modernisation theory, party of which includes liberal Democracy as the
best political system for holistic development. China cannot be said to
be a democracy by Western standard; and is compounded by her
preference for communist ideals, while the parliamentary Democracy of
India is rubbished by the caste system; which fails to guarantee equality
of the citizens as demanded by General suffrage.

Development therefore must be understood as a function of utilisation of

countries best cultural values and the application of foreign ideas and
culture beneficiary to the countries. This is what these countries have
done. Chinese were bound together by Confucianism under Manchu
dynasty that was defeated in Opium wars of 1841 – 42 by Western
imperialist, supplanting it with ideological chaos, leading to the
disintegration of the society as capitalism and its exploitative creed took
over the country. The endemic poverty experienced by the peasants who
were the majority within a decade of western invasion of the Chinese
Economy led Taiping Rebellion between 1850 – 1864 and Niem
Rebellion in the south about the same period and Boxer Rebellion of
1900 – 1901.

The Western style democracy which emerged after the end of Manchu
dynasty in 1911 with the declaration of China Republic did very little to
unite the people under Yat-sen and Yuan Shih-Kai leading to Mao led
Peasant Revolution, which uprooted western style capitalism in 1949.
Thus, the Chinese learning from history understand that the importation
of western capitalism cannot develop the state but open it for
exploitation, hence the preference of communism to provide “Chinese
Revolutionaries with the dialectal conception of historical movement
towards a modern society through the struggle against feudalism
capitalism and imperialism” (Misra and Lyengard, 1988). It becomes
arguable that the Chinese do not see development through the prism of
the West and not eager to compete or be compared with the core states
hence the preference of associating and sympathising with other third
world countries on global issues and indeed, on the obnoxious regimes
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governing the global system, notably the unfavourable nature of the

World Trade Organisation treaty on Trade and Tariff.

Nevertheless, “with USD 2.5 Trillion foreign currency reserve, China

stands out as a counter weight to IMF influence (Igwe, 2010:7); an
assertion which gives credence to Chinese wealth and also negates the
universality of modernisation, as meaningful and visible development
can take place without bogus democratic structure and the
accompanying paraphernalia required for lending from the Western
institutions ridden with corruption and contradictions. After all “the
country almost singlehandedly led the world out of the global recession
that began in 2007” (Igwe, 2010: 7), a feat the core states could not
when they were themselves severely affected. Again, China is in the
forefront of helping the European Union (EU) to resolve the ongoing
debt crisis; pointing to indication that China may as well be ahead of
core states in terms of economic stability development and growth.

On the other hand, the 1793 settlement policy effectively sanctioned

feudalism, side by side with imperialism which lasted till independence,
which did not give the indigene clear ideological base of running the
country and was compounded by the murder of Mahatma Gandhi in
1948 whose Ahinsa (non violence); classless society, renunciation,
trusteeship and Sarvodaya (uplift of all) which would have generated
general good. Thus, China was lucky to have a strong character like
Mao Zedong who had clear vision of what to do, compare to India who
murdered such visionary leader like Gandhi.

The net effect is the tottering of India like any other Third World
Country, until recent pro-liberal reforms which has improved the
economy considerably; “not that Indian levels are yet on a par with
those of China” (Corbridge, 2009). Given this scenario, India is on the
path of modernisation which started at independence but with high
control of the liberalisation, which has not fully opened up the Economy
to the exploitation dictates of the West but adapted and copied their
technology and innovation in management. Nevertheless, the uneven
development which reveals disparity between the East and the West as
well as the Caste system undermined the economic status of some
citizens has retained substantial negative indices associated with
underdevelopment, which effectively leave India as a Third World
Country in the periphery. “Indian Economy will be the third largest
economy in the world sometime in mid-2030s (trailing only behind the
USA and China). Nominal average per capita incomes in India were just
over $1,050 in 2007, rising to $4,550 in PPP terms. Still placing India in
the World Bank’s band of low income countries, but edging it closer to
middle income status.”
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SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

i. Locate the position of China and India in the structure of world

economy.
ii. Outline 10 features of core states.

4.0 CONCLUSION

The stratification of state in world economy has helped to highlight the

outcome of interplays in specific economic milieu. However,
development is a function of cultural values inherent in every society
given historical antecedents and the adaptability of policies to the
prevailing reality at all times. Hence China’s Economic Development
defiles Western model and surpasses them, whereas India is in the
process of catching up with the core states or first world.

5.0 SUMMARY

Scholars see core states of world economy as models for developing

states. However, the achievement of China has defied the path followed
by the West, and has sometimes surpassed the achievements of core
states, and yet identifies with the developing countries. India on the
other hand is on the pathway to core states status given the western
projection into the next three decades.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

Locate the position of China and India in world economy.

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING

Corridge, S. (2009). The Political Development in India since

Independence. In: Paul Brass (Ed.). Handbook of South Asian
Politics. London: Routledge.

Igwe, S. (2010). How Africa Underdeveloped Africa. Port Harcourt:

Professional Printer.

Misrak & Iyengar, K. (1988). Modern Political Theory. New Delhi:

Schand and Company.

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UNIT 4 INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT IN BRAZIL

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 Industrial Revolution in Brazil
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Reading

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Latin America shares almost the same experiences with Africa. Both
continents were colonised and exploited. Soon after their independence
most countries in these two continents experienced series of military
coups, counter-coups, political dictatorship, and corruption in
government. Thus at a point in history, Africa and Latin America were
at the same level of development and underdevelopment and were
facing similar developmental problems. But along the line, some Latin
American countries took bold steps to simultaneously minimise external
economic exploitation and end internal political instability, corruption
and bad leadership. Today, the story is different as some countries in
Latin America have revolutionised their economies, conquered
underdevelopment and achieved relative development, while most
countries in Africa are still wallowing in abject poverty and
underdevelopment of the highest order. This unit uses the industrial
development in Brazil to tell this success story of Latin America.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, you should be able to:

• identify how Brazil came out of underdevelopment through

industrial revolution
• state how development can be achieved by the Third World using
the lessons from Brazil.

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3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 Industrial Revolution in Brazil

Brazil is perhaps the largest economy in Latin America and the world’s
seventh largest economy according to IMF and World Bank. It has a
staggering population of about 160 million. It was colonised by
Portugal. The origin of its people could be traced to different
nationalities and continents across the world such as Europe, America
and Africa. Brazil, like most countries in the Third world experienced
imperialism, dictatorship, corruption and underdevelopment. But today,
it has been able to turn around its economy and is now on the march to
sustainable development. Although Brazil still regards itself as a Third
World nation, its booming economy as well as strong development
strides points otherwise. The big story is that Brazil (a once
underdeveloped nation) is conquering underdevelopment through good
policies and industrial revolution.

In the 1930s, Brazil was regarded as a “sleeping giant” because of its

moribund economy. At this period, the Brazilian economy was built
entirely on export of primary agricultural products such as cocoa, cotton,
coffee, sugar, and tobacco, and it experienced deficit balance of
payments in its trade relations. The situation even got worse when the
country began to witness series of political instability occasioned by
military intervention and corruption in government which led to
resources mismanagement that made majority of its citizens to be poor.
As at then Brazil was characterised with economic stagnation, increased
poverty, debt crisis, social vices and socio-political uncertainties.

However, since the end of World War II, the Brazilian political elites
have been taking pragmatic steps towards containing poverty and
underdevelopment. And today, this has paid off. The actual concerted
effort towards development of Brazil started in the 1940s, and its
economic transformation peaked between 1947 and 1960 after which the
pace of industrial expansion slowed down, largely because the existing
economic infrastructure could no longer sustain the same high rate of
growth. But the development tempo was rejuvenated again between
1970 and 1980. Since then, both past and present military and civilian
governments have sought to promote Brazilian development and
international influence. The positive role of the past military regimes in
this direction has made Brazil one of the very few states where a
dictatorship has successfully pioneered and spearheaded economic
development. This successful authoritarian capitalist approach to the
development of Brazil has been described by various development
scholars as the “Brazilian Miracle.”
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First was the import substitution and nationalisation of foreign

properties in Brazil so as to limit the inherent foreign economic
exploitation and influence and to provide opportunities for the citizens
to become potential participants in the building of the economy. This
was followed by a state-led industrial policy and independent foreign
policy anchored on economic diplomacy. Under these policies, the
Brazilian political leadership while creating an enabling environment for
foreign investments to flourish, adopted selective liberalisation and used
legal and administrative frameworks to protect its domestic industries in
order to enable its citizens to compete with the influx of foreign
companies and be co-drivers of the economic transformation.

The dynamism and magnetism of the Brazil’s economic policies

attracted and accelerated the inflow of financial and industrial
transnational capitals and investments across the various productive
sectors of the economy. This led to rapid economic growth and
development. Hence, the Brazilian development accomplishments
appeared to have invalidated some of the arguments of the Dependency
School which had declared that the Third world cannot develop by
following the capitalist path because exploitation and stagnation are
inevitable when international capital penetrates a Third world economy.

Brazil understands the importance of diversification, hence its industrial

revolution was and subsequent economic policies were aligned to the
diversification of the economy into five key productive sectors –
Agriculture, Oil and Petrochemicals, Automobile and Manufacturing,
Mining and Steel, and Utilities. It also knows the imperative of regional
integration and cooperation, thus it has promoted economic integration
of Latin American economies, first through the Southern Cone Common
Market (Mercosul) and the Union of South American Nations
(UNASUR). Through this mechanism, it ensured greater cooperation
with its major rival – Argentina, and other Latin American economies.
This also led to reduction of trade barriers and directly or indirectly
created markets for Brazil’s industrial goods and agricultural products.
Thus with its virile economy, Brazil has been able to build
overwhelming political and economic influence in the Latin American
Region, sometimes containing the influence of the United States in the
Region’s affairs.

Moreover, through good economic planning and diplomacy, it has

spread its exports across the four large poles of origin and destination in
terms of foreign relations with Europe accounting for about 30% of
Brazil's international trade, North America accounting for 22%, Latin
America with 28% and Africa and the Pacific Rim accounting for 20%.

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The implication is that no one single nation or region can hold its
economy at ransom if conflict of interests arises.

Under its agricultural reforms, it increased the production of not only its
export/cash crops, but also ensured there is food sufficiency for its
teeming population. The implication is that Brazil is not a food-
importing nation today. It has more than enough food to feed its people
and to export to the rest of the world.

Under manufacturing, Brazil has been able to acquire and sustain

automobile capacity such that it now produces cars and buses for export.
It may interest you to know that most of the luxurious buses being used
in the transport industries in Nigeria were made and imported from
Brazil. In 1997 alone, Brazil produced more than two million vehicles
and earned almost US $5 billion from exports; motor vehicles accounted
for almost 10 percent of the total value of Brazil's exports for that year.
It is forecasted that in no distant future Brazil might become the fifth
biggest car producers in the world.

Also, Brazil has succeeded in using its crude oil wealth to fast track its
development. Following the discovery of oil in 1973, the Brazilian
Petroleum Company (PetroBras) was established to manage the oil
resources just like Nigeria’s NNPC. Since then, Brazil through Petrobras
has been able not only to exploit and refine its own oil, but also export
refined oil to other nations of the world. Petrobras has even transformed
into a Transnational Corporation whose subsidiaries now spread across
the globe prospecting for, and refining crude oil and undertaking other
profitable ventures while remitting profits from such businesses to its
parent company in Brazil which in turn returns the overall profit to the
government coffers.

The Brazilian military has since decided to give democracy a chance,

thus for over three decades now, Brazil has been under a democratic
rule. And every democratic administration always strives to consolidate
Brazil’s development and to extend its global influence. For instance,
under President Collor, Brazil initiated and executed an economic policy
which became known as the Collor Plan through which about 115
billion dollars worth of private investments were attracted. Furthermore,
under President Lula da Silva, Brazil initiated and supported moves for
more bilateral and multilateral relations and decision making mechanism
so as to counter unilateralism which has come to dominate the present
politics in international organisations and among nations. Also, under
President Rousseff, Brazil is trying to establish its presence and extend
its influence in Africa through export of finished goods and investments
to Africa. Under President Figueiredo, attempts were made to penetrate
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Africa through ‘Counter-Trade-Deals’ and this was very successful.

Most importantly, concerted attempts have been made to narrow the gap
between the rich and the poor in Brazil through income redistribution
and provision of social utilities. Capitalism no matter how practiced will
always enrich a few at the expense of the majority. It is then left for the
government to use social security networks or welfare system to redress
this inequality that accompanies capitalism. Brazil has been able to
redress this social and income gap through a welfare program called
“Bolsa Familia” which is a form of democratic socialism through which
the poor are provided with social services at little or no cost. This has
lifted many out of poverty, hence majority of Brazilians are not poor
though there are still isolated cases of extreme poverty in some segments
of the society like in the ghettoes.

All these accomplishments, individually and in combination have made

Brazil to become a regional power in the Latin America and an
important global actor. It has a strong and ever-growing economy,
staggering external investments, robust balance of payments and foreign
reserve, and above all democratic socialism that takes care of the poor
and other inequalities emanating from its capitalist system.

Only recently Brazil together with four other emerging economies have
formed an economic bloc called – BRICS being an acronym for Brazil,
Russia, India, China and South Africa. It is believed among analysts that
these four economies with the exclusion of South Africa might overtake
the USA and become the super powers in no distant time because of
their rapid economic development.

Indeed, Brazil on May 25, 2013, announced the “cancellation or

rescheduling” of up to USD900 million of debt owed by 12 African
countries, on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the African Union,
(AU). This is a reflection of Brazil’s growing prominence in the global
political scene and the increasing relevance of its relations with African
countries.

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

i. What role did political leadership play in Brazil’s development?

ii. Can the Third world countries achieve development while still
being part of the International Capitalist Economic System?
Explain.

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4.0 CONCLUSION

From the fore-going analysis, it is very clear that good political

leadership and economic policies have been the brain behind the success
of Brazilian development. We therefore conclude that by following the
Brazilian approach, the Third world countries can escape
underdevelopment while still engaging with the International Capitalist
System.

5.0 SUMMARY

In this Unit, we explained that Brazil was once colonized, exploited and
underdeveloped. It also experienced military dictatorship, political
instability, corruption in government, economic stagnation and poverty.
However, through concerted state-led industrial policies, the country
was able to transform its economy and achieve rapid development.
Today, the level of poverty in Brazil is low and manageable. The
country has also grown in regional and global political and economic
influence because of its strong and booming economy. It has achieved
economic integration in Latin America through Mercosur and emerged
the region’s super power. Brazil is believed to be one of the fastest
growing economies in the world and has joined other four emerging
economies to form an economic alliance called the “BRICS” which is
believed would play influential role in global economic relations and
politics in the nearest future.

Finally, we concluded that the Brazilian experience could serve as a

lesson to the Third world countries which are still wallowing in abject
poverty and underdevelopment. With good political leadership and
economic policies, development is possible for the colonized and
exploited peoples of the earth.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

“Political leadership has been instrumental to Brazil’s economic

development.” Do you agree?

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7.0 REFERENCES/FUTHER READING

Lampreia Luiz Felipe - Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. Brazilian

Foreign Policy: Continuity and Renewal.

Mahrukh, Doctor (2009). “Furthering Industrial Development in Brazil:

Globalization and the National Innovation System.” Paper
prepared for delivery at the 2009 Congress of the Latin American
Studies Association, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Ogwu, Joy U. (2002). “Economic Diplomacy in Latin America, the

Brazilian Experience: Any Lessons for Nigeria?” In: Ogwu, Joy
U and Olukoshi, Adebayo O. (Eds). The Economic Diplomacy of
the Nigerian State. Lagos: Nigerian Institute of International
Affairs.

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UNIT 5 INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT IN MEXICO

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 Industrial Development in Mexico
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Reading

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Mexico is one of the most industrialised and influential countries in

Latin America. It is the second largest economy in Latin America. It
also shares similar industrial development experience with Brazil. Just
like most countries in Africa and the Third world in general, Mexico
was once colonized, exploited and underdeveloped. Also, it has
experienced dictatorship, political imbroglio, political corruption, debt
crisis, social conflicts and economic stagnation. However, through the
formulation and implementation of sound and dynamic industrial
policies, Mexico has been able to escape from the strangle-hold of
underdevelopment. Today, Mexico has achieved a relative development.
This Unit therefore explores the Mexican experience of industrial
development so as to show once again that development is a function of
good political leadership and sound economic management.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, you are expected to:

• understand how Mexico achieved relative development

• apply the development experience of Latin American countries
such as Mexico in providing solutions to Africa nay Third World
development crisis.

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 Industrial Development in Mexico

Mexico is in Latin America. It was colonised by Spain. Its population is

about 110 million. It has devised and implemented several strategies
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aimed at achieving not just development, but a development that is

sustainable.

At first, Mexico adopted import substitution and state-led

industrialisation to pursue its development. Under this policy, the state
established many industries, provided basic infrastructure and the
indigenous businesses enjoyed protectionism. This policy worked and
resulted in relative development premised on agricultural expansion and
export of primary products. Mexican economy then was stable and
strong. This happened in 1960s and 1970s.

As at then the Third World countries in general were in dire need for
development, but they did not have enough capital. Hence when the
global economy went into recession in 1970s and 1980s and the price of
oil in the international oil market rose dramatically, many oil producing
countries particularly those in Latin America and Africa saw it as an
opportunity to develop further by collecting foreign loans to finance
their various development and industrialization projects believing that
the high prices of crude oil would remain and would allow them to pay
off their foreign debts with ease. It was under this illusion that Mexico
together with other Latin America countries such as Brazil, Argentina,
etc, borrowed foreign capital to finance their various industrialisation
efforts.

However, this turned out to be a development disaster. The price of oil

later dropped, and the exchange rate of the US dollar increased in
geometrical progression. The implication was that the cost of debt
servicing and repayment increased more than five folds thereby making
it very hard or impossible for countries like Mexico who had borrowed
from the IMF and other Western financial institutions or banks to repay
or service their debts. Mexico was the first to be hit hard by the debt
crisis, hence in August 1982 Mexico defaulted when its Finance
Minister, Jesus Silva-Herzog declared that Mexico would no longer be
able to service or repay its debt. Mexico declared that it couldn't meet its
payment due-dates, and announced unilaterally, a moratorium of 90
days. This affected the inflow of foreign capital into Mexico and nearly
crumbled its economy. Mexican government responded by trying to
raise money from internal sources to finance its development policies.
But its existing social infrastructure and pace of development could not
march its rapidly growing population. Also there was a great surge in
migration of Mexicans to the neighbouring country–the United States, in
search of greener pasture.

The need to speed up industrialization in order to stem this ugly

situation compelled the Mexican government in the mid 1980s to
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abandon the import substitution and state-led industrialization strategy

in favour of deregulation and liberalization which opening up the
economy and the drastic reduction in state’s intervention in the
economy. The aim was to encourage local and foreign investments in
the production of finished tradable goods so as to transform Mexico into
a key export platform in the world particularly in North America. It was
believed that this strategy would transform the manufacturing sector and
stimulate the rest of the domestic economy onto a long-term path of high
growth and development so that Mexico would become a major exporter
of not only raw materials but also finished goods. In the words of Carlos
Salinas, liberalization policy was aimed at “attracting foreign
investments and technology so that Mexico would export manufactured
goods not people.”

The reform culminated in the launching of the North American Free

Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994 by the United States and Canada
and Mexico. The free trade initiative was a path-breaking compromise to
drastically reduce barriers to intra-regional trade. This was followed by a
full compliance with GATT/ WTO provisions, and thus excluded
subsidies, tax cuts, trade protection schemes or performance
requirements on their beneficiaries.

On the surface, the Mexican Liberal approach appeared to be a huge

success. Between 1994 and 2002, FDI inflows into Mexico skyrocketed
to a yearly average of $13 billion, nearly three times more than the
yearly average of $4.5 billion between 1988 and 1993. Then, Mexico
ranks among the top three developing country recipients of global FDI.
Moreover, as hoped, about half of the FDI flowed into manufacturing.
Exports increased by nearly 50% after the passage of NAFTA in 1994
and manufactured goods accounted for nearly 90% of total exports. In
the face of the failure of many developing countries to attract FDI
despite their embracing integration policies, “Mexico became a poster
child for neoliberal globalization”. Regrettably, “Many environmental
trends are worsening in Mexico. Between 1985 and 1999, the estimated
economic costs of environmental degradation—including rural soil
erosion, municipal solid waste and urban air pollution—amounted to
10% of annual GDP.”

Although these liberal reforms achieved some of the intended goals,

they also created many challenges for the Mexican economy. The liberal
integration strategy increased FDI inflows, productivity and
manufactured goods and exports. However, the large growth of the
manufacturing sector has generated a persistent and growing trade
deficit. Exports grew fast but imports grew faster. Unbalanced import-
dependence and the trade deficit it generates suggest that the integration
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strategy as currently constituted may not be financially or economically

sustainable in the long term.

Also, FDI-led integration with the regional and global economy has
done little to promote sustainable industrial development in Mexico.
Domestic growth and investment were stagnant and high job growth,
innovation and indigenous technological capacity increase as well as
environmental improvements did not materialize. Relying heavily on
cheap labor and imports for productive inputs, the foreign
manufacturing sector remains largely disconnected from the domestic
Mexican economy.

Lastly, Mexico is currently battling drug war which has devastated the
internal stability and largely affected the economic life. The drug Lords
have masterminded the death of several security Chiefs and informants.
Several innocent citizens have also been killed in the process. However,
the government is determined to wipe out the menace of drug business
and serious deep blow has been done to the cartel, as several of the
kingpins have either been killed in gun battle or in their resistance to
arrest, or already behind bars.

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

i. What lessons can the Third World learn from the development
experiences of Latin America states like Mexico?
ii. Suggest what you think is the best development paradigm for the
Third World countries. Give reasons for your suggestion.

4.0 CONCLUSION

We have seen from the foregoing analysis how the Mexican government
alternates between state protectionism and liberalization or market
economy in pursuance of its development. The successes and failures of
the Mexican experience have revealed the strengths and weaknesses of
both state-led development and market economy approach. We therefore
conclude that the best way to promote development and engage in the
current globalization process and maximize its gains while minimizing
its fallouts is to combine selective state protectionism with selective
liberalization or what we call “hybrid approach”. Through this approach,
the state would be able to galvanize both internal and external resources
to advance development. Even the most advanced nation - the United
States of America is indirectly applying this hybrid-strategy even when
it is preaching total liberalism and deregulation around the world.

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5.0 SUMMARY

In this unit, we explained how Mexico – the second largest economy in

the Latin America region has been able to advance its industrialization
and development by alternating between state protectionism and
liberalisation. First, it adopted state-led industrialisation approach and
when this was not accelerating the pace of its development as wanted, it
quickly changed to deregulation and liberalisation aimed at reducing the
intervention of state in the economy and attracting foreign direct
investments. Both approaches have had positive and negative impacts on
the Mexico’s quest for sustainable development. We therefore
concluded that the best strategy for the country and other countries
seeking development is “hybrid approach” which entails combining the
strengths of protectionism and liberalism or adopting selective
protectionism and selective liberalism. This approach would maximise
the gains of both the state-led development process and market economy
driven paradigm while at the same time minimising the fallouts inherent
in both.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

“Total liberalisation may not be the best development paradigm for the
Third World.” Explain this statement by using the Mexican experience.

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING

Global Development and Environment Institute (2004). “Sustainable

Industrial Development? The Performance of Mexico’s FDI-led
Integration Strategy.” Tufts University: Fletcher School of Law
and Diplomacy.

Kellogg Institute for International Studies (1984). “Industrial

Development in Mexico, Policy Issues and Perspectives.”
Working Paper No. 13.

Moreno-Brid, J. C. (2007). Economic Development and Industrial

Performance in Mexico post-NAFTA.

Zarsky, L. & Gallagher, K. (2004). Americas Program Policy Brief:

NAFTA, Foreign Direct Investment, and Sustainable Industrial
Development in Mexico. Inter-hemispheric Resource Center
(IRC).

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MODULE 4 REVOLUTION, RELIGION, MILITARY

RULE AND DEMOCRACY IN THE
THIRD WORLD

Unit 1 The Iranian Revolution and Development

Unit 2 Military Rule and Third world Development
Unit 3 Democratisation in Nigeria
Unit 4 Corruption as the Bane of Third world Development
Unit 5 Solutions to the Third World Underdevelopment

UNIT 1 THE IRANIAN REVOLUTION AND

DEVELOPMENT

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 Background to Iranian Revolution
3.2 Causes of Iranian Revolution
3.3 Stages of Iranian Revolution
3.4 Impact of the Revolution on Iranian Development
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Reading

1.0 INTRODUCTION

In the first unit of module three, the concept of Revolution as embedded

in the Marxist model was discussed as practiced by the Chinese which
was the first step of the development of modern China. However,
Iranian Revolution was not Marxist- oriented but Jacobin, and a
reactionary exercise against the perceived domination of Western
institutions which were not only exploitative but also anti-Islamic and
offensive. This unit therefore focuses on the circumstances which led to
the Revolution, the process of the Revolution, as well as the uniqueness
and impact of the event on the development of Iran as a third world
country; bearing in mind that we accept the liberal scholars definition of
Revolution” as a sudden change in the location of political power,
expressing itself in the radical transformation of the sovereignty,
legitimacy and of the social order… such transformations could not
normally occur without violence, but if they did, they would though
bloodless, be revolutions” (Kamenka, 1974).
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2.0 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, you should be able to:

• highlight the socio-political situation leading to the Iranian

Revolution
• identify the role of religion in Iranian Revolution
• state the contribution of the Western influence to the Revolution
• assess the impact of the Revolution on the development of Iran.

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 Background to Iranian Revolution

The Shah Dynasty came to power in Iran in 1925 after the overthrow of
Qajar Dynasty due to its military weakness as manifested in its failure to
tackle the military incursion of Britain and Soviet Union on the Iranian
territory. The change was confirmed by Iranian parliament on December
12, 1925 by the Iranian Parliament known as Majlis.

Reza Pahlavi the new monarch, set for himself a task of modernizing the
otherwise agrarian, traditional and Shiite Muslims dominated population
who were insulated from westernization process. This he did by sending
some of his subjects to schools in Europe, where they were expected to
learn the western way of life. The Shah also embarked on the
development of the infrastructure such as the rail transport system which
opened up the country leading to urbanization of the population. This
was done simultaneously with rapid development of the educational
sector, which led to the growth of educated elements and the emergence
of professional middle class and industrial working class. Governmental
institutions were centralized and strengthened in modern sense.
However his policy of avoiding dealings with Soviet Union and Britain,
but close relationship with the German and others especially in the field
of technical expertise portrayed him as an ally of Germany during World
War II. He was subsequently arrested and exiled despite his declaration
of neutrality in the conflict, which strengthened the British and its allies’
exploitation of Iranian oil resources through Anglo-Iranian Oil
Company who had the sole mandate to exploit and market Iranian oil.
The Allied forces also took control of Iran’s communications and
railroad; transportation supplies to Soviet Union from the Persian Gulf.
Thus plundering the resources of the state in the absence of central
government as personalised by the monarch.

Although, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi was allowed to take over the throne
of his father, the occupation of Iran by the Allied forces ended in 1946
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with the withdrawal of the Soviet troops from the northern part of the
country. Within this period the Parliamentary Election took place which
elected the Majlis, leading to the election of Mohammed Mossadegh as
the Prime Minister of Iran. Of interest is the pressure from Iranians since
1930’s for the nationalisation of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company and
reduction of foreign influence on the state, as well as the need for the
Shah to remain ceremonial monarch, deferring to the parliament. These
led to confrontation between the new Shah and the parliament since the
monarch needed to retain state power in order to continue with the
reform processes of his father. The highlight of the tussle was the
nationalisation of the British owned oil company by the Prime Minister,
which was opposed by Shah fearing the impact of the resulting oil
embargo by the Western countries on the economy of Iran. The Shah
fled Iran at the climax of the crisis known as “Abadan” and came back
after Americo-British staged coup which led to the arrest of Mossadegh
in 1953.

Undoubtedly, this event amongst others clearly portrayed the Shah as a

Western ally in the cold war environment. He embarked on the
construction of massive infrastructural facilities, introduced the “White
Revolution” which extended voting rights to women, eliminated
illiteracy and reformed the land tenure system as well as legal equity in
marital issues. These reforms led to the flourishing of the new middle
class and the dominance of Iran as regional politico-economic
hegemony in the Middle East. The Shah also celebrated the 2,500 years
of Persian Monarchy in 1971 and replaced the Islamic calendar year
1355 with imperial Calendar year 2535. Thus, referencing the
foundation of Persian Empire over the birth of Islam as practised by all
Muslims.

The modernisation and westernisation of Iran would ordinarily be a

remarkable achievement for the Shah, but considering the fact that Shia
Islam was accepted as Iranian state religion in 1502 during the time of
Safavid dynasty and played dominant role in the state; its cleric
independence from state control and their power to mobilize their
followers against constituted authority with the numerical strength of
90% of the population made it difficult to swallow any measure seen by
the cleric as anti-Islamic to pass without comment, hence massive
discontent over reforms inclined to individualism as against the
collectivism of an Islamic Umma, as well as western culture which was
always antagonistic to Islamic injunction.

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3.2 Causes of the Iranian Revolution

Central to the kick-off of the Revolution was the reaction of Iranians to

the socio-economic changes of 1960s and 70s. The capitalist agricultural
reform which followed poor land reform programme, the increase in the
educated elements, employers of rural background who migrated to the
urban centres and became worse hit by the economic downturn of the
late 70s, formed the bulk of demonstrators which requested for a change
in the administration of the country. The intelligentsia and the urban
middle class also felt the impact of the inflation, poor agricultural output
which led to food shortage and the uncertainty endemic to such state of
affairs. Thus they demanded for a secular nationalism which coincided
with the demand for better living condition by rural immigrants. The
merchants and organised craftsmen (Bazaar) were also affected by the
increases in state power, especially with the expansion in
industrialisation and the attempt of Shah and his cronies to take over the
organisation of Bazaar who were the major sponsors of the independent
Shia Cleric, also generated dissatisfaction among this class whom the
regime saw as a threat to their existence.

Contrasting this situation was the increase in the oil revenue which went
into personal purse of Shah’s state officials, although much was used for
infrastructural development and other modernisation programme, still a
new class of wealthy Iranians emerged, aristocratic and upper families
who had access to the oil wealth. Over a million state employees were
under state controlled labour union which made agitation for better
working condition unrealistic and western expatriates dominated the
Iranian oil industry, thereby, furthering the alienation of the Iranians
from their wealth.

The Shah’s economic and foreign policies made him more puppet of the
west than he actually was. Foreign investments were needed for
development, hence American companies were involved in joint venture
with private and state companies in almost all critical sectors of the
economy. More so, the increase in the oil revenue did not translate into
reduction of Iran’s dependence on the Americans for military hard ware.
It does appear that substantial part of the oil wealth was used in the
purchase of arms and ammunition, when the masses were in dire need of
basic needs of life. More so, there were about 20,000 American military
advisers in Iran as at 1976 who were granted diplomatic immunity from
prosecution necessitated by oil wealth and the need to please United
States Security concern in the region, hence it is said that between 1972
and 1976 the Shah government spent 10 billion US Dollars on weapons
and was expecting the delivery of further 12 billion Dollars worth of
armament, when he was over thrown. Besides, his earlier installation by
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the combination of America and British CIA and M16 respectively in

1953 further proved to the nationalistic Iranians in religious and secular
circle of his “puppet” status to the west (Brumberg, 2001; Shirley,
1997).
Politically, the Shah lacked political foresight to recruit supports within
the Shia religious leadership, since when they were excluded from
governmental power, the Shia encountered political tyranny (Andrian
and Apler, 1995: 89). These supporters would have countered
Khomeini’s campaign against him. The Shah was also despotic and
recalcitrant tactically as he violated the Iranian constitution of 1906
which provided for Constitutional Monarchy (Marckay, 1998: 218) and
applied full instrument of state coercion (the SAVAK) on the dissent;
dwelling on the repression of the Marxist elements, when the widely
accepted religious opposition organized, gained momentum and
eventually undermined the legitimacy of his regime. He also establishes
Rastakhiz party as a sole and monopoly party with compulsion of
membership and dues.

Besides, he was accused of negligence of governance and playing of

statements during the oil boom and personalisation of government and
playing political elites against one another, as well as discouraging
initiative and refusal to allow the official to cooperate for fear of
regicidal conspiracies. In the absence of fully functioning Shah as it was
because of ill-health, the system could not function.

Above all, the Shah’s gross disregard and insensitivity to Islamic

Religion in his 1976 changing of the Islamic calendar to imperial one
making the birthday of Cyprus the founder of Persian Empire, the first
year instead of the Hijra or flight of prophet Mohammad from Mecca to
Medina, the overnight dramatic change from 1355 to 2535. He was also
said to be extravagant, morally declared elitism in policies and corrupt.
Again, the equity of women in marital issues and granting of full
franchise to women, were seen as unethical as well as the elaborate
celebration of 2,500 years of Persian Empire where stupendous wealth
was displayed through massive importation of foods, drinks and
luxurious goods from western countries, entertaining foreign quests.

Not the least is the personality of Khomeini and his charisma; self-
confidence and conviction in carrying the masses along with messianic
figure, inspiring thousands to dream of martyrdom in fighting Shah’s
regime as well as his shrewdness sin winning the supports of the liberals
and Marxists by not mentioning his intention. Again the organisers of
the protest in Iran made the Iranian security forces; the SAVAK to
appear as novice and brutal than they were, which was an ingenuous
invention, facilitating the revolution, so also was their rhetorics which
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articulated popular grievances to the Shiites who comprised 90 percent

of the population (Andrain and Apter, 1995:89).

As highlighted above, economic growth heightened income inequalities

between urban and rural areas and within the cities. Rapid social
upheaval sprung from urbanisation, incipient industrialisation, secular
education, and the spread of mass media. All these changes brought
political, economic and cultural dependence on capitalist core societies
in North America and Western Europe. These attracted reaction from the
populace who sought nostalgically to return to serenity which was part
of past Islamic society.

3.3 Stages of Revolution

The Iranian Revolution can be divided into three stages: The Dawn of
the New Era, The Consolidation of Islamic Republic and the Cultural
Revolution which is an ongoing process.

Following the home coming of Ruhollah Khomeini and the departure of

the Shah in February, 1979 there was little resistance to the Revolution.
Khomeini appointed Prime Minister for the interim government and
ordered his followers to ignore the martial law order issued by Shah’s
Prime Minister, Bakhtiar. He also proclaimed Jihad against the security
forces disloyal to the revolutionaries (Moin, 1000: 2005). This gave
Marxist guerillas and revolution cries the needed impetus to loot the
Police Armory and public building which forced the Army to declare
neutrality in order to save the institution from disintegration. This
marked the end of Pahlavi dynasty with the going into hiding of Prime
Minister Baktiar and eventually self-exile in France. Khomeini
announced the committees for the Islamic Revolution and formed
Islamic Republican Party with Beheshti, Bahonar, Khamenei, Hashemi
and Abdolkarim as leaders. This marked the Dawn of New Era in Iran.
Consolidation of the Islamic Republic came with the organisation of
National Referendum between 30 – 31st March, 1979 to decide if Iran
should be an Islamic Republic and the outcome was 98.2% in favour of
it. By May 5, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps was established
by Khomeine through a decree and by June, Khomeine Lunched attack
on non theocratic elements especially the intellectual. He also
challenged the liberals and Marxists who opposed the new draft
constitution which contained council of guardians to veto unislamic
legislation which was approved by Khomeini and their advocacy for
constituent assembly to deliberate on the new constitution; he labeled
them as counter revolutionaries and declared that “No westernized
jurists are needed to write the constitution, only noble members of the
clergy” (Moin, 2000: 218) and thereafter worked on making the
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Velayate Faqih (Governance of the Jurist) popular across the country.

Khomeini promulgated new press law to counter opposition to his
policies which was enforced with the banning of Ayendegan – the
widest circulated newspaper for opposing Velayah Faquih. He closed
down all political parties except few voiceless ones and released his
Hezbollah thugs against oppositions of press censorship and Marxist
groups as a reprisal for protesting against him. Between August and
October 1979, the Assembly of experts inaugurated by him fabricated a
constitution with Khomeini as the vali-el-faquih, whose power included
the “commander of the Armed forces.”

The ex-shah’s visit to the United States for cancer treatment was
politicised as evidence of American plotting and the need to tolerate the
great Satan (Moin, 2000: 220) which was aggravated by the photo of
Prime Minister Barzagan handshake with an American official
interpreted as “the return of American influence.” The outcome of the
anti-American sentiment was the occupation of the United States
Embassy in Tehran known as the Iran Hostage crisis which lasted for
444 days. It was a major instrument of Khomeini’s propaganda to
consolidate himself in power, especially with the failure of “Operation
Eagle Claw”, an American rescue initiative aborted by sandstorm. The
failure of Prime Minister Barzagan to get the needed support for the
eviction of the student from the US Embassy forced him to resign with
all members of his cabinet which was accepted by Khomeini. The first
President of the Islamic Republic Abdolhassan Banisadr was also
impeached due to misunderstanding with Khomeini. These events
further consolidated Khomeini and his group grip on power, so also was
the Nojeh failed coup attempt and the invasion of Iran by Iraq which
further whipped up nationalistic sentiment and united the people under
Khomeini against other internal oppositions.

The third stage of the Revolution was the Cultural Revolution which is
ongoing. It started on March 21, 1980 with Khomeini’s move against
the intelligentsia. He made it clear that the universities must become
Islamic. By June, a decree to that effect was issued by the government
and the Islamisation of the universities began, justifying its necessity,
Khomeini declared: “We are not afraid of economic sanction or military
intervention, what we are afraid of is western universities and the
training of our youth in the interest of the west or East (Bakash, 1984:
122). The universities were invaded by the Hezbollohis which led to
their closure for more than two years. The Islamisation was also
extended to the state bureaucratic structures which led to the discharge
of 20,000 teachers and nearly 8,000 military officers as well as 700
professors. This lasted till 1987, but has a standing body known as the
Supreme Cultural Revolution Council, with 33 members and currently
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chaired by the president of the Islamic Republic - - Mahmond

Ahmadinejad. This council continues to ensure that education and the
core of Iranian culture are in perfect harmony with Islamic injunctions
as directed by Ayotollah Khomeini.

3.4 Impact of the Revolution on Iranian

Development
Politically, the Revolution turned Iran to the foremost theocratic state in
modern history, as Khomeini introduced Islamic Government in line
with his book titled “Islamic Government of Governance of the Jurist”.
This enabled Iran to maintain independent foreign policies and
maintained total control of internal milieu even during the war.
Economically, Iran took control of its oil resources and harnessed all the
resources for her development. It was a form of delinking from the
exploitative relationship that characterises third world oil producers and
the parasitic western countries. Although the oil glut of late 70s and
early 80s affected the economy negatively, alongside great power
conspiracy, still, massive leaking of the country’s wealth was checked
by the government. However, the issues of equitable distribution of
nation’s wealth continued to remain a subject of debate till date.

Intellectually, it was a great blow to scientific and technological

development of Iran. The Cultural Revolution led to brain drain with the
sacking of about 700 professors within a short time, so also was the
closure of the universities, as well as the censorship of educational
materials in line with Islamic dictates, this hardly gave room for liberal
education. However, Iran has succeeded in recovering from the initial
shock in this sector, which has led to her acquisition of nuclear
technology, the current bone of contention with the west, still her
educational system remains closed.

The aftermath of the Revolution has enhanced Iranian cultural identity

as an Islamic state and curtailed excess consumption of western goods
which affect balance of trade and payment as well as trade relationship.
It has controlled most of the wild and unrealistic lifestyle of the west
currently copied by most Third World Countries which has condemned
their domain to a dumping ground of western manufacturing goods, thus
protecting the domestic industries and maintain job for her population.

However, corruption continues to mar the Islamic Iraq government

which has reduced the respect that the people have for the government.
The poverty rate is still high and others are still living in affluence,
especially those in government. This call to question the equality of men
as preached by Islam and promised during the revolution.

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SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

i. Discuss the centrality of the Revolution to the development of

contemporary Iran.
ii. Highlight five policies of Shah which were unIslamic.
iii. Outline and discuss five factors responsible for Iranian
revolution.

4.0 CONCLUSION

Iran’s revolution began with a popular democracy movement and ended

with the establishment of the world’s first Islamic state ruled by Islamic
religious leaders called Mullah. The revolution in Iran shook the world
because the Shah had an army of 400,000 men in strength with
sophisticated weaponry as well as the backing of the western powers.
But this was the demonstrated power of the general will of the people
over the interest of the selected few. It took Iran through virulent times
but later became the springboard for modern day Iran. It has curtailed
the western influence and helped the country to fashion her
developmental model which is ongoing and has cumulated to the
acquisition of nuclear technology. The development in years ahead will
determine the continuity of the revolution and its impact.

5.0 SUMMARY
Iranian Revolution was a Jacobin model or type social change which
was later personalized by Ayotollah Khomeini who transformed it to
Islamic Revolution and formed Islamic Government – the most
outstanding theocratic state in modern era. All anti-Islamic elements and
practices were purged from the state alongside the dominance of the
western influence and exploitation. Iran started the process of Nation
building again in 1979 which is ongoing under the supervision of the
supreme cultural council. Reasonable achievement is recorded already
but the outcome of nuclear crisis with the west is critical to further
development.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

Discuss the centrality of revolution to the development of contemporary
Iran.

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7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING

Arjomand, S. A. (1988) .Turban for a Crown: The Islamic Revolution in
Iran. London: Oxford University Press.

Kurzman, C. (2004). The Unthinkable Revolution in Iran.. Harvard

University Press.

Ladjevardi, H. (1996). (Ed.). Memoirs of Shapour Baktiar. Harvard

University Press.

Moin, B. (1985). Khomeini: The Life of the Ayatollah. New York:

Thomas Dunne Books.

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UNIT 2 MILITARY RULE AND THIRD WORLD

DEVELOPMENT

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 Military Intervention in Third World Politics
3.2 Reasons for Military Intervention
3.3 Features of Military Rule
3.4 Military Rule and Development in Nigeria
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Reading

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The role of the military in state and nation building cannot be over
emphasised. It is the ultimate instrument of coercion and legitimating of
force in every given state. It is the power behind the throne and palace
and is expected to be under the command of a legitimate leader of the
country for the protection of territorial integrity of the state and
promotion of peace, security and stability within the state. However, the
military in the post-Independence Third World appropriates the role of
government to itself by overthrowing the respective civil administration
in their country. This unit therefore looks at military adventurism into
the politics of the Third World Countries, reasons for and features of
military rule as well as their impacts on the development of these states,
with special reference to Nigeria.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, you should be able to:

• identify coup d’etat as the method of military intervention in third

world politics
• state reasons for military intervention in Third World politics
• highlight features of military rule
• discuss the role of military in the development of Nigeria.

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3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 Military Intervention in the Third World Politics

For the military to take effective control of government in their

intervention in politics there must be a coup d’etat, defined as “a
political act directed at the authority by seizure of power through the
direct use of, or the threat of the use of violent force” (Obi, 1999). This
is always carried out by a handful of conspirators who secretly plotted
against the incumbent office holders, to eliminate them either through
death or by force from the office. As a show of force, the coupists also
occupy strategic government installations and are located to cow the
public to submission. The event is always marked by messianic
messages from the conspirators discrediting the activities of the
incumbent and promising rosy future for the masses. It must be noted
that coup d’etat is different from Revolution, since the major objective is
the leadership change without consideration for socio-economic
changes; however revolution may involve an act of coup plotting.

Part of the crisis of development was the prevalence of military

intervention in the Third World Countries within a decade of political
independence from the colonial masters, in African countries in
particular. General Mobutu Sese Sekou took power in the Congo on
November 25, 1965, so also did General Sogho in former Dahomey
(now Benin Republic) in November 29, 1965, Colonel Bokassa in
Central Africa Republic on the New Year day of 1996, Colonial
Lamizana in Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso), four days after and the
five majors struck in Nigeria on January 15, 1966. The trend continued
and by mid 70s more than half of the African states were under one form
of military rule or had experienced threat of military intervention.

The same could be said of Latin America, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru
as well Indonesia, Vietnam, Pakistan and both sides of Korea. Thus,
military rule was almost a standard in the Third World in the better part
of the Cold War which was due to weakness of the political structures
and processes in post colonial states, the prevalence of economic crisis,
and the institutional role of Military as the custodians of national
defence.

Many attributed the development to colonial legacy such as bureaucratic

emphases on hierarchical compliance and discipline with little or no
respect for public accountability, responsiveness sand participation,
since colonialism itself was philosophically and organisationally elitist,
centralised and absolutist, hence the destruction of the vestiges of
democratic culture it met in Africa as elsewhere and replaced this with
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massive alienation of bureaucracy under an all powerful central

authority (Williams, 1995). The thesis of the argument is that the culture
of despotism and absolutism as reflected by the colonial rule was carried
over to the post-colonial states by the statesmen who took over power
from the colonial over- Lords which was responsible for the crises
experienced by the these Third World Countries; since they discourage
opposition and perpetuated their hold on power arguing that the problem
of development demanded complete unity of purpose and therefore
criminalised political dissent (Ake, 1992). The fall out of political
monolithism was coup d’etat which was also undemocratic, the same
way colonialism and single party hegemony characterised post-colonial
states before the intervention of the military. Therefore military
intervention in the third world and African in particular was to consider
the culture of despotic personalised rule as exemplified by the Colonial
Rule and their civilian successors in the third world countries, with the
sole aim of capturing the commonwealth for expropriation just as was
done by the colonialist.

3.2 Reasons for Military Intervention in Third World

Politics

The Third World Countries are new states with fragile structures norms
and values. Thus the post independence era was a learning process for
most of its leaders. Amazingly, many of them saw it as opportunity for
self perpetuation and aggrandizement therefore arrogated the power of
the state to themselves in a majestic manner. This led to patrimonialism
and clientelism which promote corruption and waste. There are also the
challenges of the underdevelopment of civil political institutions
(corrupt administrations, political fractiousness, etc), and the corporate
interest of the Military, as well as personal ambitions of military leaders.
With intolerance to opposition and the employment of the state resource
for self-perpetuation, the only means of socio-political change as the
military take over which was always welcome by the masses. However,
these explanations are not mutually exclusive. Personal, organisational
and societal factors are intermingled.

The political class in Third World Countries always see election as a

zero-sum game which calls for the employment of all means in real
politik to get to power. The inter and intra party wrangling as
experienced in Nigeria in the First Republic led to political violence,
instability and general sense of insecurity which beckoned on the
military as the last hope for the restoration of law and order because of
her perceived neutrality in the political landscape of the country.

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More so, the military itself is part of the society. They see and
understand the game as played by the politicians especially access to
political power which translates into control of the state resources, hence
ambitious officers also use the military as a platform to actualize their
ambition of ruling their respective countries and gain access to the
sources for personal and group gain as done by the politicians.

This may as well explain Muamar Gaddafi’s coup in Libya in 1969,

Abdel Nassers coup in Egypt and Mengistu Haile Mariam’s coup in
Ethiopia. This also explains the background to counter coup, since the
military is seen as a loyal, disciplined and united institution, they ought
not be any division except for self interest as exemplified by General
Abacha coup against Third Republic as well as Colonel Dimka aborted
coup against Murtala Mohammed in Nigeria.

The intervention as a corrective regime sometimes is plausible if Ghana

political history is x-rayed, especially the two interventions led by Flt Lt
Jerry Rawlings. At the first intervention, he organised an election and
successfully handed over power to the civilians, but the political
mismanagement brought back Jerry Rawlings and his men in a more
bloody way. Such intervention can be said to be inspired by Patriotism
and the need to correct the idiosyncrasies of Third World leaders, today
Ghana is better off as politics of impunity and the ends justifies the
means has given way for a more democratic open and accountable
society which has enhanced stability and development.

Furthermore, interconnectedness of the global system makes comparison

and duplication of events desirable. This was played out as a coup in one
country generated ripples in other countries. This may account for the
succession of military intervention in Africa between 1960s and 80s:
Mobutu in Congo, November 1965, Soigho in Dahomey four days after,
Bakassa of Central Africa Republic on January 1, 1966, Lamiza in
Burkina Faso, four days after, and the five majors in Nigeria eleven days
after. The trend continued as most of the African states were ruled by
Military Juntas. Indeed, the organisation of African United was almost
like a club of military top brass in the continent due to the infectious
nature of military intervention in the continental politics at time.

Besides, the neo-colonial nature of Third World Countries makes them

excessively open to outside influence especially those of the multi-
National Corporations whose presence are prominent in these states. The
MNCs lobby and sustain corrupt governments which protect their
interest and whenever a government appeared to be injurious to their
interests, they work relentlessly to ensure its change. Thus there were
speculations that the coup against President Allendes of Chile was a
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fallout of his policy against the MNCs and the same has been said to be
the reason behind failed coup against General Murtala Mohammed in
Nigerian, and International Telegraph and Telegram (ITT) has been
fingered. Relating to this was the Cold War environment which required
a strong ruler to protect the interest of superpower bloc which the
leaders belongs to, hence, there was deliberate effort by the two power
blocs to counter each other in the politics of the Third world where they
recruited supports through support for military intervention for their
ideological interest. Such interests include the continuous exploitation
and expropriation of the Third World resources to the metropolis,
especially the western metropolis.

3.3 Features of Military Rule

The first sign of military rule is the forceful taking of power from the
incumbent government through coup d’etat. Here power runs through
the barrel of the gun as against the ballot box in a democratic system.
The populace is not consulted because of the secret and conspiratorial
nature of coup plotting, hence the required force is marshaled by
coupists to overthrow the government and take over strategic locations,
so as to ensure the compliance of all and sundry. Dissidents are silenced
and all the key incumbent government officials arrested or eliminated in
order to remove resistance from taking over power. This indeed is the
first indication of military takeover in the Third World Countries

The military always suspend the existing constitution of the states in

order to operate. The constitution most of the time provides for the
separation of power between the three arms of government. However,
since the military are not elected, they find it convenient to suspend the
constitution and ensure that fusion of power reigns. This accounts for
the executive during the military rule performing legislative duties, as
the legislative arm is worst hit by military intervention. In Nigeria for
instance, the suspension of the First Republic constitution led to the
formation of the Supreme Military Council, which was rebranded as
Armed Forces Ruling Council by General Babanginda in 1985 and
Provisional Ruling council by General Abacha; they all perform both
executive and legislative functions with the suspension of the
constitution which provided for the National Assembly as a separate arm
of government.

The suspension of the constitution does not mean that the military rules
without law; far from it. They rule with decrees and Edicts chunked out
by the military Rulers. The Decrees are made as exigencies demand and
as such are not thorough, neither are they done in consultation with the
masses or any constituency. Hence the laws are always stringent and
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most of the time are made to curtail the rights of the citizens, as the
regime sometimes feel threatened. Some of the Decrees and Edicts are
retroactive in nature, so as to enable them persecute suspected
opposition and dissidents. Others are hinged on the exigencies of
development, such as the land use Decree which vested the ownership of
the entire land in the country in the hands of federal government;
thereby depriving communities and families entitlement to ancestral and
communal properties which has been criticised by Nigerians. The same
criticism greeted the obnoxious Decree No. 34 of 1966. This compared
with the fiscal federalism of Nigeria at independence to a unitary state
which has hampered the general development of the country.

Ironically, the military who expect the citizens to obey the laws are not
law abiding. They show utter disregard for the rule of law. This regime
abhors court injunctions and other rulings contrary to their interest.
Indeed, the military rulers are the law unto themselves and dare not
subject themselves to the control of any order or authority in a given
state; hence the tyrannical nature of military rule.

Note worthy is the self perpetuation in power by military rulers which

were removed by counter-coup or societal pressure. As stated, the
suspension of the constitution removes the tenure limitation as enshrined
in the constitution, as such change of government is left in the hands of
the junta who exploit it to consolidate their holds on power and
eliminate or silence all the perceived progressives who dare challenge
their policies. Pressure for democratisation by western allies produces
self-succession, as constitutions are fabricated and manipulated to
ensure that incumbent military ruler is returned back to power as a
civilian leader, hence many maneuvered themselves into live
presidency, while others spend more than two decades as the head of
their respective countries. Instances to this abound; Muamar Gaddafi in
Libya, Mobotu Sese Sekou of Congo, Gnassingbe Eyadema of Togo,
Augustus Pinochet of Chile, Museveni of Uganda, Hosni Mubarak of
Egypt and Pol Pot of Vietnam.

3.4 Military Rule and Development in Nigeria

Military Rule in Nigeria just like any other social model has diverse
perceptions. One school of thought sees the military as unprogressive,
lazy and conservative institution, capable of taking over power with
brute force but incapable of resolving multi-dimensional socio-economic
and political challenges facing the third world countries. Leading this
pack includes G. Mosca, M. Needless, A. Vogt and B. Abrahamson. On
the other hand is the modernization school of thought of Military Rule,
notably among them are J. J. Johnson, S. P. Huntington and Lucian Pye.
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According this view military has all it takes to modernize the Third
World countries through their training and exposure to Western
orientation and technology as well as unified and hierarchical structure
which hasten decision making and ensure compliance, hence a veritable
institution for third World development and modernisation. Our
assessments therefore are anchored on these two perspectives.

From the moderniser’s perspective the military stepped in during

political stagnation in 1966 which would have led to the demise of the
Nigerian State and stabilized the nation despite diverse challenges of
late 60s and 70s which is laudable. Others include the following,
political reconstruction as observed by Tonwe (2011):

i. Introduction of the Presidential System of Government

ii. Re-organisation of Nigeria into 36 States and Federal Capital
Territory.
iii. Introduction of Tripartite Federal System
iv. Political Neutralisation of Traditional Authorities
v. Promulgation of the Land Use Decree.

The list is not exhaustive, however, but it seems as the modernizers are
more concerned with structural changes without considering the
normative imperative central to socio-economic development of Nigeria.
This gives credence to the opposing view of military rule as too
conservative for the development of Nigeria.

To start with, every form of constitutional suspension is an indication of

political decay, so also is the personalization of governmental
institutions, which are central in military rule. The absence specific
tenure as well as the clientelist and patrimonial culture lead to political
backwardness. The net result of these is endemic corruption which
pervades Nigerian body polity as the culture of impunity and absence of
accountability turn rulers to demi-gods, thereby promoting kleptocracy
which is the bane of societal development in Nigeria. This has made
Nigeria’s national identity to be synonymous with corruption, the pillar
of underdevelopment of the third world countries and Nigeria in
particular. Again, the military have continuously protected the interest of
the neo-capitalist interest in the country culminating to the hanging of
Ken-Saro-Wiwa and others as the climax of crisis of the National
underdevelopment and the conspiracy between the personalised state
and the Western MNCs in liquidating and expropriation of Nigeria
resources to cushion the insatiable greed of the duo. The net effect is
that critical sector of the country are not developed and the
environmental degradation becomes endemic leading to poverty,
diseases and despairs as well as political insatiability as witnessed in the
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country today. It must be said that successive intervention by military in

Nigerian politics effectively removed self-correcting mechanisms
inherent in every political unit, as every system has the tendency of self-
regeneration over time. These interruptions over a long period have led
to the absence of democratic norms and values in the Nigerian state and
the promotion of violence and militarisation of every sector of our
national lives which is inimical to the overall development of the nation.
Given that stable democracy is an important aspect of a modernized
society, the military is an aberration in all ramifications. Thus Obi
(1999) summarises that “even those theorists who saw the military in the
third world as modernisers and promoters of development have had to
recant their optimism in the face of overwhelming evidence that military
interventions have contributed to crisis in the third world.”

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

“Military era were wasted years in the socio-political development of

Nigeria” Discuss.

4.0 CONCLUSION

Military Rule is an aberration in contemporary politics. It was tolerated

during the cold-war and sometimes intervened due to the idiosyncrasy of
Third World Leaders; but overtime they started exhibiting worse
excesses than their civilian counterparts which damage the image of the
military. The endemic political decay experienced in Nigeria and indeed
across Africa and other Third World nations makes this model
unsuitable and generally outdated in 21st century governance.

5.0 SUMMARY

Military Rule is the intervention of the Armed Forces in the politics of

Third World Countries through coup d’etat. It was rampant during the
first two decades of independence in African states which co-incided
with the cold-war. Generally seen as corrective regimes to politicians’
idiosyncrasies it later became more terrible and intolerable. However, in
Nigeria, some schools believed in the mild achievement of successive
military regimes while others regard them as opportunists. Nevertheless,
there is a general consensus on the rejection of military rule in the
country, as this is counter-productive to the developmental strategies
and well being of the country.

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6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

“The military era were wasted years in the socio-political development

of Nigeria.” Discuss.

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING

Huntington, S. (1969). Soldier and State: Political Order in Changing

Societies. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Jemibewon, D. (1978). A Combatant in Government. Ibadan:

Heinemann.

Otedola, I. (1982). Military Regimes and Development: A Comparative

Analysis of African States. London: George Allen and Urwin.

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UNIT 3 DEMOCRATISATION IN NIGERIA

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 What is Democracy/Democratisation
3.2 Features of Democracy
3.3 Democratisation in Nigeria
3.4 Democratisation and Development in Nigeria
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Reading

1.0 INTRODUCTION

You are quite familiar with the concept of democracy and

democratisation which are common in our daily discussion as political
scientists and indeed Nigerians, with the regular conduct of elections –
National, State, Local and Bye elections by the Electoral Commissions.
Indeed democracy/democratisation is much more than the conduct of
regular elections (although this is part of it); it covers the process and
structures of the state/government as well as the normative principles
regulating inter-personal/governmental relations in a given political
milieu. This unit dwells on Nigeria’s experience on democratisation
after series of autocratic rules and correlates it with Development of the
Nigerian state.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, you should be able to:

• outline the numerous definitions of democracy/ democratisation

• highlight some features of democracy
• identify democratisation processes in Nigeria
• enumerate the impact of democratisation//democracy on the
development of Nigeria.

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3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 What is Democracy/Democratisation

It is a common knowledge to hear a roadside mechanic saying, “This is

democracy, I know my right!”; a rhetoric common to all and sundry in
Nigeria today. But whenever these laymen are asked to define or explain
“Democracy”, their answers are always simple “this is not military
rule”. Hence the abdication of power by the military juntas is equated
with democracy by common man on the street. Yet to some clerical
staff, democracy has much to do with periodic elections, during which
they vote for candidates of their choice and may also give them the right
to protest especially over the increase in the pump price of patrols as it
has become a tradition in Nigeria. Thus the concept of Democracy gives
different meaning to different people based on the their level of
education, exposure as well as experience in the society, although such
understanding may not be all-embracing, but is comforting to note that
the concept is not strange” to Nigerians at all; and has given you an
entrance to greater understanding of the concept as a student of
development politics. But democratisation simply is the process of
building a culture (i.e. strong institutions/structures and attitudes) of
participatory democracy. Without going into the complexities of
definition of democracy, we can see democratisation as the deepening of
democracy.

The term “Democracy” is derived from the Greek world “demos”

meaning “the people” and “kratia” is translated as “rule” or
“government”. Studying the form of government, Plato and Aristotle
labeled the activities of the Greek city state of Athens as democratic,
since there was (a) equal participation of all freeborn in the political
activities of the city state called the polis’ (b) promotion of public debate
before decision making in a harmonious atmosphere; and the (c)
supremacy of law in the affairs of the state, which was respected by all
in the polis. This Athenian model is termed “Direct Democracy” which
is not suitable for large population as we have in the modern Nation
States; hence today, we have indirect or represent model. The concept of
Democracy has as many definitions as the scholars in the field, some
consider it as a form of government, while others are statist, yet some
others take a societal look at the concept especially as it is related with
liberal capitalism. Some have equated contemporary democracy with
liberal democracy.

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According to Abraham Lincoln

• Democracy is the government of the people, by the people and for

the people.
According to A. V. Dicey (1905)

• Democracy is a form of government in which the governing body

is a comparatively large fraction of the entire nation.

According to James Bryce (1921)

• Democracy is the rule of the people expressing their sovereign

will through the votes.

According to Larry Diamond (1988:4)

• Democracy is a meaningful and extensive competition among

individuals and organized groups (especially political parties),
for major positions of governmental power.

According to Burns (1934:26)

• Democracy is a system of government in which those who have

authority to make decision that have the force of law acquire and
retain this authority either directly or indirectly as a result of
winning a free election in which the bulk of adult citizens are
allowed to participate.

According to David Held (1993:16)

• Democracy is a cluster of rules and institutions permitting the

broader participation of the majority of citizens in the selection
of representatives who alone can make political decision.

According to Schmitter and Karl (1991)

• Democracy is a system of governance in which the rulers are

held accountable for their actions in the public realm by citizens
acting indirectly through competition and cooperation of their
elected representative.

According to Luckham and White (1996)

• Democracy is a procedural system involving opening political

competition with multiparty, civil and political rights guaranteed
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by law, and accountability operating through an electoral

relationship between citizens and their representatives.

According to Stuart Flexner (1987: 342)

• Democratisation is the processes of becoming democratic i.e. It

pertains to democracy.

Central to these definitions is the participation of citizens in decision

making through their elective representative. Hence, this implies the
popular sovereignty over the rulers and the perceived inherent
legitimacy of the government on the people. However, these definitions
dwell on political rights to the detriment of the economic man which is
essential in enjoying the socio-political rights exercised through voting
and other activities.

3.2 Features of Democracy

Robert Dahl (1995: 71 – 75) identifies seven institutions which he

termed “polyarchy” necessary in modern democracy which distinguish it
from any other forms both historical and theoretical. These institutions
are highlighted below:

1. Control over government decisions about policy is

constitutionally vested in elected officials.
2. Elected officials are chosen and peacefully removed in frequent,
fair, and free elections in which coercion is absent or quite
limited.
3. Virtually all adults have the right to vote.
4. Most adults also have the right to run for public offices in these
elections.
5. Citizens possess rights are effectively enforced by judicial and
administrative officials, to freedom of expression, including
criticism of and opposition to the leaders or party in office.
6. They have access, and an effectively enforced right to gain access
to sources of information that are not monopolised by the
government of the state, or by any other single group.
7. They possess an effectively enforced right to form and join
political organisations, including political parties and interest
groups.

According to him “when we speak today of “democracy” or a

“democratic country” we generally mean a country in which these seven
institutions exist.”

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Added to the checklist include:

a) Public accountability which demands that the government should

be answerable to the people the source of its legitimacy where the
real sovereignty lies.
b) Government by consent, requiring the consultation of the people
by government through mass media and consideration of public
opinion in decision making.
c) Equal weight of individual votes from the electorates to those
elected into the legislature. This eliminates any form of
discrimination against any person based on socio-economic
variables and ensures that majority, in terms of vote count is
central to decision making even in the committees of the National
Assembly.
d) Recognition of the Minority Right in terms socio-cultural factors,
such as race, gender, religion as well opposition parties. The
central notion here is the protection of the right of the minority to
have a say and maintain their status without harassment or
intimidation by the majority or dominant group in the society.
e) Constitutionalism which entails the supremacy of the constitution
over any person or group of persons in the state. Constitution
creates public institutions which are meant to safeguard the
general interest and checkmates the excesses of operators in the
political system. Once constitutionalism is rooted, primordial
policies are eliminated and the state is more autonomous as the
final arbiter between group and interest in the system.

3.3 Democracy/Democratisation in Nigeria

Democracy was introduced to Nigeria by the Hugh Clifford Constitution

of 1922, through the Elective Principle which authorizes the election of
four Nigerians – three from Lagos and one from Calabar into the
Legislative Council, under Limited Franchise. Nigerians of annual
income of £100 who might have resided in these cities for a minimum of
twelve months were eligible to vote for the elections in these cities. The
impact of this development was the upbeat of political activities with
formation of the first political party in the country – Nigerian National
Democracy Party in 1923, by Herbert McCarthy. This party won the
1923, 1928 and 1933 legislative council elections in these two cities and
facilitated the agitation for further democratisation process in the
council. This must be understood given the autocratic nature of colonial
Rule which did not give room for broad based indigenous participation
and representation in decision making in the country.

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The continuous demand of the educated elite for participation in

governance and indeed self-government generated the formation of
Nigerian Youth Movement in 1936 and the National Council for Nigeria
and Cameroun were also formed to put pressure on the British to further
democratise the existing system. Aided by the Atlantic Charter of
August 9, 1941 which supported the right for self-determination by
people all over the world as the new principle of Post World War II, the
demand for further opening resulted in the Richard’s Constitution of
1946 which increased Nigerian representatives in the legislative council
to twenty – eight. The constitution also provided Regional Assemblies
for the three regions, which served as the Electoral College for the
indirect election of twenty four indigenous members to the legislative
council out of the twenty-eight. The remaining four continued to be
elected directly as provided for in the Clifford Constitution. More so,
Nigerians outnumbered the Britons who have only sixteen officials in
the council, empowered to consent to legislation before it becomes a law
by the governor. Again, there was improvement on the limited
franchised as £50 was required as the annual income for voters as
against the £100 stipulated by the Clifford’s constitution. However, the
constitution was fabricated without consultation with Nigerians and the
executive arm continued to be highly personalised and appointed by the
Governor, so also was the restriction of Nigerians to discussion rather
than participation in the management of the country’s affairs.

The inadequacy of Richard’s democratic experiment and persistent

pressure from Nigerians for greater participation and democratisation
led to the replacement of Arthur Richards with John Macpherson, who
did not only acknowledge the weaknesses of Richards’ effort at
democratisation of the country, but took concrete steps to correct them.
Macpherson therefore embarked on nation-wide consultation with
Nigerians across board. This was followed by series of conferences from
the village, divisional, provincial and the regional levels. The
recommendations of the regional conferences were submitted to the
general conference of 1950 in Ibadan.

The resolutions and recommendations was submitted to the legislative

council for ratification before it was passed to the secretary of state for
the colonies for final approval. This constitution came into effect on
June 30, 1951, with a provision for the House of Representative whose
one hundred and Thirty (130) members were elected through Regional
Assemblies with full power to legislate for the whole country and
sometimes override the legislation of the Regional Assemblies. At
regional level, the legislatures were empowered by the constitution to
legislate on limited matters clearly specified on concurrent list such as
education, agriculture and local government. However, the executive
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arm of government was less democratized as the British continued to

denominate, even at regional levels, but twelve indigenous ministers
were appointed from members of the House of Representatives (four
from each region) to increase Nigerian Element at Council of Ministers,
under the Chairmanship of the Governor which was the chief policy
making body of the Central Government. This implies Nigerians
involvement in the management of the affairs of their country for the
first time at the highest level with such numerical strength. The
constitutions also enfranchised all tax-payers in the country.

The limitation of Macpherson’s constitution was corrected to some

extent by Littleton constitution of 1954 after the London conferences of
1953 and Lagos conference of January 1954. This constitution fashioned
out Federal Structure for the country, with unicameral legislature whose
members were elected directly by the electorates. The Regional
Assemblies were further strengthened make laws on the concurrent and
residual list. The electoral system gave way and ministers were still
appointed from the House of Representatives. It gave greater autonomy
to the Regions with the creation of the position of Regional Governors
who were given the power to levy taxes and developed their regions.
Thus, regional civil services were created as well as judiciary. However,
the status of the council of Ministers remained the same and the
Governor-General at the centre as well as the Regional Governors were
still powerful enough to negate legislation both at Central and Regional
levels. They were still British officials. Nevertheless, there was
improvement in Nigerian participation and management of their affairs.
The weaknesses of the Littleton constitution – absence of Prime
Minister, fear of minorities and probable date for national independence,
amongst others led to the London Conference of 1957, 1958 and 1960.
The outcome was the granting of self government to Western and
Eastern Regions on August 8, 1957, the creation of the post of Prime
Minister occupied by Tafawa Balewa in 1957, the creation of Senate as
the upper house – thus the introduction of Bi-cameralism at
independence. In deed these conferences led to the democratisation and
restructuring of the polity and establishment of institutions leading to the
attainment of independence on October 1, 1960 and the subsequent
Republicanism in 1963. Thus at independence, the British supervised
democratisation process ended in Nigeria and resumed during the
military regime of General Muritala Mohammed/Obasanjo in 1975.

Fortunately, this administration laid the foundation for Constitutional–

Evolutionary model of military disengagement from politics which
entails absolute withdrawal and neutrality of the Armed Forces in the
process which is distinguished from the Military – turned political
model witnessed in Africa as in Ghana during Jerry Rowling
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metamorphosis in 1992. Constitutional evolution lays emphasis on

methods and procedures such as writing of a new constitution,
convocation of Constituent Assembly empowered to debate and ratify
the draft constitution, lifting of ban on political parties activities political
restructuring and delimitation of constituencies and electoral processes
to determine the successors to the military and formation of the new
government. Consequently, despite the death General Muritala
Mohammed , Obasanjo implemented the democratisation of the regime
to the letter, starting with the creation of additional seven states and
constitution drafting in 1975 – 76, Local Government Re-organization,
Reforms and Elections as well as summoning of a Constituent Assembly
to deliberate on the Draft constitution (September 1976 – October
1978); Electoral Constituency delimitation and lifting of ban on political
party activities (October 1978), Elections into the state and Federal
executive and legislative arms in 1979. Thus the administration adopted
the American model of Presidential system of Government in 1979 in
the Federal structure with Executive President, Bi-cameral legislature
and multi-party system, with Shehu Shagari and his National Party of
Nigeria (NPN) emerging as the ruling party at Federal level. However,
this democratic experiment was suspended with the military intervention
of General Buhari on December 31, 1983.

Attempt at democratisation was made by General Babangida between

1985 – 1993. He created two government founded political parties. The
Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the National Republican Convention
(NRC). After series of manipulation in a convoluted transition
programme by General Babangida, the process came to a halt with the
annulment of the June 12, 1993 perceived to have been won by Chief –
Moshood Abiola of the Social Democratic Party (SDP). The stepping
aside of General Babangida and subsequent inauguration of Interim
National Government headed by Chief Ernest Shonekan Created a legal
pitfall which lead to its demise by General Abacha coup in November
18, 1993. However, Abacha’s attempt at democratisation was designed
for self-succession which ended with his sudden death on June 8, 1998
and the emergence of General Abdulsalam Abubakar as the Head of
State on June 9, 1998.

Abubakar had the shortest democratisation programmes which lasted for

about eleven (11) months within which he organized elections in various
tiers of government. He did not bother to create states and other time
wasting institutions but rather adopted the 1979 constitution with minor
modifications and renamed it as 1999 constitution. Three political
parties were registered for the elections and the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) was declared the winner and has indeed been the ruling

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party since the inauguration of the Fourth Republic which has lasted
well over a decade; the longest in Nigeria’s political history.

All said democratisation process in Nigeria can be divided into two

phases: democratisation into nationhood under the supervision of the
British colonialist and transition to democracy after interruption by
military rule.

3.4 Democratisation and Development in Nigeria

The correlation between democratisation and development in Nigeria

can be summarised as follows:

a) Democratisation leads to the evolution of governmental structures

and institutions which accelerates the march to nationhood.
b) Democratisation in the colonial era was synonymous with
political development during the colonial rule and remains an
index of societal development in modern era
c) The giant strides in the development of the infrastructural
facilities by the Regional Governments during the First Republic
was made possible by the democratisation of the political
process.
d) Democracy leads to openness, transparency and accountability
which account for the discovery and recovery in some cases
stolen money by corrupt officials. It was not common during the
colonial and military era.
e) Socio-political Rights of the citizenry are guaranteed and enjoyed
more during democracy than the authoritarian colonial and
military rules.
f) Democratisation leads to political stability which encourage
foreign direct investment as witnessed since its inception in May
1999. This is a far cry from the pariah state status accorded
Nigeria during the inglorious days of Abacha regime.
g) Democracy enhanced Nigeria’s image in the committee of
nations and contributed to debt relief package secured by
Obansanjo administration. Nigeria’s economic woes would have
compounded, if such debt burden was to be serviced during this
global economic meltdown. Though this is also arguable, because
some have contended that the transaction was like taking coal to
New Castle and that the money should have been used to develop
critical infrastructure.
h) Democracy has generated a healthy competition between the
component units in the Federation on developmental project,
which has forced some leaders to work harder than their military
administrators’ counterpart.
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The tenure certainty and duration has enhanced stability and

peaceful change of government which is central to the general
development of every society.

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

i. To what extent is democratisation desirable in the development

of Nigeria?
ii. Define democracy in your own words which summarise these
definitions.
iii. Highlight the three successful democratisation process in
Nigeria.
iv. Identify major development in your state since 1999 democratic
dispensation.

4.0 CONCLUSION

Democratisation led to accelerated political development in Nigeria in

the colonial era, especially after the Second World War. It played a
pivotal role in the development and adjustment of major structural and
normative institutions in the country, thereby leading to the general
development of the Nigeria state. Its suspension and abuse are always
signs of decay which should be checkmated by all.

5.0 SUMMARY

We defined Democracy as a system/form of government which reflects

the representation, participation and consent of the governed. Its major
feature is people oriented. It was introduced into Nigeria through
constitutional Development by the British and has been operational
despite occasional hitches by military interventions. It has positive
impact on the overall development of Nigeria.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

To what extent is democratisation desirable in the development of

Nigeria?

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING

Anifowose & Enemuo (1999). (Eds). Element of Politics. Lagos: Sam

Iroanusi Publication.

Dahl Robert (1995). Modern Political Analysis. New Delhi: Prentice

Hall of India.
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UNIT 4 CORRUPTION AS THE BANE OF THIRD

WORLD DEVELOPMENT

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 What is Corruption?
3.2 Causes of Corruption in the Third World
3.3 Dimensions of Corruption in Africa
3.4 Corruption and Africa’s Development
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Reading

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The concept of corruption needs no introduction to the students of the

Third World Social science; but the understanding of its embodiment as
well as impact in every facet of modern life may escape our mind from
time to time. This unit therefore raises the premises of understanding
corruption, not only as a social malfeasance but also the excruciating
effect on the development or underdevelopment of the Third World
Countries, purposely to reduce our tendency to blame outsiders for our
woes and look inward for panacea to the socio-economic and political
challenges facing us. After all, global capitalism came with some
benefits which other Third World countries in Asia and Latin American
succeeded in tapping into, why not Africa and Nigeria in particular?
This unit may as well produce the answers to this and other related
questions.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, you should be able to:

• identify some definitions of corruption

• identify causes of corruption
• highlight dimension of corruption in Africa
• discuss the effects of corruption on Africa development.

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3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 What is Corruption?

Going to the street to ask this question will generate divergent answers;
ranging from bribery, kickback, favouritism, extortion, fraud,
embezzlement and other vices. This means that acts of corruption
permeate our every day live and is not strange to the layman in our
society as some of them are involved at micro level through their
encounter with the police, tax collectors, judiciary officials as well as
with teachers who demand for money or any other victual in exchange
for one favour or any other victual in exchange for one favour or the
other. Howbeit, majority are quick at pointing the accusing finger on the
government and its officials as the embodiment of corruption, while
excusing themselves for the misdeed. The buck-passing may as well
make it difficult for single definition to capture corruption, as the acts
are better known and described than its definition; nevertheless, the
following attempts are worth mentioning:

According to Khan (1996)

Corruption is any act which deviates from the rules of conduct,

including normative values, governing the actions of individuals
in a position of authority or trust whether in the private or public
domain, because of private-regarding motives (that is non public
or general)such as wealth, power status, etc….

According to Ikoiwak (1986)

Corruption is the betrayal of public trust for individual or groups

gain

According to Lawal (2006:2)

Corruption is the violation of a public duty in exchange for (or in

anticipation of) personal pecuniary gain, power or prestige…
such a violation of the law includes such practices as bribery of
public officers, the falsification of public records, the
embezzlement of public funds and the fraudulent sale of public
lands and other natural resources.

According to Sen (1999:275)

Corruption is the violation of established rules for personal gains

and profit.
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According to Atlas (1968)

Corruption is a symptom of dysfunctionality of the relationship

between the state and the people characterized by bribery,
extortion and nepotism.

According to World Bank (1997:3)

Corruption is the misuse of public powers for private gains.

The foregoing definitions centre on the violation of the laid down rules
of state by agents or operators of the state for personal gains, hence
corruption is a deliberate act of any agent of the state in the utilization of
the commonwealth or resources within a given purview for self
aggrandizement or repatriomonialism. This typology is referred to as
political corruption which is different from petty or bureaucratic, as well
as the private citizen swindling of unsuspecting victims for perceived
advantage; is of common knowledge to all in the society. It could be
elitist, as Nnorom and Adisa (2008) succinctly put it:

Political corruption is … the abuse of

entrusted power or private illicit act
committed by the political leaders before,
during and after office… perpetrators are
political leaders or elected officials who are
vested with public authority and bear the
responsibility of representing public interest.

It is this abuse and betrayal of public trust, offices status at the highest
level in every given society, especially, the third world countries that
generate interest and call for discourse as we are doing

3.2 Causes of Corruption in the Third World

Almost everybody would identify the root cause of corruption to be the

government in a given society as it is the general belief of the populace
that the government has the magic wand for every societal problems, but
little do they know that the government is an extension of the society
which depends to a large extent on the prevailing culture as determined
by societal variables and dynamics.

However, corruption can be an offshoot of socio-cultural and ideological

imperatives as well as institutional structure as identified by Klitgaard
(1988).

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The recent history of the Third World Countries is marked by the

activities of European colonizers which transformed the socio-political
as well as the economic structures of these states. Colonialism by nature
did not encourage transparency and accountability to the indigenous
people and besides, the process of colony acquisition were characterizes
by fraud and intimidation, so also was the colonial role which
encouraged the whites to live in affluence and subjected the indigenes to
sub-human treatment. This culture of impunity and Kleptocracy as
exemplified by colonialism laid the foundation for corruption in the
Third World countries, as political leaders after independence step into
the shoes of the colonialist and imitate their ways of life in the
administration of the colonies as an instrument of accumulation of
resources for expropriation to the home country. This may as well
explain the obsession for offshore account by Third World leaders.

Onimode (2003) identifies greed, individualism and selfishness, the

building blocks of capitalism as part of the causal factors of corruption
in the Third World. Citing the survival of global capitalism’s on the
primitive accumulation in the peripheral economies as the major impetus
for corruption. This lends credence to Halliburton scam in Nigeria
involving Siemens as well as the involvement of international oil
companies in the corruption mire of the Nigerian state. Indeed all the
inflated contract and over invoicing are done in collaboration with
foreign clients, which always benefit from such dirty deals. It is also
global capitalism which provides for secret coded account by Swiss
Bank as observed by Levi(2003) which encourage the siphoning of
money from the Third World Countries abroad; without such facility for
easy movement of such resources and the security thereof, many Third
World leaders would find it difficult to rape the country for personal
interest. Thus global capitalism has provided encouraging mechanism
for corruption, as such stolen money tall in the economies of the major
western power which are handy for further expansion of capitalist
activities within the western countries and sometimes, re-channeled as
loans to Third World countries with stringent conditions and
stratospheric interest overtime. Added to this is the “Green Room”
meeting or negotiation with Third World leaders during trade and
investment meetings which indeed is an open secret for bribe giving and
taking which sums up in the lopsided trade and development agreements
detrimental to the third world development.

Poverty, a by-product of corruption also empowers corruption. This is

so; as the civil societies are too poor and sometimes are not conscious of
the need to demand explanation from their leaders. A civil society which
depends on the government for patronage finds it difficult to hold the
same government accountable for its actions. The argument that the
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Third World leaders find it more comfortable to impoverish their people

so that they may not be able to challenge their activities seems to gain
ground, as the greatest weapon for docility of a population is poverty
and ignorance; and this seems to work for them. After all it is when the
basic needs are meet that human beings will have the capacity to gather
and think of socio-political and economic rights. Therefore, without
vibrant civil society capable of holding the leaders accountable for their
actions, corruptions excels and flourishes as witnessed in the Third
World countries. The activities of the vibrant civil society in the West to
a large extent have checkmated corruption tendencies of their leaders.

Institutional structure identified by Klitgaard (1998) as instrumental to

corruption include: the monopoly of power by officials; the degree of
discretion that officials are permitted to exercise and the degree to which
there are systems of accountability and transparency in an institution.
The monopoly of power by officials in Third World Countries is
enormous, especially in the provision of infrastructural facilities and
descent to sensitive documents. The drama generated by the sudden
illness of late President Yar’Adua and the colossal fraud perpetrated by
his cronies would not have been possible; if the institution of the
presidency did not vest on him the ultimate power even in comatose to
the detriment of the entire country. The same can also be said of the
issuance of Certificate of Occupation (C of O) to land owners which
requires the assent of the Governor. Most of the time the processes
leading to Governor’s signature is burden- some, and officials extort
money from the public in the guise of moving the files from one place to
the other. The same also goes to those who oversee contracts
agreements, as bribe and kickbacks formed part of the negotiation since
such individuals are saddled with the sole responsibility of signing such
contract papers. In most cases due process as required by the law is not
followed and sometimes the laws are too weak to checkmate the
activities of the government officials. Over- centralisation of power in
the hand of few leads to corruption, after all power corrupts and absolute
power corrupts absolutely.

The degree of discretion that officials are permitted to exercise is

another factor encouraging corruption. Effective taxation has remained a
mirage in most Third World countries and indeed Nigeria, since the tax
officials responsible for assessing the companies and manufacturers at
their discretion abused it as avenue for making money for themselves,
thus the government is surcharged, as business concerns are under-taxed
while the officials smile back home with bribes collected in order to
reduce the taxes of the clients. The same is said of the custom officers
who are also responsible for collection of import and export duties.
Besides, some of the monies so collected are diverted into personal
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accounts thereby denying the state the much needed fund for
development. The “Immunity Clause” is also part of the large discretion
given to the Governors and their Deputies in the 1999 constitution (as
amended) which has become cover for corruption in the country, since
they cannot be prosecuted while in office; the tendency to temper with
evidence while in office and the capacity to utilize the loot in defence of
action after leaving office becomes the rule of the game as witnessed in
the case of James Ibori of Delta state and other ex-Governors whose
cases are still pending in the law courts. More disturbing is the
involvement of institutions, responsible for oversight functions; the
Faruk Lawan and Femi Otedola Saga in the fuel subsidy probe laid bare
the danger of granting enormous discretion to officials when it comes to
indictment of corporate with enormous resources; as it has served as a
quick avenue for blackmail and money making by the state officials.

Governmental institutions in the Third World Countries are not

transparent and accountable to the people emerging from prolonged
period of authoritarianism, the civil society is at nascent stage as
discussed earlier on, but the officials themselves also erect barriers such
as “official secret acts” which restricts information on government
activities. Even the Freedom of Information law passed recently in
Nigeria contains certain clauses which could hinder the openness of
information to the masses. Also as mentioned, the indictment of
National Assembly in Executive corruption makes it more worrisome,
because if the National Assembly cannot effectively hold the Executive
accountable for its actions then transparency in government business
cannot be guaranteed. More so, the so called due process are but on a
paper. All said, the weak civil society and the collaboration of the
legislative arm with the executive has made accountability and
transparency a luxury, which Third World countries could not afford as
it is in Nigeria.

3.3 Dimensions of Corruption in Africa

Transparency International 2008 Corruption Perceptions Index shows

that eight countries in West Africa were among the 20 bottom rank and
Somalia, the most corrupt. The indictment of the report was no doubt a
true reflection of the situation in Africa where systemic corruption as
defined by Igwe (2010:90) as a “situation in which the major institutions
and processes of the state are routinely dominated and usurped by
corrupt individuals and groups”, is the order of public life. Celarier
(1996) avers that about $30 billion Dollars estimated aid sent to African
found their ways into foreign accounted in the same way about 500
billion Dollars of Nigerian commonwealth may have been stolen from
the treasury by successive military regimes (The Guardian, August 29,
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1999). The late strongman of former Zaire (new Congo DRC) Mobutu
was said to be 8 billion USD worth at the time, he was forced out of
power by the ravaging rebel led by Laurent Kabila (Hope 2000). A
sitting minister of transport was reportedly forced to resign for giving an
American girl friend 100,000, US Dollars. This implication (The
Ghanaians News, September/October, 2006) of this capital flight was
captured by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
(UNCTAD Report of 1999:102).

It has been estimated that 70 per cent of privately -owned wealth

(excluding land) was held abroad in 1992, and that Africa’s private
capital stock would be three times higher than it currently is, if that
wealth had simply been retained at home. Assets of such magnitude
could make a crucial contribution to Africa’s economic take-off if they
could be mobilised for productive investment.

On the other hand is the prevalence of electoral fraud across the

continent. This will be discussed in details in the next unit. However, it
forms part of political and systemic corruption and is termed “primitive
accumulation of votes” by Ibeanu (2007:6) who defines it as winning of
votes by the use of both objective and structural violence and disregard
of the rule of law, due to the character of the state in Africa which rules
out a politics of moderation and mandates a politics of lawlessness and
extremism (Okolie, 2010). Thus gerrymandering, electoral
manipulation, disenfranchisement, vote buying, ballot stuffing, box
switching and inflation of figures, under-aged voting, misreporting of
votes, doctoring of results as well as intimidation which manifests in
attack on polling stations and voters, economic and legal threat and
widespread violence are part of electioneering processes in the
continent. With these, elections are merely used to rationalise existing
disempowerment and ballot box now becomes a symbolic means of
legalising illegality and renders participatory democracy ineffectual. The
implication is sit-tight syndrome, a symptom of neo-patrimonial and
distributive state specialising in clienteles and economic and financial
crime. This is the root of political instability as witnessed in Cote
d’Ivoire, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Guinea Bissau, Egypt and Tunisia before
the uprising and Cameroun as in Uganda. It is this Kleptocratic
governments formed after fraudulent elections which are not
accountable to the people but themselves which fan the embers of
systemic corruption that has permeated every facet of the society.

Accordingly millions of dollars are diverted by these governments

through frivolous expenses such as “security votes” which estimate is
not specific and expenditure not accounted for by the central and state
governments in Nigeria. Sharing of such illicit money always generate
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conflict between political entrepreneur and the sponsored, as was

between Late Alhaji Adedibu and Governor Rasheed Ladoja, in Oyo
state and crippled governmental activities as was in Anambra during
Governor Mbadinuju and his sponsors and the much celebrated
Governor Ngige and Chris Uba saga. Added to these is the religiosity of
the corrupt as millions of Dollars are channeled into pilgrimage to the
Holy land of Mecca and Jerusalem by the three tiers of government.
This is another means of setting political cronies and siphoning off the
commonwealth in the underdeveloped economies of Africa (ibid).

The World Bank’s Stolen Asset Recovery initiative estimates that cross
border flow of proceeds from criminal activities, corruption and tax
evasion stand at USD 1 trillion and USD 1.6 trillion per year half of
which comes from developing and transitional economies of Africa.
Thus, it may be said that, the continent is experiencing vicious circle of
corruption which ends with capital flights to the developed economies.

3.4 Corruption and Africa’s Development

Nigeria’s former President Olusegun Obasanjo was quoted by Akanbi

(2003:123), as having said:

We have for many years held the view that

corruption, in all its ramifications, is the
greatest single impediment to our national
aspiration….Corruption checkmates all
vision for a morally strong and economically
prosperous society. Indeed, corruption is an
antithesis of development and progress.

Also,

Democracy and good governance have

remained elusive as the ballot box has
become a metaphor for disempowerment.
Popular participation in governance has
waned to new irretrievability; and the
increasing frustration and anguish have
combined to kill the spirit of voting and
political participation (Okolie, 2010).

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Again,

Corruption is not just one of the causes of

intractable poverty in Africa. It is the root
cause (Herrick, 2005:12).

There is no gainsaying that corruption has remained the greatest singular

factor retarding the growth and development of the African continent
despite the enormous natural and human resources. Its negative impact
is felt in the administrative, economic and socio-political sectors as
highlighted in the citations quoted above and briefly discussed below.
Administrative capacity of Nigeria and indeed Africa has not developed
due to the recruitment of political cronies into the civil and public
services who are not qualified. This affects their training, development
and capacity to man their respective offices, hence mediocrity becomes
the norm in the system and corrupt practices and loyalty to personalities
becomes the yardstick for promotion against meritocracy. The sum total
is the consistent weak administrative structure and culture difficult to
anchor any complex envelopment model as expected of modern
bureaucrats. Hence, the inefficient public service which has become the
hallmark across board in the continent and Nigeria in particular.

The economic impact of corruption can be simplified by observing the

enormous unemployment due to long term economic decay and its
multiplier effects snowballing into monumental poverty problems such
as homelessness, urban vagrancy and the disturbing emigration of
skilled workers, academicians, exacerbated by ever increasing capital
flight and infrastructural deficiency and decay, which further increase
the demise of many manufacturing outfits, thus compounding the
situation of the saturated labour market. The net effect is unending
austerity measures and increasing national debt whose impact is felt by
the poorest of the poor – living below one US Dollar a day. Thus a
summary of economic impact of corruption is poverty and
underdevelopment in Africa and Nigeria in particular.

Socio-politically, electoral fraud leads to obstructionism and erosion of

interest of the citizenry as well as the legitimacy of government. Thus
weakening democratic principles and practice and engender clientelism
and repatriomonialism which re-enforce corruption in other sectors of
the society. Lack of accountability and transparency as are common in
such government as in Nigeria generates institutional decay and
glorification of personalized rules, hence, the rule of law is trampled
upon and constitutionalism becomes a mirage. This clearly explains the
level of political decay as experienced across Africa and Nigeria in
particular. With the accompanying instability and violence highlighted
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through insecurity of lives and properties; a hallmark of our daily

experience among others in this part of the world.

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

i. Corruption is the bane of Africa Development. With concrete

examples discuss the impact of corruption on the development of
the Nigerian state.
ii. What is your understanding of corruption? Explain with domestic
examples.
iii. Identify the benefits of corruption in Africa. Illustrate with clear
and specific examples.
iv. Outline and discuss briefly four causes of corruption in the Third
Countries.

4.0 CONCLUSION

Corruption has remained the central factor of the world

underdevelopment and indeed Africa. It leads to capital flight, brain
drain, political instability and clienteles and distributive politics as well
as economic decay and poverty which generate numerous negative
indexes of underdevelopment as witnessed in these states across the
world.

5.0 SUMMARY

We have discussed the centrality of corruption to the underdevelopment

of the Third World countries and indeed Africa in this unit. Corruption
is generally regarded as any act leading to the abuse of trust and
personal advantage of an agent of the state or its associate. We identify
structural and normative factors facilitating corruption and its
manifestation in the socio-political and economic sphere of the Third
World and indeed Africa. We undertook a discourse to correlate the
relationships between corruption and development in the African
continent and concluded that they are not compatible as empirical
evidence overwhelmingly suggests that corruption is antithetical to
Third World development.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

“Corruption is the bane of Africa’s development.” With concrete

examples discuss the impact of corruption on the development of the
Nigerian state.

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7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING

Franz Fanon. The Wretched of the Earth.

Igwe, Stanley (2010). How Africa Underdeveloped Africa. Port

Harcourt: Professional Printers and publishers.

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UNIT 5 SOLUTIONS TO THIRD WORLD

UNDERDEVELOPMENT

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 Cultural Re-Orientation
3.2 Good Governance
3.3 Diversification of the Economy
3.4 Zero Tolerance for Corruption
3.5 South – South Cooperation
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Reading

1.0 INTRODUCTION

This is the last unit of this module and indeed, the course itself. We
believe that the course has helped you to understand the problems of the
underdevelopment of the Third World Countries and Nigeria in
particular. The relevant question is obvious: is there no way out for the
Third World to develop? Or put differently: is there no hope for the
Third World Countries? Of course, there is, which is the basis for this
course and in essence this unit. The focus here is to x-ray possible policy
strategies and measures capable of providing the much needed panacea
for the syndrome of underdevelopment.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, you should be able to:

• discuss the role of culture in resolving underdevelopment

• highlight the essence of good governance in development
• identify the importance of diversified economy in development
• discuss the power of zero tolerance for corruption in the
development of Third World countries
• highlight the need for south-south co-operation.

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3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 Cultural Re-Orientation

Culture is conventionally seen as the total way of life of a people. Tylor

(1871) in his classic: “Primitive Culture” defines culture as that complex
whole which include knowledge, belief, art, morals, laws, customs and
any other capabilities acquired by a man as a member of society. It is
generally transferred from generation to generation through symbolic
representation and communication and which involves the fabrication
and interpretation of symbols in most cases through audio-visual media
like words, pictures, discussion and writings. Culture can be said to have
three levels; tangible, values and assumptions – tangible – aspect that
can be seen, touched and felt; values – the beliefs, taboos, ethics and
rules; assumptions – perception of reality which may true or false.

The global capitalism works on cultural imperialism overtime. This is a

system of making the culture and taste of the indigenous people to look
inferior to the imperialist. In the Third World, colonial administrators,
Christian Missionaries as well as anthropologists were the main
instruments of changing the ways of the indigenous people and
enthronement of the Western culture which in essence was to create the
desire for food, clothing, education, religion and other aspect of western
culture. The creation of this desire transformed into the demand for
western products which empirically is the backbone for the expansion of
markets for the finished products of these countries; and indeed the basis
for the lopsided trade relationship between the North and the South; and
the fabrication of Dependency syndrome.

The fallout of this is the internationalisation of Western Culture, as

Africans and other indigenous values were trampled upon as irrelevant,
unprogressive, backward primitive, conservation, traditional and
unscientific; compared to the assumed modern, civilised dynamic and
scientific values of the Europeans and her allies. This was concretised
by the western education which further indoctrinates Africans and other
Third World Nations to the point of unquestionable preference for the
Western culture as evidence in the adoption of Jewish/European names,
religions, languages and the craze for western music, dances, dresses,
housing, household appliances as well as diet. The sum total of these is
that the Third World countries consume much of what they do not
produce and produce much of what they do not consume leading to
perpetual unfavourable balance of Trade and Payment; an essential
index of underdevelopment. The situation is more pathetic in this era of
globalisation when Information and Communication Technology has
eliminated the national boundaries which would have reduced the
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domination of the local values by the predatory western values through

internet, satellite television and radio.

Given the negative tendency of this historical reality, there is therefore

urgent need for cultural reorientation of the Third World countries.
Indigenous religious crafts, art industries, cloths, music, dances and diets
are not inferiors as they are made to be seen. This can be done by
evolving a national ideology which generates national consciousness
and enhances national cohesion and integration. In this course, the
Iranian revolution revealed the efficacy of this strategy, as it was a
reaction of the dominant Shia Muslims against the encroachment of
global capitalism and its paraphernalia. The Islamic code was uplifted to
national ideology which acted as the cohesive force for national
integration and collective action. Although, Iran may not be among the
elite countries of the world; her economy is not excessively open to the
overwhelming exploitation and manipulation of capitalism. Again, the
much celebrated Chinese success based on the adoption of communist
ideology which was more appealing to the peasant, galvanising the
citizenry into the collective action against the pro-liberal nationalist and
the eventual establishment of a communist state obsessed by autarky and
opened to gradual reforms and adaptation to the dynamics of
international system. The outcome is the amazing transformation of her
economy. One must also note that, at a critical point of these countries
history, cultural revolution was instituted which remains ongoing, thus
checking the influx of foreign ideas and culture which might
contaminate the fabric of the societies and open them to capitalist
exploitation and antics.

3.2 Good Governance

The ideas of good governance exist in the ethical concept of

utilitarianism, promotion of general good above personal and primordial
interest. As a concept, it gains currency of recent majority to
differentiate existence of governance for its sake and people oriented
governance. It is defined as “predictable, open and enlightened public
policy, a bureaucracy imbued with professional ethos, rule of law,
transparent processes and a strong civil society” (World Bank Report,
2007). Eneanya (2009) succinctly refers to it as “the ability of those in
leadership positions to manage a nation’s affairs in a popularly
acceptable manner by shaping its political, economic and social
environment to meet the standards set by the society”. This readily turns
the light on the leadership and in our study, Third World leadership.
Most of the policies and programmes of Third World leaders are
directed by forces from without due to neo-colonial structures of their
political economy. The product is the inability of these polices to benefit
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the citizenry which necessitates for change to people-oriented and

directed policy devoid of personal gains of the leaders. It is the
elimination of primordial interest in policy formulation as
implementation, as well as the ceasation of Clientelism, Personalism and
patrimonialism in Third World governance, a veritable factor in
efficiency, wastage and mediocrity in state management of resources
and affairs.

Good governance makes a state an autonomous body capable of

mediating in group interest impartially, upholding public good and
interest. Thus when instituted and practised, enormous resources would
be saved from corruption and mediocrity; can be channel into
infrastructure renewal and other public goods. This will also ensure that
the processes of obtaining loans from the development partners are
transparent enough for the citizenry to understand and monitor the
implementation of project for which such loans were meant for, so also
would government budgeting, income and expenditure. When these are
achieved it would attract investors who are sure of the investment
climate and rules governing such investment.

Eneanya (Ibid) identifies the following elements of good governance:

• Imposition of order in a situation of chaos and pervasive

orderliness
• Constitutional legitimating of rulership in contradiction to extra-
constitutional legitimating
• Internalisation of democratic values and inclusiveness in all
spheres of political interaction
• Improvement commitment to the common good through the
adherence of political authority to the democratic principles of
responsiveness, responsibility, transparency and accountability
• Giving of primacy to the rule of law and constitutionalism
• Political empowerment of the masses, by giving them a voice and
making them stakeholders in governmental affairs
• Vertical and horizontal communication and flow of information
between the government and the citizens
• Bottom-up developmental agenda
• Zero tolerance for corruption through demonstration of political
will and genuine commitment by government to detection and
punishment of offenders
• Systematised, functioning and responsive bureaucracy. The
public servant must not assume the toga of mastership over the
public
• Genuine, co-operative and collaborative state – civil society
interactions and
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• The institutionalisation of a democratic order.

Despite the highlighted elements above; it must be noted that good

governance is based on environmental factors and are varied. For
instance, Iranians as well as Americans and Chinese can claim to have
achieved it irrespective of the variation in the political system and
structure, but the most important element is the promotion of public
interest above that of individuals and groups.

3.3 Diversification of the Economy

It is a common knowledge as highlighted in the course that one of the

major causes of third world underdevelopment is their position in the
world economic structure as states in the periphery, which specialise in
the production of primary and extractive products without value added
capacity. This mono-culture explained in terms of comparative
advantage and general poor price of these products means that lesser
revenue accrue to these states; compounded by the gang–up of the major
buyers from the west; legitimised dependency and its contradictions.
The net effect is obvious and glaring as discussed in Module 1.

The solution lies in the diversification of the economy from mono-to

multiproduct. This is quite different from the import substitution
industries (ISI) strategies championed by most of the Third World in the
Post-independence era, such as Nigeria where UAC, Levant’s and others
established soap and confectionary outfits. Following the Indian
example, which started up with highly controlled but diversified
economy into chemicals, pharmaceutical, steel and metal which
culminated into the production of Indian cars as early as in 1960s. the
gradual liberalisation of the economy provided the much needed
window for technology transfer into these sector which eventually
transformed the economy to the second fastest growing in the world
(behind China); assisted by springing up of IT specialists and
entrepreneurs from the established institutions of Technology. The same
can be said of the Chinese Economy which is highly diversified due to
the autarky policy of Mao’s era. The much talked about powerhouse of
Latin America, Brazil also reflects this. It is only a diversified economy
that can attract diverse investors and transfer of technology which
gradually filters through employment of indigenous engineers and
technicians, thus adding values to the primary products and enhance
foreign exchange earning of the economy. The era of rhetorical
commitment to the policy should be done without an actual
implementation of commerce with vigour.

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Besides the restructuring of the economies to export-oriented strategy is

desirable. Brazilian economy has improved through the export of
automobiles assembled at different destinations of the country, so also is
the export of Tata vehicles, pharmaceutical, chemicals and other
products from India. China from inception of the communist
government acknowledged state capitalism in export of grains which
was a paradox to her ideology as practised by the then Soviet Union.
Thus, her emergence as export machine is a product of a long term
vision of export oriented economy which has made her what she is
today. Therefore trade, especially export is a better strategy than aid and
grant as currently practiced by many Third World countries as there is
no free lunch anywhere in the world.

3.4 Zero Tolerance for Corruption

In the course of this study, we have identified corruption as the major

cankerworm in the Third World Countries. This has resulted in the
enormous wastage of resources, capital flight and brain drain which
further impoverished these economies. Much have been discussed about
the negative impact of corruption in Module 3.

Given the overbearing impact of this cancerous practice, a holistic and

drastic measure has to be taken in order to stop the menace. The
establishment of Economic and Financial Commission (EFCC) and the
Independence Corrupt Practice Commission (ICPC) in Nigeria was
expected to achieve this feat but has failed woefully due to the non-
autonomous nature of the Nigerian state. For such measure to be
effective, the state must be autonomous and empower institutions set-up
to fight corruption with all necessary backing. Hong Kong and
Singapore undertook such measures and the system were cleansed. The
prescribed sentence for corruption should be capital punishment which
would serve as deterrence, compared to the present plea bargaining and
prison terms which give the looters the opportunity to enjoy their loots.
Indonesia Malaysia and other countries took similar measures against
drug offences which have curtailed the menace in these countries; the
same token therefore should be applied to corruption. Besides, more
effective would be mechanism for early signal detection to nip its
occurrence in the bud. The timing of investigation and adjudication
should be short and effective so as to reduce loss of evidence as
experienced in Nigeria. The judicial system should also be strengthened
and relieved of corrupt elements that undermine justice for personal
gains. Chinese anti-corruption regime may be a model for other Third
World Countries.

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3.5 South – South Co-operation

The countries of the south in the global economy have numerical

strength which can be effectively harnessed to their advantage but are
weakened by socio-political and historical challenges. The G7 and
Brettonwoods institutions serve the interest of the industrialised nations
but there is no such arrangement in the south. The Non-Aligned
Movement is almost irrelevant in the post-cold war era; the D77 is just a
talk shop, without a binding resolution. Amazingly too, trade between
the developing countries are too low, even between neighbouring
African countries are almost non-existent which reduces solidarity in
adopting common position on Trade and investment issues at global
arena.

The success of Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)

in reducing the exploitation of Third World Oil Wealth should serve as
impetus for such cooperation. Besides, technologies are filtering into
different countries in the south which can be shared or transferred.
Relating to this is the collaboration in Research and Development (R
and D) which would generate innovation and sharpen the technical skills
of Third World personnel. These would stimulate further learning. If
need be, technology can be bought or stolen depending on the level of
cooperation between the countries of the south. The net effect of these
would be improved capacity and innovation in the production of goods
and services capable of meeting global standard; and the domestic
utilization of the available resources in production processes, thereby
adding values, leading high earning from these products.

4.0 CONCLUSION

There is hope for Third World Development if the leadership in these

countries put their acts together. Globalization comes with it
opportunities which are enormous as illustrated by sudden surge in the
economic development of India, China, Brazil and the rejuvenating of
the ailing economy of Russia. The task therefore lies on the shoulders of
Third World leaders in adopting the right policies and checking of
corruption. For it is time to rise up to individual responsibility and stop
blaming outsiders, for some self-inflicted wounds.

5.0 SUMMARY

The solutions to Third World underdevelopment include cultural re-

orientation, good governance, economic diversification and
restructuring, zero tolerance for corruption as well as inter-regional co-
operation in the economic sphere. These and other measures when
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implemented can generate positive indices of economic growth and

development.

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

i. Identify and discuss solutions to Third World Underdevelopment.

ii. How can the Third World countries overcome the challenges of
corruption in their economies.
iii. Identify the potentials of Third World cooperation on the
development of their economy.
iv. Identify the relationship between good governance and
development in the Third World countries.

With concrete examples, identify the relevance of diversification of

economy to Third World development.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

Identify and discuss solutions to the Third World underdevelopment.

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING

Eneanya, A. (2009). Public Administration in Nigeria: Principles,

Techniques and Applications. Lagos: Concept Publications.

Igwe, S. (2010). How Africa Underdeveloped Africa. Port Harcourt:

Professional Printers.

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