Since the initiation of the Millennium Development Goals in 2000, securing democratic freedoms in developing countries has become a major global-political concern. As a result, various donor nations have implemented good governance conditionalities in their financial aid policies, emphasising the establishment of fair democratic elections in recipient countries. However, efforts to reinforce legitimate democratic governments in developing states have been largely unsuccessful. In the book Wars, Guns, and Votes: Democracy in Dangerous Places, economist Paul Collier examines how the international community’s obsession with democracy and elections has hindered the developmental process in what he has termed as the bottom billion countries. By employing economic methods of analysis, Collier demonstrates how current international development polices have exacerbated rather than diminished existing issues impeding reconstruction efforts in low-income states. In order to help remedy the harmful effects of these policies, Collier proposes several innovative solutions he believes would better support political and economic development in bottom billion countries. However, Wars, Guns, and Votes is not without its limitations. Although Collier offers a new economic perspective to topics previously dominated by other social sciences, he fails to define key concepts relevant to his argument. Furthermore, Collier’s writing style is extremely convoluted. Therefore, one can see that although Wars, Guns, and Votes provides a new economic based approach to development, the book is limited in terms of comprehensiveness and accessibility.
Collier begins Wars, Guns, and Votes, by examining the issues hindering the successful implementation of democr...
... middle of paper ...
...then analyzed the different social, economic, and political characteristics of each country that has either experienced or was close to experiencing a civil war. As a result, Collier and Hoeffler were able to conclude (Collier 2010, p.123-124) “that low-income countries are more likely to have outbreaks of civil war”. Therefore, one can see that, although the causes of civil war have been extensively studied by other academic disciplines, Collier’s statistical approach offers a new qualitative perspective to the topic. Furthermore, Collier’s use of economic methods of analysis helps to support the legitimacy of his main arguments, as well as strengthens the view that the book is well-rounded and well-researched.
Despite the books strengths, however, it also suffers from a number of weaknesses. In the book, issues of political violence in bottom billion countries
Janda, K., Berry, J., Golman, J., & Hula, K. (2009). The Challenge of Democracy: American
Janda, Kenneth, Jeffrey M. Berry and Jerry Goldman. The Challenge of Democracy. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2004.
Peacebuilding only became prominent in the Post-Cold War period and is the newest in the measures for achieving peace and security (Busumtwi-Sam, Module 7). It rests on the premise that democratization, liberalization and pacification are idea for long term peace and security (Tziarras,2012,3). This premise is considered the liberal peace or democratic peace theory. However, liberal democratic polity and a market oriented economy have the potential to impede the consolidation of peace. These two practices paradoxically encourage societal completion as a means of achieving political stability and economic prosperity (Paris,1997,57). Policies related to market liberalization lends itself to sever inequality, which generates violent political polarization. War shattered states are expected to effectively complete a transformation that took several centuries in the oldest European states all while emerging from the tumultuous situation of a civil war (Paris,1997,78). It is unrealistic to expect war shattered states to become democracies and market economies in such a short time frame. There are examples throughout history that showcase the short coming of liberal internationalism as a strategy of peacebuilding. For example, in Rwanda and Angola political liberalization contributed to the resurgence of violence and in Mozambique, El Salavdor, and Nicaragua, the effects of
Hudson, William E. American Democracy in Peril: Eight Challenges to America’s Future – Fourth Edition. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2004.
For Americans, the word “democracy” itself is strong enough to conjure up notions of a nation unhindered by an oppressive government where citizens are able to engage in the freedom of speech, press, and religious choice and practice. So powerful are American pro-Democratic sentiments that it is a common thought that any other country that does not prescribe to a liberal democracy is somehow inferior. Yet as time marches on, the feelings of superiority by American citizens become more and more unfounded. For, right before our eyes, the very notion of democracy, that Americans become braggarts about, is disappearing. While the U.S. government boasts of the freedoms it affords its citizens, it corrupts such an image through repeated non-democratic actions. While citizens cherish the affordances of a liberal democracy, many do not make the effort to support such a system; taking it for granted that no matter what, a democracy is a self perpetuating entity. In this paper I will argue that the liberal democracy that supposedly defines American government is a declining entity due to overt acts against the principles of democracy by the United States government and also due to the decline of civic engagement by United States citizens. The fact is, no system of government can be perpetuated if the government and its citizens do not work to keep their ideals alive and in practice.
The book that I have choosen for the book review assessment is called The Arsenal of Democracy by A.J. Baime. The era in which this book takes place in the United States history is the period before World War 2 and during World War 2. This was right when Henry Ford was building cars and the auto industry was booming in America. One has to know the buildup to World War 2 and the years prior to it to understand the global influences to the author's main point. Events like industrial changes, interchangeable parts, the great depression, the rise of nazis germany, America view of the european war, and the battle of resources in World War 2. The author ,A.J. Baime, is a journalist that works for the New York Time magazine,Popular Science,
In the article by Paul Collier and Anke Hoeffler, they statistically describe the argument of greed versus grievance, which tries to understand the motivations of combatants in civil warfare. As I understood it, those who support the greed model believe that combatants perform a cost benefit analysis and take up arms when fighting will better their situations and those who support the grievance model say that combatants are motivated by religious, ethnic, identity and social class grievances. Collier and Hoeffler concluded that the grievance-based explanations of civil war are wrong and that combatants in civil war fight for economic benefit. They make this argument by providing empirical and econometric research.
Special attention must be given to the claim that weak institutions are to blame for this decrease in democracy rather than resource wealth in itself (Lam et al., 2002). I concede that this is partially true, however, weak institutions and the resource curse are by no means mutually exclusive. By definition, undeveloped countries have weak institutions; likewise, countries with weak institutions are generally undeveloped. Since this paper focuses particularly on developing resource rich states, this criticism is not detrimental- but rather complimentary to my argument.
The Constitution gave our country a frame work in which we have built into a great nation. Their idea is that the purpose of our system, meaning our democracy, is to protect an individual’s liberty. William Hudson tries to convince us that there should be a connection between the government we have today and the government in other countries, Parliamentary System. In chapter 1 of the textbook, Democracy in Peril, starts off by giving the reader background knowledge of the found fathers, signers of the Declaration of Independence and the drafters of the Constitution, which reflect as “democracy models” or “protective democrats.” What the founding fathers did not want to happen is for there to be a corrupt government which ignored the rights
Weak and failed states share many common characteristics. One of the most common features of a weak state is the presence of persistent violence. This violence is in the form of civil wars and civil unrest, this is an indicator that a government has lost legitimacy as well as control over some parts of territory. Other features include a weak bureaucracy that is very susceptible to corruption especially corruption from non-state actors such as terrorists and warlords. As the government’s power and influence continues to decline, citizens turn to these non-s...
There have been enormous efforts to spread democracy as a political system throughout the world by the developed democratic countries and the international development organizations including the World Bank. By the late 1990s the United States alone spent over a half billion dollars to promote democratic expansion throughout the world (Diamond, 2003). These were done considering that the democratic system leads towards development. As a result in the late 20th century we saw a huge political transformation towards democracy. During the last few decades a huge number of countries adopted democracy as their political system. However, it retain a big question how far democracy is successful in bringing development of a country? At this stage, some people also criticizes the effort of democratization arguing that it is done without considering the context of a country, sometimes democracy is not ideal for all countries and it is an effort to extinct diversity of political system. In studying the literature regarding the debate, we found a paradoxical relationship between democracy and development. Some argue that democracy has failed to ensure expected outcomes in terms of development. While others confronted that democracy has a considerable impact on development. Another group of people argue that form of political system actually does not have any impact on development process. On the verge of these debates, some development institutions and academics throw light on why democracy is not working properly, and what measure should be taken to make it more successful in bringing effective development of developing countries. Consequently, this writing is an effort of revisiting the different views about impact of democra...
Why nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty, is a captivating read for all college economic courses. Coauthored by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson, they optimistically attempt to answer the tough question of why some nations are rich and others are poor through political economic theories. They lay it all out in the preface and first chapter. According to Acemoglu and Robinson, the everyday United States citizen obtains more wealth than the every day Mexican, sub-Saharan African, Ethiopian, Mali, Sierra Leonne and Peruvian citizen as well as some Asian countries. The authors strategically arranged each chapter in a way that the reader, whomever he or she is, could easily grasp the following concept. Extractive nations that have political leadership and financial inconsistencies within their institutions are the largest contributor to poverty and despair within most countries. It also states that countries with socioeconomic institutions that work ‘for the people and by the people’, or in other words, focus on the internal agenda of that
The current challenges of democracy around the world should prioritize each encounter that should be addressed through networks, global gatherings, and various activities. As a continuous concern, the progress of democracy discusses various strategies and activities. These various strategies and activities lead to lessons that are learned in advancing democracy, making democracy deliver, strengthening democratic fundamentals, and more current challenges. Democracy faces threats from every spectrum as the threats surge the need to reinforce democratic forces through aid and greater international solidarity. Each country reflects on a certain assessment towards the current status of democracy.
Why Nations Fail takes an in depth look into why some countries flourish and become rich powerful nations while other countries are left in or reduced to poverty. Throughout this book review I will discuss major arguments and theories used by the authors and how they directly impact international development, keeping in mind that nations are only as strong as their political and economical systems.
Today's world is full of problems present on an international scale. Yet, differences amongst states compel them to eschew cooperation. The division between the global North and South is the greatest challenge to global governance. The contrast in economic welfare, political stability, and culture among states creates many dilemmas for the international community. The economic differences between highly developed economies and the rest of the world deters cooperation. In addition, social differences between North and South create cultural clashes that breed violence, and adds difficulty to forming international norms. Moreover, the political weakness of some states in the global South create security dilemmas and keep global governance initiatives away from success. The international order is skewed in favour of the global North and serves to empower them. However, international leaders can solve these issues by promoting global equity. In order for global governance to achieve its fullest potential, the world must first address the inequality of states.