International Political Development - Assignment Example

International Political Development There two main concepts of development. These are the orthodox and the critical concept. The orthodox concept states that development should be measured in a more numerical form such as through the Gross Domestic Product and the level of industrialization within the country. According to this view of development, communities need to move from traditional agrarian based communities to modern consumer based communities that incorporates wage labor and cash into the society(Fritz-Krockow& International Monetary Fund, 2007). By establishment of markets for various commodities, underdevelopment and poverty can be easily eradicated because there is increased diversification, production and industrialization. Goods and services that are available through a market based economy increases the quality of life of people within the society. The whole community benefits from trading services since the individuals that are directly involved in the trade are able to accumulate wealth while the community is able to benefit from distribution of resources that enable them get access to better products and services.The other point of view in regards to development is the critical approach. This differs with the orthodox view as it disagrees that the only way in which development can be measured is in numerical terms. It notes that there are various other forms of transactions that occur in these types of societies such as barter transactions and these are not accounted for in the orthodox concept. The informal sector plays a very important role in regards to these societies. According to the critical approach, development is measured by the ability of a certain group of people to be able to meet their immaterial and material needs (Development, 2009). Given that each society has their own views in regards to what they need, there cannot be a universal standard to measure for development. Each society therefore has to set their own standards that are in relation to their requirements. These can therefore be broken down into 3 wide areas and they include the ability of the people to obtain the basic human needs, the political empowerment of the marginalized people and the state of the natural environment.The orthodox concept of development argues that consistent underdevelopment is as a result of poor regulations and policies by the state legislatures. To promote trade, these poor states can have legislation that enables them to protect their internal industries from external protection. This is despite the fact that these industries might not have any comparative advantage in that sector. As a result, low quality goods are produced and these industries become inefficient and cannot compete on a global scale with other established industries. The best way for societies to eradicate poverty is therefore to open up the markets for international trade and reduce government involvement in trading activities. In this way, the people can be introduced to a higher quality of goods and inefficient companies can be put out of business. There should be legislation that can make it easier for multinational companies to set up industries in such societies and reduce the interference of government officials who usually ask for bribes and this turns away potential investors.According to the critical view, development can be promoted in poor societies by focusing on the products that are required in this type of society. Once the people can acquire all their material requirements and are satisfied, they can claim to be developed. Development should not be pegged on western views but is dependent on factors that are controllable by each and every society. What is important is for people to have access to the basic services such as appropriate healthcare, enough food, sufficient housing, a clean environment and availability of education opportunities for the citizens. When these are established, the people can claim to be developed. Structural adjustment programs refer to changes in the policies by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in regard to developing countries. They highlight the various conditions that have to be met so that these countries can receive financial services such as loans and lower interest rates for any existing loans that they night have. These loans are given to promote a given sector of the economy such as industrialization and the main goal of giving them is to ensure that there is an expansion of market based economies. Countries that agree to these conditions and later refuse to implement them usually face stiff fiscal penalties that affect their economy and shut them out of further trade agreements.These programs benefit multinational corporations in a variety of ways. The most obvious way is that the programs aim is to improve the economy of the developing countries. The western view of development is that increasing the number of industries will result in production of goods and services that will be traded and as a result this brings wealth to the people. An increase in the number of industries also means that more people will be employed and will have a source of income; this will help increase the gross domestic product of the country. Most developing countries do not have the capability to set up such industries. They therefore have to allow multinational corporations to set up factories in their countries so as to increase their productivity level.As part of these debt agreements, developing countries are required to give multinational corporations access to their raw materials. They also get to use their infrastructure at very cheap terms just because of the loans that have been given to these countries. Multinationals can therefore access raw materials at very cheap prices and produce products that are sold on a global scale at the usual prices. This gives them huge profits at the expense of the developing countries. Most of these countries have huge debts to pay and this amount can only be obtained by engaging in export trade, where they get sufficient foreign exchange. They therefore have to bear with these multinational corporations whose terms of trade are unfavorable (MediaThatMatters, 2014). When these loans are given to developing countries, the exchange rates that are used usually favor the donors and this makes it difficult for local companies to trade. It is multinational companies that have comparative advantage and are able to thrive in these countries. Local companies empower locals financially and this helps them improve their lives. These programs usually support international companies to set up base in the developing countries. Their working conditions are stringent and may exploit the local people. Feminists view these programs as non-beneficial as they take advantage of local people (Danaher, 2004). They lead to a further decline in the living standards of the people and this has a direct impact on the marginalized members of the society. These are the women and the children. Research shows that up to a million children die each year due to the poverty that is brought about by this unfairness in these trade agreements. Feminists view this as an unnecessary burden that developing countries can do without. The best way to improve the lives of locals is to focus on homegrown industries that directly benefit local communities. Research shows that majority of the people in the world can be classified as poor. This is 80% of the population. On the other hand, the richest 2% of people in the world have more wealth than 50% of the rest of the population. Various theories have come up to try and explain the level of poverty in the world. One of the explanations for poverty and underdevelopment in developing countries is the dependence that these countries have on developed countries. Developing countries are the source of raw materials that are required by industries in developed countries. Most of these countries do not sufficient resources to set up industries and process these goods at home (Rosling, 2011). They therefore export raw materials cheaply to developed countries where they are processed and sent back to these countries but as finished goods and at very high prices. This creates a difference in their foreign exchange balances because the amount of money that they obtain for their exports is not enough to pay for all their exports yet they are the primary producers of these products. To cover for this balance, the developing countries rely on debt from these same countries where they export the raw materials and as per their terms of agreements they do not have the option of seeking for better markets for their products. They therefore have to contend with low prices and this maintains and increases their level of poverty and underdevelopment. Another factor that leads to poverty is dualism. This is when a developing country is divided into two segments. One is the modern towns and the other is the rural areas (Pinkyshow, 2014). Development is therefore concentrated in the towns and a lot of economic activities are in these areas. The living standards in these areas are very high. On the other side, the rural areas are not exposed to these changes and remain largely undeveloped. People in these areas rely on agriculture to run the economy and their living standards are very low. As such, the level of poverty and underdevelopment is rampant in such areas. Development should focus on every part of these countries if economic prosperity is to benefit everyone. References Danaher, K. (2004). 10 reasons to abolish the IMF & World Bank. New York: Seven Stories Press. Development, P. (2009).Development.Economic Development (pp. 180-215). New - York: Pease Development Foundation. Fritz-Krockow& International Monetary Fund. (2007). International Monetary Fund handbook: Its functions, policies, and operations. Washington, D.C: International Monetary Fund, Secretary's Dept. MediaThatMatters. (n.d.). The Luckiest Nut In the World. YouTube. Retrieved May 6, 2014, from http://www.youtube.com/ Rosling, H. (n.d.). The Disorder Of Things. Retrieved May 7, 2014, from http://thedisorderofthings.com/2011/09/12/200-years-that-changed-the-world/ PinkyShow. (n.d.). Bank into submission. YouTube. Retrieved May 6, 2014, from http://www.youtube.com/ Read More