Competing Political Interests And Poverty Reduction - Essay Example

What role do competing political interests play in the implementation of poverty reduction policies? Poverty is a universal term and poverty elimination is a universal motto. Poverty destroys individuals, societies and nations. Poverty is hunger. Poverty is lack of shelter. It is the state of being sick but unable to see a doctor (Gordon et al., 2003). It is the condition which doesn’t allow one to have basic necessities in life. Poverty is the condition of not having a job and no resources to live with. It brings fear of future. It is the synonym of powerlessness, lack of representation and freedom (Gordon et al., 2000). Poverty can retard the overall growth of a society. It can negatively affect the progress of the nation itself. “Poverty is produced by circumstances, not individuals,” (Fincher & Wulff, 1998). Economic crisis increases the so-called ‘poverty sector’, leading to joblessness and social unrest. A proper planning and a better utilization of the available resources of the nation will lessen the poverty level to a great extent (Narayan & Parker, 2000). Diverting the existing resource to the disadvantaged people is the need of the hour. Every nation needs a proper governing authority to plan, accomplish and accelerate its growth. In developing countries especially, governments and political parties lead the show and try to bring progress to the society and stability to the economy by eliminating the curses like poverty. The ruling party and other political parties try to uplift the general status of the society and go deep into the problems and grievances of the people to a certain extent. Even though they do have opinion disputes and conflicts among them, they contribute a lot for the progress of the society and nation (especially rural areas where poverty is still a problem) (Pantazis, Gordon & Levitas, 2006). Political interests and competitions play a major role in eliminating poverty from the nations. In the third world countries especially, political parties contribute a lot for the development works. Political parties try to perform well during their ruling tenure and take various actions for the negatively privileged sections of the society. They try to look into the agonies of the people of ill developed areas since such areas have the majority of the population in it. These less developed areas would be eagerly looking forward for a government which can help them to improve their total grade. No political party can ever think of getting rule in their hand without the votes of these majority weaker sections. So these thickly populated less developed areas are very important as far as political parties are concerned. They try to give alluring promises in their election campaign so that they can drain the votes of these areas. Filling the manifesto with various poverty reduction policies will definitely help the political parties to get the ballot in their favour. Poverty reduction will be the proclaimed motto of political parties of less developed countries. When they come into rule, these parties try to implement their poverty reduction policies to a certain extent at least. Political parties are very well aware of the fact that unless they bother about the poverty-stricken areas, nation will not see any progress in general and also they will not get the following election in their favour. Increasing number of political parties has thus favoured the development of nations in many ways. Progress of the nation is the declared motto of politics though we should doubt how far it is true in the cases of certain countries that have a corrupted political atmosphere. Interest groups play a major role in the flow of democracy, especially in developing countries. Numerous interest groups exist in countries where there are more issues and problems. A political interest group can be a group, who tries to influence the government in order to get their interest about the society done. These political parties, especially the main opposition parties can fight to get their demands met by the government. In certain cases opposition parties perform extremely well and they do represent the weaker sections. They can point out the flaws and weaknesses of the ruling party and can help them improve their rule. These competing political forces are of different nature. They vary in their size, ideology, policy focus, influential capability, and mode of representation. For example, some groups may focus on certain issues or geographical areas and some may be interested in certain special topics. Also there are certain political groups who work on broader areas of public policy. Certain interest groups focus on government alone to get their demands done whereas some groups try to influence non-governmental and other private organizations and associations to uphold their objectives. The political party which is in power (the representative government) is supposed to encourage the interests of other competing groups also. They will consider the opposition’s opinion regarding major issues and will take decisions accordingly. The competing groups help to establish a balance by introducing arguments and resources to bear on various aspects of public policy decisions. They will equip themselves with power and influence and have a support from the public such that they can suppress any majority or minority group of vested interest who become strong enough to weaken the rights of others. Political groups compete on the playing field created by the constitutions (national as well as state) and laws. They develop their own policies and rules based on the constitution and will represent people for the progress of the nation. In short, these multiple competing groups try to create a stable political environment that allows the interests of the common people to be presented before the government. In Calhoun and John McGowan (1997), the author asks, “Is politics really nothing more than power relations, competing interests and claims for recognition, conflicting assertions of ‘simple’ truths?.” But the political groups of certain countries have proved that they do offer their best for the development works of their nations. Political parties come out with various policies and plans that would eradicate poverty, according to their claims. They try to convince people that they are able to meet their demands and would repair their impoverished civic and private life. Even though it is true that ideology has waned and identity and interest based politics have come to the scene, political parties still try to improve the poverty-stricken state of the disadvantaged strata of the society. New new political parties appear into the political scene daily and they also come up with new promises so that people make their choice on their favour. These political parties are very well aware about the fact that unless they implement their poverty reduction policies, they will no longer get favour in the following election. In less developed countries especially, political parties have started attending the worries of poverty-stricken areas. In another words, in certain poor nations, political groups compete among themselves in providing best policies for people so that they gain the favour of the poor majority who look forward for a better government that can eradicate poverty from the society (Lustig, 2000). In other words, the competition between the political parties have become a boon for people who expect nothing but a better government that can implement developmental policies for the improvement of the unprivileged people. Poverty reduction is the most required development activity of third world countries, and the opportunity is beckoning the political parties to formulate their strategy in such a way that they have some edge over their competitor parties (McNair, 2003). Less developed nations that are under economic stagnation will only look for a government that can improve the state of people and society. Proper functioning of democracy will impose some responsibilities and obligations upon the ruling party as well. Poverty reduction thus became the first and foremost objective of political parties and their commitment has improved the state of people to a certain extent. Poverty reduction policies will be given chief priority in the budgets also. Political parties during the election campaigns offer guarantee of food sufficiency and substantial buffer stock that can greatly please the people of poverty-stricken areas. Ruling party will be always cautious that they satisfy the needs of backward groups who have scarcity problems, lest they may loose the support of people. Opposition to the ruling parties always try to devalue the policies and budgets of the ruling party and will try to convince people that poverty reduction strategy of the ruling party is a failure (Wildavsky, 1986). They will try to get the support of the group who were not much privileged and will lead the show against the ruling party. As a result, there will be dissatisfaction and frustration among the people against the ruling party. In this situation, the opposition party will take undue advantage of their rights to oppose the party in power and will start provoking the different sections of the society against the government. They will synthesize new policies that may cover more poverty reduction ideologies and will include them in their manifesto so that the majority will make their choice in their favour. This game will improve the poverty affected state of vulnerable sections of the society since they get help from political parties. We can see certain provinces completely free from poverty and deficiency as the representatives of the states take great care of the province. They may always have strong opposition from different parties and therefore have to perform well during their tenure to reserve a seat in the following election. In some countries the ruling party will never get a second consecutive chance to come to power since there is strong opposition who offer better development policies. The attitude of the political parties of a nation will be reflected in the rate of poverty and the amount of its economic growth. In developing countries there will be grave unemployment problem which can be a reason for the poverty and negative growth of the economy. In such countries, political parties will plan to create more employment opportunities (through educational and technological advancements) so that they can impress people. This competing mood of political parties will contribute in generating more employment opportunities which will ultimately wipe out poverty and frustration from the land (Keating & Hertzman, 2000). Similarly diverting the resources of the nation to the needy people in the appropriate time will reduce the poverty rate of the people. In nations where there is a decentralized administration, respective subordinate governments have to acquire resources from the central government to use in their provinces (e.g. India, where there are central and state governments). Political parties play a significant role in these cases where states that are governed by better group will be completely free from poverty and economic stagnation. References Calhoun, C., & McGowan, J. (Eds). (1997) Hannah Arendt and the Meaning of Politics. Twin Cities: University of Minnesota Press. Fincher, R., & Wulff, M. (1998). The locations of poverty and disadvantage. In Fincher, R., & Nieuwenhuysen, J. (Eds), Australian Poverty: Then and Now. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press. Gordon, D., Adelman, L., Ashworth, K., Bradshaw, J., Levitas, R., Middleton, S., Pantazis, C., Patsios, D., Payne, S., Townsend, P., & Williams, J. (2000). Poverty and Social Exclusion in Britain, York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Gordon, D., Nandy, S., Pantazis, C., Pemberton, S., & Townsend, P. (2003). Child Poverty in the Developing World, Bristol: The Policy Press. Keating, D.P., & Hertzman, C. (Eds) (2000). Developmental Health and the Wealth of Nations: Social, Biological, and Educational Dynamics. New York, NY: Guilford Press. Lustig, N. (2000) Shielding the Poor: Social Protection in the Developing World. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press. McNair, B., Cling, J-P., Roubaud, F., & Razafindrakoto, M. (2003) New International Poverty Reduction Strategies, London: Routledge. Narayan, D., & Parker, M.W. (Eds) (2000) Voices of the Poor. World Bank Publications. Pantazis, C., Gordon, D., & Levitas, R. (Eds) (2006). Poverty and Social Exclusion in Britain: The Millennium Survey, Bristol: Policy Press. Wildavsky, A. (1986) Budgeting: Comparative Theory, Piscataway, NJ: Transaction Publishers. .  Read More