Political Science 242
Monday, 17 September 2018 4:00 PM
Political Development
Why Nations Fail
Prof. Janis van der Westhuizen (jvdw2@sun.ac.za)
- The argument takes a while to get into but it is an easy book to read
- Central question: why are some countries rich and some countries poor?
○ Will end up with an argument about it
○ Central claim to be unpacked in lectures
1) Understand what the argument is
2) Apply the argument in the test and the exam
Themes for Why Nations Fail:
- 3 different theories for why some countries are rich and some are poor
- Why colonialism in N vs. S America is different
- Key concepts: inclusive and exclusive institutions
- Critical junctures (key events shaping the course of history)
○ England, Middle Ages to Glorious Revolution 1688 (IR)
- Industrial revolution and creative destruction
- Resistance to creative destruction
○ why did they resist? Why did some go backwards and some go forwards?
- Botswana vs. Sierra Leone
- SA and Brazil compared
- China
- Conclusion
- Comparative approach
- Historical approach
Test & Exam:
- They are both MCQ
- Two types of questions in MCQ
○ Factual (very simple and easy)
○ Insight questions (not found in the book, need to understand the argument of the authors)
Can all be correct but one will be more aligned to the logic and theory of the work
TUT WEEK 1:
TEST PREPARATION 1-5 October
Tutorial Assignment 1: Three Questions
Answer the following three questions. All three your answers should not be longer than 1500 words in total (about
500 words per question or 1 page OR about 1500 words in total or 3-4 pages maximum in total). Your answer sheet
needs to be typed in Times Roman 12 point font and 1,5 spacing. Your answer sheet needs to be uploaded on
Turnitin by 30 September 2018 by 24h00.
1. Why was Elizabeth I much more constrained in her ability to increase taxes compared to the kings of Spain
and France?
2. Why was England’s victory over Spain a critical juncture that lead to the creation of an inclusive political
system?
3. Why are extractive political institutions not compatible with inclusive economic institutions?
Late submission will be penalized by 5 percent per day. Note: if a paper is more than 3 days late, it will not be
graded.
YOU MUST SUBMIT THE ASSIGNMENT BEFORE THE TUT CLASS ONLINE.
WE WILL NOT USE THE ENTIRE BOOK, ONLY SELECTED CHAPTERS AND SECTIONS.
Part 2: HISTORICAL CONTEXT
WNF 4, 7, 8, selected parts of 11 and 12
Part 3: CASE STUDIES
WNF 9, 12, 13, 14
Part 4: RESTATING THE ARGUMENT
WNF 15
18 Sep 2018
2:01 PM
Political
Theories that don’t work
Science 242
Three other theories
Audio recording started: 2:02 PM Tuesday, 18 September 2018
1) Culture
2) Geography
3) The ignorance about power theory
Geography theory
- Theories are systems of explanations for something
- Geography hypothesis: some are rich and some are poor because of where they were born/ where they are
located
- Countries located on the tropics/ equator where it is very hot, plants and vegetation grow abundantly and
therefore do not need to go far to get food- culture of laziness
- SACHS: countries in the tropics are poorer due to the diseases present (e.g. Malaria, tsetse flies etc.) which
prevents people from being productive
- Authors say that these are not very sophisticated arguments for which some are rich vs. poor
- Jared diamond: guns, germs and steel
○ www.youtube.com/watch?v=i885hopsw6E
○ Developed tools and weapons to develop and become more advanced
○ Fertile crescent where some parts of the world where people settle are more fertile and encourage
development
p. 72 is a picture of the N and S Korea
Semester 2 2018 Page 1
, p. 72 is a picture of the N and S Korea
○ Shows the level of development between the two countries (after Korean war in 1950s that the two
countries divided- less than 50 years S Korea became an incredibly rich and successful country)
○ Before they split apart, N Korea had better agriculture etc.
How would this explain it?
Cultural Theory:
- Some are rich vs. poor because of their culture
- Some are more lazy than others
- Old line of thinking (back to Max Weber- sociology)
○ Wrote The Protestant Ethic
○ Wealthiest countries in Europe = Germany northwards (Scandinavia etc.) and more protestant
Were taught in church to work hard ALL the time, save, etc.
○ The more south you go, the poorer and nicer people are (nicer climate, more holiday weather, Catholic)
Completely different view of the world (if I die today, what have I made of my life?)
Argument is rejected.
- Too simple- doesn't explain all the cases
N. Vs S. Korea
- Same language, culture, etc.
Maybe it's not culture, but language?
- People who speak English are wealthier
- Not the case always
Maybe it's European values?
- Some Asian countries are wealthier than European
- Argentina is another exception
Ignorance about Power theory (Ignorance hypothesis):
- Some countries are rich because policy makers know what to do and follow a recipe
- The reason why Japan, Europe, USA etc. are so wealthy is because the Policy makers know what to do
- Poorer countries and regions do not know what to do and do not have a solution
Rejected:
- Naïve to think that one can follow a recipe for complex issues and everything will be solved through the
process
- Look at problems without the complexity of power
- You have to analyse the issues of power
- The answer is NEVER that simple
E.g.:
- No more free plastic grocery bags at checkout points
○ Recycling is better for the environment
○ Doesn’t necessarily come with political consequences
○ What will happen to the people working in the factories that are producing those bags?
Job scarcity
Always winners and losers in a decision
- SA is one of the biggest coal producers in Africa
○ Carbon emissions
○ Responsible for about 70-80%
○ Move towards renewable energy
○ Debates part of climate change summits etc.
○ Africa is invested in older technologies and cannot immediately adopt new energy
- Economic changes
○ Country borrowed too much money and ended up in a debt crisis with currency declining
○ Returns to the IMF to borrow more money
IMF grants loan so bills can be paid BUT certain conditions are placed on the loan
Inflation rate needs to be reduced through increasing the interest rates
People will need to pay more for loans locally
○ If president was elected on the basis of a business friendly approach (low interest rates), how will this
impact his support base if he is forced to increase the interest rates domestically
Borrowed huge amounts when the interest rate was lower
Many businesses will choose to downsize, retrench and shut down
○ IMF approach is a simple, economic view of the issue
○ Will the president be re-elected? Will the party stay in power?
- Often when the political consequences are added, the situations become more complicated
- The problem is that some people will lose and some people will win and usually the losers are people with
huge political power that they are unwilling to give up
○ The problem with poverty is not that they do not know the solution, but that the solution is very
complicated to implement
○ Need to cater to multiple interests, areas and persons in society (trying to win votes from as many
groups as they can)
○ Need to be able to sell the ideas behind policies to people
What do I need to understand?-
- How do they 3 theories explain world poverty
- What are the differences between the 3 theories
- Why do the authors of WNF have this chapter in this book
○ If they don’t adopt these theories, why did they include them?
○ Need to convince the reader of why their theory is better than the other 3
○ Wanted to enter an academic debate with the readers (why they are not good enough)
○ Different schools of thought and explanations
- Need to be able to explain why the WNF explanation for poverty is different from the 3 theories in the chapter
Question:
- What is the value of having a historical approach
○ Need to convince readers using historical evidence
- Why do the authors have so many case studies
○ Using various geographic examples etc.
Videos for today:
- The Spanish Empire, Silver, & Runaway Inflation (Crash Course World History #25)
○ Spain became wealthy because of the Silver (more so than England)
○ The mountainous territory of Incas is important
21 Sep 2018
Political
Semester 2 2018 Page 2 Science 242
