scholarly journals Revisiting Bureaucratic Dysfunction: The Role of Bureaucracy in Democratization

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-147
Author(s):  
Im Tobin
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Karl Marx ◽  
Max Weber ◽  
Developmental State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Missing Link

While many studies have focused on the link between economics and democracy in exploring the strategies adopted by developing countries, they have tended to overlook the role of bureaucracy in democratization. This study seeks the missing link between bureaucracy and democratization. What are the conditions necessary for bureaucracy to facilitate the democratization process of a country? This article begins by briefly reviewing the bureaucracy literature from Max Weber and Karl Marx and then argues that despite its shortcomings, bureaucracy in its Weberian form can facilitate the political democratization of a developmental state. This study concludes that although bureaucracy is often regarded as dysfunctional, it can be instrumental in the democratization process in the context of the developmental state.

Re-Thinking the Role of Institutions in Neoliberalism From New Institutional Economics Perspective

2020 ◽  
pp. 25-40
Author(s):  
Ilke Civelekoglu ◽  
Basak Ozoral
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Political Economy ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Property Rights ◽  
Institutional Economics ◽  
New Institutional Economics ◽  
The Political ◽  
Formal Institutions ◽  
Fertile Ground

In an attempt to discuss neoliberalism with a reference to new institutional economics, this chapter problematizes the role of formal institutions in the neoliberal age by focusing on a specific type of formal institution, namely property rights in developing countries. New institutional economics (NIE) argues that secure property rights are important as they guarantee investments and thus, promote economic growth. This chapter discusses why the protection of property rights is weak and ineffective in certain developing countries despite their endorsement of neoliberalism by shedding light on the link between the institutional structure of the state and neoliberalism in the developing world. With the political economy perspective, the chapter aims to build a bridge between NIE and political economy, and thereby providing fertile ground for the advancement of NIE.

scholarly journals Mutual Effects of Land Distribution and Economic Development: Evidence from Asia, Africa, and Latin America

Land ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hossein Azadi ◽  
Eric Vanhaute
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Human Capital ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Latin America ◽  
The Political ◽  
Land Distribution ◽  
Land Inequality ◽  
Comparative Review ◽  
Different Dimensions

Land plays an important role in the economies of developing countries, and many theories connecting land inequality with different dimensions of economic development already exist. Even though efficacious land distribution allows societies to transition from poverty to a human capital-based developed economy, ongoing issues related to property rights, inequality, and the political economy of land distribution are unavoidable. The general objective of this paper is to explore the nexus between land distribution and economic development. The specific objectives are to: (i) identify which land distribution programs/activities contribute to economic development; (ii) investigate the role of stakeholders in land distribution programs that affect the growth of productivity; and (iii) assess the deficiencies of current land distribution policies in Asia, Africa, and Latin America to explore how economic development theories contribute to decreasing income inequality. This paper provides an overview of land distribution history and the main economic development theories. It also highlights the links between land distribution and the main elements of economic development. Finally, it provides a comparative review of the most recent empirical works regarding the characteristics, limitations, and potential (mutual) effects of land distribution and economic development settings on developing countries worldwide.

scholarly journals From Developmental State to Developmental Society?: The Role of Civil Society Organizations in Recent Korean Development and Possible Lessons for Developing Countries

2009 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-71
Author(s):  
Thomas Kalinowski
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Shock Therapy ◽  
Developmental State ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Development Theory ◽  
Political Environment ◽  
General Development ◽  
Political Processes

In the 1980s and 1990s, rapid market oriented reforms, liberalization and privatization ("shock therapy") in developing and transformational countries caused economic and social problems that began to undermine the legitimacy of political democratization and market reforms itself. Scholars in the field of transformation and development theory found that market coordination alone was not able to fill the void left by a weak or weakening state. In this essay, we look at the case of Korea to find out if an active civil society can substitute functions of the withdrawing developmental state since the 1980s. We show that civil society organizations (CSOs) in Korea have been relatively effective in influencing political processes, shaping public opinion, compensating the weakness of political instirucions, and contributing to general development. Korean CSOs achieved this remarkable impact despite substantial organizational problems and a relatively unfavorable socioeconomic and political environment. This effectiveness and the synergy between state and civil society make Korean CSOs very interesting to study for development scholars. Korea might offer some valuable lessons on how to improve advocacy CSOs in an unfavorable environment similar to that of many developing countries.

scholarly journals Interview with David McLellan July 2018

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-104
Author(s):  
Larry Ray ◽  
Iain Wilkinson
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
Karl Marx ◽  
Contract Law ◽  
The Political ◽  
World Peace ◽  
Emeritus Professor ◽  
Political Implications ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
English Speaking World

David McLellan, interviewed here, is a Fellow of Goldsmiths College, University of London and Emeritus Professor of Political Theory, University of Kent. Since the 1970s he has been one of the leading biographers, translators and commentators on Marx in the English-speaking world. He is the author of several books on Marx and Marxism, including The Young Hegelians and Karl Marx; Karl Marx: His Life and Thought; Karl Marx: Selected Writings; Marx before Marxism; and Marxism and Religion. He has also published a biography of Simone Weil, books on the political implications of Christianity, and a lengthy article on contract law and marriage. He lectures widely around the world on these topics, frequently in China, and in 2018 addressed a conference in Nairobi on religion and world peace. In this interview, or conversation, with Larry Ray and Iain Wilkinson, in July 2018, David discusses the origins of his interest in Marx, the development Marx’s thought and his critique of the Hegelians, Marx’s critical method, Marx and religion, Marx on Russia, the role of violence in social change, the relevance of Marx’s work today, and offers comments on some recent biographies. David has spent much of his intellectual career engaging with the meaning and legacy of Marxism and these reflections should generate reflection and debate on the significance of Marx and the possibilities of radical political change today.

The New Technopolitics of Development and the Global South as a Laboratory of Technological Experimentation

2017 ◽  
Vol 42 (5) ◽  
pp. 947-968 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Moe Fejerskov
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Global South ◽  
Development Cooperation ◽  
The Political ◽  
The West ◽  
Gates Foundation ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Contemporary Technology

Science and technology have been integral issues of development cooperation for more than sixty years. Contrary to early efforts’ transfer of established technologies from the West to developing countries, contemporary technology aspirations increasingly articulate and practice the Global South as a live laboratory for technological experimentation. This approach is especially furthered by a group of private foundations and philanthrocapitalists whose endeavors in developing countries are, like their companies, shaped by logics of the individual, the market, and of societal progress through technological innovation and experimentation. This article draws upon critical intellectual thought about the political and social ramifications of technology to reflect on the renascent role of technology in development cooperation. It traces the discourses and practices of philanthrocapitalist organizations, in particular the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to understand how their experimentalist technology aspirations influence human life and relations in the Global South. This article argues that this newfound focus on technology in development cooperation may challenge the essence of democracy, reduce participation, and have undesirable consequences for populations in the Global South.

Hegemony, Contestation, and Empowerment: The Politics of Law and Society Studies in South Korea

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 275-304
Author(s):  
Chulwoo LEE
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
Karl Marx ◽  
Max Weber ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
Law And Society ◽  
Empirical Science ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Implications ◽  
Academic Practices ◽  
New Generation

The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it.(Karl Marx, Theses on Feuerbach, 1845)It can never be the task of an empirical science to provide binding norms and ideals from which directives for immediate practical activity can be derived.(Max Weber, Objectivity of Social Science and Social Policy, 1904)AbstractThis paper traces the development of law and society studies in South Korea, elucidates the political implications of the academic practices of law and society scholars, and identifies the forms of their political engagement. It canvasses the situation of law and society studies in the pre- and post-Liberation periods and analyzes the changes that have occurred since law and society came to be studied and taught in universities. The paper shows how the early generations of scholarship were sidestepped in the 1980s by the so-called “third-generation legal scholarship” and delineates the counter-hegemonic movement launched by the new generation of scholars. It throws light on the empowerment of critical law and society scholars in the post-democratization phases of the 1990s and 2000s, when many of those scholars actively participated in policy-making and civil advocacy, and discusses the tensions in those developments.

scholarly journals ECONOMY AS A RELIGIOUS PROBLEM. A POLITICAL APPROACH

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-67
Author(s):  
Fabián Ludueña Romandini
Keyword(s):  
Karl Marx ◽  
Walter Benjamin ◽  
Max Weber ◽  
The Political ◽  
Modern Capitalism ◽  
Political Approach ◽  
Ernst Troeltsch ◽  
Religious Aspects ◽  
Point Of Departure

This article tackles the problem of understanding money and economy with non-economic analytical categories. The first part is devoted to point out the differences between the exclusively economic approaches to money and the recent research, from anthropology to philosophy, that has laid stress on the political and religious aspects of the monetary phenomenon. The second part is focused on Georg Simmel’s fundamental contributions to a philosophical comprehension of money. Finally, a fragment by Walter Benjamin is the point of departure to consider the religious and political aspects of modern capitalism and their relationships with the works of Karl Marx, Ernst Troeltsch and Max Weber.

scholarly journals Critical Media and Communication Studies Today. A Conversation

1970 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 247-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Fuchs ◽  
Dwayne Winseck
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Karl Marx ◽  
The Political ◽  
Communication Studies ◽  
Critical Media ◽  
The Status ◽  
Political Economies ◽  
The Media ◽  
Media And Communication

This article documents a conversation between us that was first published in parallel on our two blogs http://dwmw.wordpress.com and http://fuchs.uti.at/blog. The conversation deals with our assessments of the status of Critical Media and Communication Studies today. We discuss the work of Dallas Smythe, how to study and assess Google, research dimensions of Critical Political Economy of the Media, how important each of these dimensions should be, the role of ideology critique for Critical Political Economy of the Media, the commonalities and differences between Political Economies of the Media and Critical Political Economy of the Media/Critique of the Political Economy of the Media, the role of Karl Marx for Political Economies of the Media, Nicholas Garnham's recent comments on the field of Critical Political Economy of the Media, neoliberalism and capitalist crisis as contexts for Political Economies of the Media. Comments are very welcome on our blogs, URLs to the specific blog postings can be found in the article sections.

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