International Relations Theorist With Their Theories And Provided Reading - Essay Example

International Relations Theorist With Their Theories And Provided Reading Over the years, theorists have sought to explain the levels of poverty and slow growth of poor countries. This paper cites five theorists in explaining the reasons for high poverty levels in countries with slow growth rates. Lewis Theory of Development model focuses on the structural transformation issues that occur when economies move from subsistence agriculture to primary production mode. The analysis of this process is developed through two sector economies within developing nations. One of the sectors consists of traditional agricultural activities characterized by zero marginal labor productivity and overpopulation. For this reason, such models assume that traditional sectors have surplus of labor.1 The other sector is the modern sector that is highly productive. The industrialized sector draws labor from traditional sectors. The theory adds that poor countries cannot achieve riches due to inadequate natural resources. A nation’s economic growth is limited in the case it runs out of financial resources such as fertile land. All the resources are termed as incapable of increasing productive capacities of an economy. Developing nations have excessive populations. The serious shortage of capital and land is common, and it leads to damaging implications. With lesser lands, cultivation encounters a significant fall in activities that are the major sources of income for poor countries. Farmers are not able to reap benefits of their inputs as lands are fragmented through government enforcement or inheritance to ensure social fairness in society. The other issue is acute levels of food shortage. These elements, as highlighted in Lewis Theory of Development model, hinder economic growth while leading to economic problems such as starvation. The second theory is Chenery’s Patterns of Development. The ideology illustrates those empirical analysts in structural change identify patterns of historical under-development against non-Western nations. The approach contrasts with Rostow’s application as they do not take the assumption that savings and investments increases are sufficient in producing economic growth. Even as savings and investment are perceived as necessary conditions for enhancing growth, alternative changes within the structures of any country are necessary for transitioning from traditional economies to modern ones.2 From this, lack of skilled human capital is a hindrance. Poor nations have minimal budgetary allocations to sectors of education and health. Firstly, this is attributed to falling export agricultural revenue and produce due to distinct import restrictions among developed countries. Secondly, there is a large national income proportion devoted towards servicing IMF and World Bank debts. Thirdly, the financial institutions continue to impose austerity measures including rescheduling of loan conditions. Low spending on education sectors means that many people do not have the capacities of reading, writing, performing basic arithmetic, operating electronic equipments and taking complex instructions. The third explanation is the neo-Colonial Dependence Theory. The ideology of poverty along this theory is alternative to Dependency Theory, Radical Theory, or Neo-Colonialism and has its origins in Marxist thinking. The underdevelopment explained the scope of Third World nations within the resultant aspects of international capitalist systems placed in Third World nations and the unequal trading positions.3 While the theory might differ on intentionality of inequality, unequal power relationships between the systems place the rich and developed nations at the core position of international trade. There is lesser relegation developed through periphery nations. Nations from the periphery face more systemic disadvantages that make strategic attempts on economic self-reliance and independence. In this case, poor countries have rapid population growth. According to the theory, the food supplies are growing at arithmetic progressions while nations’ population grows at geometric progression. There are periods that the nations run out of factors of production and possibilities of self-sustainability within the rising world populations. The argument holds true in poor areas in Africa where the altercations in weather have caused difficulties in carrying out extensive agriculture activities while population growth remains a critical concern. The fourth cause of poverty is the false paradigm theory. The less radical perspective of world’s influence of developed countries on developing nations is a focus on roles of western ideas in development as considered within Constructivist theories. The theory argues that developing nations achieve inappropriate advice from the immediate experts who are ethnocentric, biased, and uninformed. This is due to the solicitation from Western nations and education systems from Western nations applied to the local paradigm of developing nations. The paradigm is viewed as inappropriate for most developing nations because it does not account for the unique circumstances.4 The paradigm does not award enough attention to structural and institutional reforms that are important to developing nations. From the above, poor countries have a chronic problem of lack of infrastructures. The burden of measures in debt and austerity as imposed on developing countries; the levels of infrastructure development are poor. Nothing much has occurred in improving the transportation and telecommunication that are critical services in attracting foreign investment. Roads, harbors, railways and bridges are mostly in bad condition, and this affects the delivery of goods and services. Most places, safe and clean water supplies are unresolved issues. Such areas are common habitats for outbreaks of diseases like cholera. The nations also have plenty of untapped resources. Many poor countries in Sub-Saharan African have extensive natural resource bases. On the other hand, most resources remain untapped. The reasons for the failure include lack of R&D capacities that lead to minimal mineral deposits discovery. The countries do not have a possession of necessary technology to engage in services such as mine. Rich countries often have expertise do not want to establish firms in countries where the political systems have collapsed and marred with corrupt governments. Lastly, the neoclassical development theory originates from classical economics, its predecessor. Classical economics is established based on economic dealings with value of goods and products and the dependence on production factors. Adam Smith and David Ricardo are the early contributors to the theory. Classical economists place an argument that the neoclassical focus of the free market is an opponent of government intervention in markets.5 Adam Smith’s 'invisible hand' ensures that free trade ultimately benefits the entire society. John Maynard Keynes made influential contribution to classical economics through the authorship of ‘General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money’. The theory explains that inefficient management of resources is a major concern to poverty levels in these countries. Most poor countries lack an achievement of productive and allocated efficiencies. Productive inefficiency comes from the absence of competition, and contracts as well as projects are reserved for political patronage or family members. Governments adopt close economy policies. Alternative forms of inefficiencies persist while production factors such as labor and capital are engaged in the production of efficient elements. This paper concludes that Labor is withdrawn from such sectors without negatively affecting the output levels. The effects become severe due to the low technology acquisition levels that could help them produce through mass scaling. The changes include domestic alterations such as production transformations, consumer demand changes, or urbanization. They could be international including international trade and foreign capital markets access. Minimal access to healthcare translates to lower life expectancy as more days taken off production as leave and results in loss of workforce and lower output at productive age brackets. Bibliography 1. Ceaser, James. Presidential Selection: Theory and Development. New York, NY: Princeton University Press, 1979. 2. Peet, Richard., and Hartwick, Elaine. Theories of Development: Contentions, Arguments, Alternatives. New York, NY: Guilford Press, 2009. 3. Pieterse, Jan. Development Theory. New York, NY: SAGE, 2010. 4. Preston, P. W. Theories of Development, Volume. New York, NY: Routledge, 2011. 5. Todaro, Michael P. and Stephen C. Smith. Economic Development, Eleventh Edition. New York, NY: Addison-Wesley, 2012. Read More