The reason many developing countries began with “bad” early institutions has to do with political institutions. Fukuyama states that there is a strong connection between the richest countries and the countries that have strong institutions. Strong political institutions generally have an effective institution that is mostly uncorrupt, enforces its laws, has transparent laws and open entries to legal and political institutions. Fukuyama gives an example that if a country is ruled by the elites who want the resources for their own use and if property rights are not given and if a country does not have consistent policies or does not educate its citizens, then if rich natural resources like oil would be available to the country, the country …show more content…
However, where there was disease, it was more costly to settle and the colonial powers set up extracted economic institutions that were enforced by absolutist political institutions.
2) How did class structure and income inequality in Latin America affect institutions after independence?(Chapter 16).
Latin America was of the first to be colonized in the non-Western world by Europeans. In
Latin America, the foundation of authoritarian, unequal regimes, had much to do with the extractive economic production there, which was also based on climate and geography factors and what colonials had to endure in Latin America. After Latin American countries became independent, they had difficult problems in maintaining democracy and in preserving constant rates of economic development. Inequality was actually a huge factor in why Latin America faced these problems. The existing class structure and unequal distribution of resources created political polarizations between political parties and
…show more content…
Not facing interstate wars can be good in some ways for a region, but overall, it can be problematic for the region’s future and its institutions.
4) How did Costa Rica avoid becoming a “banana republic”? (Chapter 18).
Costs Rica is a small country in Latin America that contains less than five million people and currently, it is wealthier than other Latin American countries. Dissimilar to El Salvador,
Nicaragua and Guatemala, Costa Rica has not experienced military coups, dictatorships, violent civil wars, death squads or foreign interventions from the United States, Cuba or outside parties in the last sixty years. Costa Rica has been a stable democracy since 1948, with competitive elections and normal turnovers of power between political parties. Costa Rica’s development has been based on tropical agricultural products, such as coffee and bananas and its climate and resources are very similar to their neighboring countries. Costa Rica from its inception was seen as an isolated, unattractive country, since it lacked precious metals or exploited indigenous population. The Europeans also viewed Costa Rica
Click here to unlock this and over one million essays
Show MoreTime and rules have been transforming countries in many ways; especially, in the 1850’s and the 1920’s, when liberals were firmly in control across Latin American region. Liberalism can be defined as a dominant political philosophy in which almost every Latin American country was affected. A sense of progress over tradition, reason over faith, and free market over government control. Although each country was different, all liberals pursued similar policies. They emphasize on legal equality for all citizens, progress, free trade, anti-slavery, and removing power from church. Liberals declared promising changes for Latin American’s future. But Latin America had a stronger hierarchical society with more labor systems, nothing compare to the United States societies. Liberals weren’t good for Latin America. What I mean by “good” is the creation of a turning point or some type of contribution towards success. I define “good” as beneficial or helpful. The Latin American economy was stagnant between 1820 and 1850 because of independence wars, transportation and the recreation of facilities. I describe this era as, “the era when Latin America when off road”.
...reated an emerging working class as a response to factories and the need for people to work them; as a response to immense social tensions of industrialization, both regions had distinct revolutions for better working conditions. Russia and Latin America responded differently to industrialization in that Russia created a socialist political party and a unified working class in order to combat industrial social tensions leading to an international, long term, effect of their revolution whereas Mexico experienced factionalism which led to short-term effects condensed within their region solely. Also, Russia responded to industrialization by creating steady enterprises, manufacturing efforts, and foreign investments unlike Latin America which did not engage in manufacturing or investments, thus did not have an ‘Industrial Revolution” as did their Russian counterparts.
...a of Latin America: The Age of Globalization 3 (2010). Modern World History Online. Web. 11 May 2014.
America was originally colonized because European countries were looking for an easier way to the Indies. This brings forth the thought that colonization made life easier for the Europeans. It brought luxuries and items that were needed to countries that requested them and it encouraged more trade throughout the countries. Though this was advantageous for the Europ...
Classes in colonial Latin America are most commonly viewed by social standing or by ones wealth. The different levels of classes had their honor to defend. Social expectations needed to be defended. The family within a class also had a certain honor to defend. Any actions that would defile a family member would defile the honor of the family. The status of the family within the class would be on the line.
The historian Ronn Pineo wrote “Beginning in the 1980s nearly all of Latin America began to take part in a great experiment, the adoption of capitalist free market economic policies.” (1) This great experiment began with the promotion of democracy and free market that promised a better future for Latin America. Neoliberalism, the economic ideology that promotes free-market capitalism, laid the foundation for many of the US military interventions and economic policies that caused a dramatic transformation of Latin America. This promise of a “democratic” government came from a policy initiative labeled as polyarchy. Polyarchy is “ a system in which a small group governs and mass participation in decision making is limited to choosing leaders in elections that are carefully managed by competing elites” (Lecture: Polyarchy and Resistance). It, however, was a sales pitch to continue Latin America’s subordinate position in to the global market. As a result, much of Latin America, by the late 1980 through the early 1990s, transitioned into this form of “democracy”. Consequently, Latin America suffered and still suffers today from underdevelopment, high levels of socioeconomic inequality, and immigration. Globalization of capital, off-shore production, and new technologies have created structural barriers and have
Latin America after the Wars of Independence, were looking to modernize the nations after years of unstable politically and economically. This new idea called “progress” was to change Latin America for the better of the nations that took part of the progress. More European influences came during the period to help nations progress even further.
I learned more than I ever imagined on my summer study abroad trip to Costa Rica. I learned that Costa Rica is a country like no other. The country is much different than what the United States of America is like. The lifestyles, customs, and practices of Costa Rica are very different than those that I am accustomed to. As an outsider looking into the country, I saw a country that is very poor financially but very rich in spirit. They do not appreciate wealth as United States citizens do, but instead appreciate love and gratitude. I noticed that Costa Ricans have very strong family values and cultural roots.
The conquest of Latin America was a fairly quick process in which the theme of hegemony was vastly prominent. The cultures of colonialism and competitive nature to obtain wealth through exploitation were the main driving force of hegemony. It is natural to exploit the people of lower class or societal rank for one's own advantage, and that is what happened. As the pressure of power and control became overbearing toward the people, resistance was sure to follow.
Mignolo, W. D. (2005). The Idea of Latin America (pp. 1-94). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.
The physical science of the two countries is completely different. According to the main speaker, Costa Rica is much smaller than the United States. It could actually fit in the state of Oklahoma about two and a half times (Northwestern Oklahoma State University, 2010). The population is a little different too. Costa Rica’s population is around 4.5 million, compared to Oklahoma which has approximately 3.4 million.
Colombia. Ministerio de Industria, Comercio y Turismo. Resumen Del Tratado De Libre Comercio Entre Estados Unidos y Colombia. Web. .
Seligson M. A., 2008, Challenges to Democracy in Latin America and the Caribbean: Evidence from the Americas Barometer 2007-2007, USAID
Colonialism came to Latin America in the fifteenth century by the Europeans. They discovered three forms of civilization: there were the Mayan, Aztecs and the Incas (MLA, pg.13). After the arrival of the Europeans the nation transformed their cultural adaptations and suppressions. Before Latin American independence, three institutions exercised control over the population in Latin America. First, there was the Spanish crown where the colonist had to produce revenue and did so by putting a tax on everything. The government was universal and relatively efficient because it had to be in order to collect it’s taxes. Second, there was the Catholic Church, which had a strong influence on the people’s everyday lives. Lastly, there was there was patriarchy (MLA, pg.20). In Latin America, similar as to the most of the world, men had complete control over their wives. This was mainly about property rights because illegitimate children can inherit their father’s property. Though, it seemed to be made out as a way of purity. Nonetheless, Latin American society had a wide range of cultural blending. A new Latin American culture emerged mixing one whites from Spain, called the peninsulares, two, whites born in the Americas called creoles, three, Native Americans, and four, African slaves (MLA, pg.20). This caused a great deal of racial diversity and a social hierarchy. There were four basic racial categories, white, black, mestizo, a mix of white and American Indian, and mulatto, a mix of white and black (MLA, pg.19). There were constant attempts to classify and divide them into their own racial group. From the 16th century and on, Latin America had a huge diversity of mixed race people. During the19th, Latin America saw rapid changes in socia...
Money is an essential part of life where every people can satisfy whatever they need and every person in America has a chance to find a job. However, some of the people in the country wanted to go on with their life freely by being a part of a welfare. Furthermore, distribution of wealth is a huge demand of every citizen. Everyone today is trying to look down for every people in the lower class, as they did not give any benefit to the country, waiting for the benefits that they will receive from the government. For instance, when most lower class people have gone through a financial crisis due to overspending, insufficient fund or pay for their work to support themselves and/or their family. The example shows that lower class people made the economy of the country unstable, however, the middle class and the higher class is at fault as well. Furthermore, even though the benefit of that the lower class received is from the middle class, the middle class as well benefits from the higher class. To sum up, every class is at fault towards giving the country’s economy a positive