Characteristics of Developing Countries free essay sample

The Structure of Industry †¢ It is widely assumed that all developing countries depend upon the production and exporting of primary products. †¢ While this may be true of many developing countries, many are reliant on basic manufactured products for exports. eg: Bangladesh) †¢ Others such as Cape Verde and Maldives are actually mainly exporters of services in the form of tourism. 6. Per Capita Income Levels †¢ Although it is often assumed that all developing countries have very low levels of income per capita, we should be aware that there are marked differences between per capita income from developing country to developing country. †¢ Venezuela has a high GDP per capita, but it is still very much a developing country. 7. Political Structures Developing countries have very different political structures from each other. Democracies Such as Brazil, Indonesia and Mexico Monarchies Such as Brunei and Tobago Military Rule Such as Myanmar and Pakistan Single Party Rule Such as China, Cuba and Syria Transitional Political Systems Where a country is in transition often caused by conflict and civil war and cannot be classified (e. We will write a custom essay sample on Characteristics of Developing Countries or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page g. Somalia) Within each structure, there are of course many substructures. Example Democracies may be presidential systems, semi-presidential systems, parliamentary republics or constitutional monarchies. o The main point is that with developing countries being so diverse in their systems or government, it is very difficult to establish one-size-fits all solutions to developmental problems. To conclude, we can say that while there are some common characteristics that are held by developing countries to some degree, there are also several significant differences. o One must be very cautious in making generalizations that imply that all developing countries are the same Characteristics of Developing Countries free essay sample Characteristics of Developing Countries BY Hafeez260 The theme of this essay is: the importance of a study of other semi-developed countries as they struggle for economic growth, the elimination of mass poverty and, at the political level, for democratisation and the reduction of reliance on coercion. New countries are finding their voices in all sorts of ways and are managing to interest an international audience. South Africa is not least among them; contemporary international consciousness of the travail of our particular path towards modernity testifies at least to a considerable national talent for dramatic ommunication and (for those who care to look more deeply) a far from extinct tradition of moral conscientiousness. One aspect of this flowering is a rapidly growing crop of social scientific studies of semi-developed countries of which this university is fortunate to have a substantial collection, contained mainly in the library of Jan Smuts House. From this literature, one can extract five themes of particular interest. We will write a custom essay sample on Characteristics of Developing Countries or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The first is the problem of uneven development and effective national unification, especially in deeply divided societies. Capitalist development has mpinged on semi-developed countries from outside rather than transforming slowly from within, incorporating different groups in different ways. Particular problems arise when differential incorporation coincides in substantial measure with boundaries between ethnic groups. If Donald Horowitzs remarkable study of ethnic groups in conflict is right, more energy goes into attempting to maximise differences in the welfare of in groups and out groups than into maximising their Joint welfare, with adverse consequences for the possibilities of building the national political and economic institutions required for development. Gordon Tullock has argued that this is an additional reason for preferring market-based rather than state-led economic growth in deeply divided societies. In itself it is, but the secondary effects of different paths on distribution have to be taken into account. In so far as they lead to worsening differentials between groups, the possibility of heightened conflict is created. The only long-term hope is to make ethnic boundaries less salient; the happiest outcome would seem to be when ethnicity becomes decorative in a high income economic environment. This is likely to be the work of decades, perhaps of enturies; even so, appalling retrogressions always seem to remain possible. The consequence of deep divisions is that there is likely to exist an unusually large number of prisoners dilemma situations. The prisoners dilemma arises when partners in crime are apprehended and held separately. The prisoners will be Jointly better off if they do not inform on each other, but each prisoner will be better off if he informs on the other, while the other does not inform on him. Attempts at individual maximisation may lead to both prisoners informing on each other which leads to the orst Joint outcome. The dilemma arises because of the absence of the o pportunity for co-operation. ) Under such conditions, negotiation skills are at a premium. There are also advantages in the acceptance of a deontological liberal philosophy which (in the shorthand of political philosophers) places the right over the good. This involves seeking to regulate social relations by Just procedures while leaving individuals as free as possible to pursue their own, diverse conceptions of the good life. Such an attention should be paid simultaneously to the reduction of poverty. The analytical Marxist, Adam Przeworski has analysed analogous problems which arise in the case of severe class conflict. In his view, social democratic compromises are held together by virtue of the propensity of capitalists to reinvest part of their profits with the effect of increasing worker incomes in the future. Class compromise is made possible by two simultaneous expectations: workers expect that their incomes will rise over time, while capitalists expect to be able to devote some of their profits to consumption. In conditions of severe class conflict, these expectations about the future become ncertain, time horizons shorten, workers become militant, capitalists disinvest and political instability results. Three forms of resolution are available: stabilising external intervention, negotiation or renegotiation of a social contract or the strengthening of the position of one or other class by a shift towards conservatism or revolution. Przeworskis sternest warnings are to Marxists who assume that revolution and the introduction of socialism is the inevitable outcome of a crisis. The second theme in the literature on semi-developed countries has to do with their position within the world economy. Three related sub-themes can be identified. Firstly, there has been a debate about the forms and limits of the diffusion of industrialisation. Dependency theory now somewhat out of fashion, since its predictions of severe limitations on industrialisation in developing countries have been falsified asserted that relationships between developing and developed countries are such as to keep the latter in perpetual economic subordination. The contrary thesis that advanced industrial countries have had to deal with increased competition arising from quite widespread diffusion now seems more plausible.