Politics in the Developing World provides an introduction to politics in the developing world. This fifth edition has been updated to address topical issues and themes, including refugee movements; the rise of the so-called Islamic State; organized crime; gender; the role of new forms of communication in political mobilization; and the replacement of Millennium Development Goals by Sustainable Development Goals. The first four sections of the volume explore the theoretical approaches, the changing nature and role of the state, and the major policy issues that confront all developing countries. The final sections set out a diverse range of country case studies, representing all the main geographical regions.
Book
Edited by Peter Burnell, Vicky Randall, and Lise Rakner
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11. Social Movements and Alternative Politics
Siri Gloppen
This chapter examines how social movements in the developing world and ‘bottom-up’ alternative politics, supported by new technology and globalized networks, can strengthen democracy. It first traces the origins of social movements, showing how different forms of social movements have emerged and been influential during different periods, before discussing the main theoretical perspectives about why this is so and how we should understand this phenomenon. It then considers past and present social movements and alternative politics in the developing world, focusing on three categories: movements concerned with democracy and governance, movements concerned with identity politics, and movements concerned with social justice. It also describes the increasing globalization of social movements and explains what makes such movements successful.
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12. The Modern State
Characteristics, Capabilities, and Consequences
Anna Persson
This chapter examines the concept of the modern state in a developing world context. More specifically, it considers the characteristics and capabilities that define the modern state and the extent to which the state can be regarded as an autonomous actor with the potential to influence development outcomes. After providing an overview of the role of the state as a potential driver of development, the chapter discusses statehood in the contemporary world and how the evolution of the modern state can be understood. It then asks how different patterns of state formation affect the ways that states further consolidate and develop. It also explains the distinction between the ‘weak’ state found in the majority of developing countries and the ‘strong’ state typically found in the industrialized parts of the world. Finally, it tackles the question of institutional reform from ‘the outside’ and its implications for development.
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18. Human Rights
Michael Freeman
This chapter examines the concept of human rights, which derives primarily from the Charter of the United Nations adopted in 1945 immediately after World War II. It first provides a brief account of the history of the concept of human rights before describing the international human rights regime. It then considers two persistent problems that arise in applying the concept of human rights to the developing world: the relations between the claim that the concept is universally valid and the realities of cultural diversity around the world; and the relations between human rights and development. In particular, it explores cultural imperialism and cultural relativism, the human rights implications of the rise of political Islam and the so-called war on terror(ism), and globalization. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the new political economy of human rights.
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1. Changing Analytical Approaches to the Study of Politics in the Developing World
Vicky Randall
This chapter discusses the main broad analytical approaches or frameworks of interpretation that have been used in studying politics in the developing world. It first considers two contrasting broad approaches that long dominated political analysis of developing countries. The first was a politics of modernization that gave rise to political development theory, then to revised versions of that approach. The second was a Marxist-inspired approach that gave rise to dependency theory and, subsequently, to neo-Marxist analysis. The chapter also examines globalization theory and critical responses to globalization as neoliberal ideology, which have been associated with the ‘anti-globalization movement’ and have included arguments about orientalism and ‘post-development’ theory. Finally, it explores the strategies, categories, and more specific methods of analysis that have been typically deployed to assess the politics of developing countries.
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10. Civil Society
Marina Ottaway
This chapter examines the concept of civil society. During the 1990s, civil society was a relatively obscure concept familiar mostly to scholars of Marxism. It then evolved into a mainstream term freely used by social science analysts in general, and by practitioners in the international assistance field in particular. Several factors contributed to these developments, including the growing interest in the United States and many European countries in promoting democracy abroad at that time. The chapter first defines civil society before discussing traditional vs modern civil society. It then considers the rise of civil society as an entity separate from the broader society and from the state, along with the state-civil society relations in the developing world. Finally, it explores how the concept of civil society became an important part of discussions of democratization.
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14. Democratization and Regime Change
Lise Rakner
This chapter explores the link between democratization and regime change in the developing world. It begins with a discussion of theories of democratization, along with recent trends and understandings of democratic consolidation. It then considers variations within democratic and autocratic regimes and the different ways of measuring democracy. It also examines how domestic and international factors interact to affect politics in developing countries in general and processes of democratization in particular. Finally, it evaluates international dimensions of democratization, focusing on the significance of democratization for international development. It reflects on how the global good governance regime is adopting to a world that is no longer bipolar and in which U.S. (Western) hegemonic power is reduced.
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15. Governance
Lise Rakner
This chapter examines the concepts of governance and, specifically, good governance. The good governance agenda and the indices developed to assess governance have been criticized for being too encompassing and for not adequately distinguishing between how power is obtained (the input side of politics) and how power is exercised once in office (the output side of politics). Increasingly, scholars are calling for a separation between governance and democracy. The chapter first considers various conceptualizations of governance and good governance before discussing the link between governance and development, taking into account taxation in the developing world as well as the difference between earned and unearned revenue. It then explores corruption as a key governance challenge and concludes by assessing the relationship between democracy and governance.
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6. Inequality
Jenny Pearce
This chapter examines the key conceptual debates on inequality that were common until the end of World War II and the birth of the field of ‘development’. Two inequality-related questions have dominated development debates for decades. Firstly, does growth inevitably lead to inequality? And if so, does it matter, as long as poverty declines? The debates around these questions began in the 1950s with Simon Kuznets’ introduction of the ‘inverted-U hypothesis’, which posited that relative inequality increases, but only temporarily, in the early stages of economic growth, improving once countries reach middle-income levels. The chapter considers the politics and economics of inequality in the developing world as well as inequalities in the age of globalization. It concludes with an assessment of the World Bank’s incorporation of the goal of ‘shared prosperity’ in its discourse alongside its ongoing concern to reduce poverty.
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7. Ethnopolitics and Nationalism
James R. Scarritt and Jóhanna K Birnir
This chapter explores the relationship between ethnopolitics and nationalism, and more specifically how ethnic identity contributes to war and the amelioration of ethnic conflicts. It first considers the construction and politicization of ethnic identities — in other words, the construction of ethnic and ethnopolitical identities — before discussing the construction of a variety of nationalist identities in the developing world. It then examines the conflictual, competitive, and cooperative interactions of groups based on nationalist identities with one another and with states, along with states’ efforts to mould these interactions in ways that enhance the legitimacy of state-based nations and their support from various groups. The chapter shows that cooperative interactions tend to promote nation-building through multi-ethnic/multicultural nationalism.
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5. The Developing World in International Politics
Stephen Hobden
This chapter examines the role of developing countries in international politics. International relations, as a discipline, has traditionally overlooked the significance of the developing world in global politics. The chapter begins by discussing the reasons for this and why such an oversight is lamentable. It then considers the position of the developing world throughout the large structural changes that have occurred in the international system since 1945: North–South relations during and after the Cold War and the emerging multipolar world, in which China is anticipated to return to the centre of international politics. The chapter also explores topics such as the United Nations’s involvement in development issues and its role in decolonization, U.S. foreign policy under the two Obama administrations, and nuclear proliferation.
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29. China and the Developing World
Deborah Bräutigam and Yunnan Chen
This chapter examines China’s South–South relations and how it has been shaped by the nature of the Chinese state: a highly capable, developmental state that uses an array of instruments to promote its interests. In particular, it considers how, by means of foreign aid, economic cooperation, soft power, and trade, China aspires to be seen as a responsible global power. The chapter first looks at the history behind China’s engagement with countries of the Global South and the instruments that it has employed in this regard such as foreign investment, commercial loans, and soft power tools. It shows that Chinese ties with the developing world are shaped by long-standing foreign policy principles, including non-interference in the internal affairs of others, equality, and mutual benefit, along with its embrace of globalization and the growth of its multinational corporations. The chapter concludes with an assessment of concerns regarding China’s international engagement.
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3. Institutional Perspectives
Lise Rakner and Vicky Randall
This chapter examines the role of institutions and how institutionalism is applied in the analysis of politics in the developing world. It begins with a discussion of three main strands of institutionalism: sociological institutionalism, rational choice institutionalism, and historical institutionalism. It then considers political institutions in developing countries as well as the interrelationship between formal and informal institutions. Three cases are presented: the case from sub-Saharan Africa illustrates the salience of neo-patrimonial politics and competing informal and formal institutions, the second case relates to campaign clientelism in Peru and the third is concerned with electoral quotas in India. The chapter concludes by addressing the question of the extent to which the new institutionalism is an appropriate tool of analysis for developing countries.
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Introduction
Lise Rakner and Vicky Randall
This edition examines the changing nature of politics in the developing world in the twenty-first century, with emphasis on the complex and changing nexus between state and society. It analyses key developments and debates, and this is illustrated by current examples drawn from the global South, tackling a range of issues such as institutions and governance, the growing importance of alternative politics and social movements, security, and post-conflict state-crafting. The text also discusses the Arab Spring and South–South relations and offers new case studies of Syria and the Sudan as well as China, India, and Brazil. This introduction considers the question of the meaningfulness of the Third World as an organizing concept, whether politics is an independent or a dependent variable, and a number of major interconnected global trends that have resulted in a growing convergence in the developing world. It also provides an overview of the organization of this edition.
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13. Violent Conflict and Intervention
Astri Suhrke, Torunn Wimpelmann, and Ingrid Samset
This chapter analyses patterns of violent conflict in the developing world since the onset of decolonization. It examines shifts in how scholars and policymakers have understood such conflicts, and how these understandings have informed dynamics of foreign interventions and the international peace-building regime that developed in the 1990s. After providing an overview of decolonization and its aftermath, the chapter considers conflicts over social order during the Cold War as well as the nature of conflicts in the post-Cold-War period. It also discusses new forces that shaped conflict during the first decades of the twenty-first century, focusing on militant Islam and the ‘war on terror’, ‘people power’ and its aftermath, and the link between peace-building and military intervention in a multipolar world.
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4. The Developing World in the Global Economy
Robert Ahearne
This chapter examines the role of developing countries in the contemporary global economy. It first provides an overview of trends in the global economy, taking into account the implications of globalization for the developing world and the question of free trade vs protectionism. It then considers three key features of an increasingly globalized economy and their significance for the developing world: trade, foreign direct investment (FDI), and financial flows. It also discusses the role(s) of developing countries in global trade, the advantages and disadvantages of FDI, and two major components of the global economy that can cause serious economic disruptions: the buying and selling of currencies and stocks and shares in local economies, and the rapid movement of capital across borders. The chapter concludes with an assessment of factors that can reduce the economic well-being of countries in the developing world.
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8. Religion
Jeff Haynes
This chapter explores the relationship between religion and politics. It first defines the concept of religion before discussing its contemporary political and social salience in many developing countries. It then considers how religion interacts with politics and with the state in the developing world, as well as how religion is involved in democratization in the developing world by focusing on the Arab Spring and its aftermath. It also examines the differing impacts of the so-called Islamic State and Pope Francis on the relationship between religion and politics in the developing world. The chapter concludes with an analysis of the role of religion in international politics after 9/11.
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9. Women and Gender
Vicky Randall
This chapter explores the relationship between women/gender and political processes in the developing world. It begins with a discussion of the social context and ‘construction’ of gender, as well as the ways in which the state and politics have shaped women’s experience. It then considers the women’s movement, with case studies based in Brazil, Pakistan, and South Korea, along with women’s political representation and participation. It also examines the development and impact of feminism and women’s movements before concluding with an analysis of factors affecting policy related to women, focusing on issues such as abortion and girls’ access to education.
