Does democracy help or hinder development Essay

Does democracy help or hinder development - Essay Example Does democracy, used in this context to mean free and fair elections with a peaceful transfer of political authority, allow countries to develop? These questions and many more will be addressed with reference to our analysis of the linkages between democracy and political stability. An analysis of the political and economic situations of Somalia and Iraq, our case studies, will explore the relationship between poverty and political instability and demonstrate whether the absence of democracy and hence political stability, breeds poverty and economic stagnation. Poverty, it seems is a universal feature of the global community. What are the global ramifications of extreme poverty? Fundamentally, does democracy help or hinder development? What is poverty and how can it be defined? The term poverty refers a deprivation of some sort that affects one’s quality of life. Poverty is often described in monetary terms and varies from country to country. Poverty thus is environmentally specific as the idea of poverty will differ in North America and Africa. Many developed countries use a low-income cut-off to gage poverty in their respective societies and a so-called poverty line can be useful for understanding poverty. While very difficult to measure globally, the United Nations frequently uses the analogy of a dollar a day to refer to someone who is poor (for more information on the challenges associated with poverty measurement, see Amartya Sen’s Poverty: An Ordinal Approach to Measurement). How does one define political stability? Theoretically speaking, the term is notoriously difficult to define and definitions will necessarily vary (see Fosu 329-348). Nonetheless, it is integral that the concept of political stability be defined for the theoretical purpose of this essay. Political stability in much of the world is defined as the establishment of democracy and democratic rules of governance. By

Create the topic, since you are writing it not me Essay

Create the topic, since you are writing it not me - Essay Example Although everyone seemed to be informed, very few bought into the sense of community mindset it would take to overcome the challenges of prevention to find a working solution. In Malcolm Gladwell's terms, the lack of adoption of AIDS prevention strategies in spite of widespread awareness discussed in Epstein's essay "AIDS, Inc." is a symptom of weak-tie networks not transitioning into strong-tie connections, a similar psychological problem faced by American college campuses as discussed by Rebekah Nathan. Traditional messaging regarding AIDS in South Africa was focused on forcing the audience to hear and understand the messages being sent. This is very similar to the approach described in Nathan's essay "Community and Diversity," in which college students were coerced into classes attempting to force a false sense of shared community. "As a student, one is immediately enlisted to join the group, to get involved, to realize that one has become a part of the AnyU 'community" (Nathan, 4 1). It didn't work for the students at the university and overt attempts such as this have not been successful in Africa. According to Gladwell, the reasons people decide to join a community remains consistent - those who have strong-tie connections to others engaged in the same pursuit were more likely to behave in the same way while those who had few strong-tie connections were more likely to go their own way. The approach taken correlates with what Gladwell says about weak-tie relationships. According to Gladwell, weak-tie relationships are those formed by general shared interests but few actual responsibilities. "The platforms of social media are built around weak ties," Gladwell says. However, there are strengths in weak ties. "Our acquaintances - not our friends - are our greatest source of new ideas and information. The Internet lets us exploit the power of these kinds of distant connections with marvelous efficiency. It's terrific at the diffusion of innovation, interdiscipl inary collaboration, seamlessly matching up buyers and sellers, and the logistical functions of the dating world." While these networks are very effective in distributing information widely, as evidenced in the surveys mentioned by Epstein, they don't generally lead to the types of changes in behavior needed to address the AIDS epidemic in South Africa. Just as Nathan discovered in the college situation, networks are effective at gathering information about risks and common behaviors among groups, but these kinds of weak-tie connections are not powerful enough to bring about actual change or acceptance of mistrusted sources. Fortunately, an activist group well aware of how to convert weak-tie relationships into strong-tie connections for positive change stepped in to help. The bulk of Epstein's essay is dedicated to discussing just how the organization LoveLife approached the problem, serving as an example to other groups who may wish to do the same. "The trick was to get inside the head-space of these young people ... we have to understand what is driving them into sex - they know what HIV is, but they don't internalize it" (Harrison cited by Epstein, 128). Rather than depending on a mostly one-sided media campaign that mimics much of the characteristics of Nathan's