POLB91H3 Lecture : POLB91 Lec 1.doc
Document Summary
Domestic power structures and development: course intro. [see syllabus under course information on web page] A major determinant of development strategies and outcomes is the character of the state, and the domestic power structures and political coalitions underpinning it. Types of state power: despotic power: the power to control and suppress. States borders and institutions were imposed by colonial rulers. Strong despotic power but weak infrastructural/transformative power. Purpose of developmental rule was extractive rather than developmental. Power structure of the colonial state was entrenched by ruling elites after independence to protect their interests: infrastructural power: the power to administer and transform. Development trap: the vicious circle of poverty that prevents a country from developing. Collier"s thesis: the real challenge of development is that there is a group of countries at the bottom that are falling behind, and often falling apart (e. g. the bottom billion). Conflict trap: war makes a country, and poverty makes a country prone to war.
