Politics of the Third World

Third World countries

5 most important issues

• facing the Third World today– poverty

• developing countries

– globalization– weak state– ethnicity– environment

Why study the Third World?

• Interdependence and globalization

• most of the world– population– area

• most of the natural resources– raw materials and energy resources– Organization of Petroleum Exporting

Countries

Why study the Third World?

• Western role in creating and sustaining some of the problems in the Third World

Why study the Third World?

• We ignore the Third World at our peril

Millennium Development Goals

• In 2000 the UN Millennium Declaration was adopted at the largest-ever gathering of heads of state

Millennium Development Goals

1 eradicate extreme poverty and hunger2 achieve universal primary education3 promote gender equality4 reduce child mortality5 improve maternal health6 combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, etc.7 ensure environmental sustainability8 global partnership for development

Poverty & economic growth

Poverty & economic growth

Imperialism & Third World

• European colonial expansion for 300 years

• most colonies are independent after WWII

political legacies

• traditional polity and “modern” state

• state boundaries drawn to suit colonizers

economic legacies

• “dependency” theory– “core” vs. “periphery”

• foreign trade structure

Types of state

• strong states

• weak states– multi-party democracies– single-party regimes– military regimes– personal dictatorships

• failed states

Levels of democracy

• The “third wave of democratization”

State & economic development

• weaknesses in physical and human infrastructure

• political instability harms investment and consumption

• political allocation of scarce resources

• weak and ineffective state institutions to implement economic policies

• widespread corruption

International financial institution

• The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank– headquarters in Washington D.C.– voting weight proportional to fund contribution– IMF loans are subject to conditionality

• acceptance of structural adjustment (liberalization)• privatization• reduce inflation• cut debt

World Trade Organization

• lower tariffs and ease other trade barriers

Foreign aid