more about civic education

1. DEFINITION OF CONCEPTS
Civic education can be defined as "the purposeful and systematic effort to develop in adults the
skills and dispositions to function effectively as citizens in their communities as well as in the
larger world. The purpose is to both develop understanding and judgment about public issues and
to contribute to guided and informed decisions and actions through deliberation, public talk, and
dialogue" (Boggs 1991b, p. 5).
A subject that creates awareness to students on civic matters i.e. politics, governance, human
rights etc.
Civics is the study of rights and duties of citizenship. In other words, it is the study of
government with attention to the role of citizens as opposed to external factors in the operation
and oversight of government.
The Purpose of Civic Education
The purpose of civic education is to prepare and motivate youth to participate in civic society. It
seeks to provide youth with basic knowledge and understanding of the government and political
process of their nation, and encourage them to be engaged in the wide range of activities that
make up participation including voting, party membership, issue organization at the grassroots
level, policymaking, candidacy, and work with local NGOs. Some even propose civic education
as a means to increase an individual’s sense of efficacy (Verba, 1995 and Whiteley, 1995).
Regardless, studies have shown that the greater an individual’s civic knowledge, the more likely
they are to participate in public affairs.
The purpose of civic education is to encourage citizens to participate fully in the political life of
a community and country committed to the fundamental values and principles of democracy.
With this as a working purpose, those planning and conducting civic education programmes have
developed considerable variety in their syllabi or curricula.

2. COMPETENCIES OF CIVIC EDUCATION
The civic competencies described below are derived from several sources. We adopted large
portions of the framework and recommendations of the AAC&U Civic Engagement Working
Group as outlined by Caryn McTighe Musil in Civic Engagement in Higher Education (2009).
These competencies are also informed by our own experience, input and feedback from Haas
Center staff, the work of Colby, Ehrlich, Beaumont, and Stephens (2003), We also reviewed
several recent studies designed to validate methods of understanding constructs of personal and
social responsibility, including the Civic Attitudes and Skills Questionnaire developed by Moely,
Mercer, Ilustre, Miron, and McFarland (2002) and the Higher Education Service Learning
Survey developed by Furco, Diaz-Gallegos, and Yamada (1999).
The six civic competencies.
1. Knowledge Acquisition & Generation
2. Civic Skills
3. Civic Values
4. Self Awareness & Attitudes
5. Community & Cultural Awareness
6. Public Action
1. Knowledge Acquisition & Generation
 Acquire and generate knowledge of relevant public issues affecting local and global
communities, and in depth knowledge of at least one public issue
 Describe the main civic intellectual debates within one’s major
 Knowledge of the groups, networks, and systems that address or have the ability to
impact public issues
 Recognize that knowledge is dynamic, changing and consistently evaluated
 Understand that knowledge is socially constructed and implicated with power
 Identify root causes underlying various public issues and the interconnectedness of issues
 Describe key historical struggles, campaigns, and social movements that sought/seek to
achieve the full promise of democracy

3. 2. Civic Skills
 Demonstrate adeptness at critical and integrative thinking, conflict resolution, and
cooperative methods
 Communicate effectively, including listening eloquently, speaking confidently, and
participating in constructive deliberation and dialogue
 Develop a civic imagination and public problem solving skills
3. Civic Values
 Espouse democratic aspirations of equality, opportunity, liberty, and justice for all
 Examine personal values in the context of promoting a public good
 Examine and identify core animating personal values, motivations, and intentions
 Develop affective qualities of integrity and empathy
4. Self Awareness & Attitudes
 Locate one’s self as embedded in relationships, a social location, and a specific historic
moment
 Ascertain the ways one’s identity is connected to inherited and self-chosen communities
 Willingness, inclination, and confidence to become active in one’s passionate
commitments
 Approach relationships with communities with humility
 Develop a disposition of responsibility toward the communities in which one lives and
works (local through global)
5. Community and Cultural Awareness
 Demonstrate cultural awareness and respect, and an appreciation of the
interconnectedness and accumulated wisdom of diverse communities and cultures
 Identify and analyze cultural pluralism within specific contexts
 Analyze how communities can exclude, judge, and restrict
 Move beyond boundaries that traditionally separate communities and ability to work
outside one’s comfort zone
 Describe comparative civic traditions within and by different cultural groups

4.  Analyze local, regional, and global dimensions of public issues
6. Public Action
 Acquire and disseminate knowledge about public issues
 Participate in one or more public service pathways
 Impact a public issue through one or more of the public service pathways (at
transformation level of engagement)
 Create and participate in democratic governance structures
 Develop disciplined civic practices that lead to constructive participation in the
communities in which one lives and works
 Formulate multiple pathways and strategies for action to contribute to the common
wealth
 Develop the moral and political courage to take risks to achieve a public good
 Do more than simply “no harm”
OBJECTIVE S AND GOALS OF CIVIC EDUCATION
 Civic Education aims at imparting the knowledge and skills that we need for effective
participation in the community, government, and politics.
 Civic education seeks to accomplish a number of general goals, such as impart
knowledge about democratic practices and institutions, instill core democratic beliefs and
values, and encourage more active and informed political participation.
 To transmit information on electoral procedures and practices to the largest number of
possible voters.
 To bring local elected officials and their constituents together in programs that are
designed to find solutions to community problems
DEFINITION OF GOOD CITIZENSHIP
Good citizenship means to conduct oneself in accordance with the rights, duties, and privileges of being
an inhabitant of a geographical location by means of birth or naturalization. While this generally means

5. a state or nation, the term has also been applied to inhabitants of particular communities as well as the
world (i.e., world citizen). According to the Georgia State Department of Education, the five most
important characteristics of a good citizen are honesty, compassion, respect, responsibility, and
courage.
Citizen
Person who is entitled to enjoy all the legal rights and privileges granted by a state to the people comprising
its constituency, and is obligated to obey its laws and to fulfill his duties as called upon. Also called national.
Citizenship
In the modern world, citizenship is a legal status that bestows uniform rights and duties upon all
members of a state.
Put yet in other words, citizenship is a state of being vested with the rights, privileges, and duties of a
citizen.
Fatherland
Fatherland means a continent, country, country of origin, home country, homeland, kingdom,
mother country, motherland, native country, native land, origin, or state.
Patriotism
Love of country; devotion to the welfare of one's country; the virtues and actions of a patriot; the
passion which inspires one to serve one's country. It has had different meanings over time and its
meaning is highly dependent upon context, geography, and philosophy.
It is a related sentiment to nationalism, but nationalism is not necessarily an inherent part of
patriotism.

6. Country
A country is a politically organized body of people under a single government distinguished by its
people, culture, language, geography, Politics & Diplomacy.
Nation
Nation is a distinct group or race of people that share history, traditions and culture, typically ethnic
groups with a common language and a common sense of community.
State
A state is a politically organized body of people under a single government.
IMPORTANCE OF CITIZENSHIP
In a place where everyone feels like a citizen, society will flourish as people share a set of
common values. Without it, people will fail to live in shared communities, and life in a place will
become increasingly isolated for its inhabitants who each follow their own individual agendas.
Thus, a need to teach people how to share values.
It also creates a sense of community among those who live in a place in order for society to
survive.
Characteristics of a Good Citizen
 A good citizen is some who respects others and their property.
 He/she is helpful and considerate, willing to put others first.
 He/she listens to the views of others and thinks about what they have to say.
 He/she helps people who are not in position to help themselves
 Demands accountability from the ones he votes for.
 He/she votes for the ones who are accountable.
 Know your public servants. Track your tax dollars
 He/she respects the environment and does not damage it in anyway

7. Duties and obligations of a good citizen
1) S/he defends his country from enemies and invaders
2) S/he pays his or her taxes willingly or promptly
4) S/he takes care and conserves his natural resources
5) S/he helps his country for growth and development
6) S/he has to be a productive individual
8) S/he obeys the laws and maintains peace and order in the community
9) S/He participates actively in various government programs
10) S/he votes wisely and chooses candidates who can serve the people and the country
11) S/he respects the rights of others
LEADERSHIP STYLES
a) Autocratic leadership
Autocratic leadership can be said to be synonymous to dictatorship where only one person has
the authority over the followers or workers. Their decision has to be taken as the golden rule and
should never be questioned. They plan out everything and order their subordinates to work
according to their rules. For instance, if a company has an autocratic leader as the Managing
Director, the employees in the company would have to work as per the rules set down by him.
They would not be expected to make any contribution from their side, which may actually help
in enhancing the productivity of the company. In short, the autocratic leader has full control of
those around him and believes to have the complete authority to treat them as he wants.
b) Democratic leadership or participative leadership

8. The democratic leadership style is a very open style of running a team where Ideas move freely amongst
the group and are discussed openly. Everyone is given a seat at the table, and discussion is relatively
free-flowing.
Lewin’s study found that participative leadership, also known as democratic leadership, is generally the
most effective leadership style. Democratic leaders offer guidance to group members, but they also
participate in the group and allow input from other group members.
c) The Laissez Faire Leadership Style
Laissez faire style simply means a "delegate" approach to leadership. The style is largely a
"hands off" view that tends to minimize the amount of direction and face time required. Works
well if you have highly trained and highly motivated direct reports.
CONFLICT PREVENTION AND MANAGEMENT
Definitions of conflict
 An open clash between two opposing groups (or individuals); "the harder the conflict the
more glorious the triumph"(Thomas Paine, 1999:42).
 Opposition between two simultaneous but incompatible feelings;
 Battle: a hostile meeting of opposing military forces in the course of a war; "Grant won a
decisive victory in the battle of Chickamauga"; "he lost his romantic ideas about war
when he got into a real engagement"
 A state of opposition between persons or ideas or interests; "his conflict of interest made
him ineligible for the post";
 An incompatibility of dates or events; "he noticed a conflict in the dates of the two
meetings"
 Be in conflict; "The two proposals conflict!"
 Opposition in a work of drama or fiction between characters or forces (especially an
opposition that motivates the development of the plot); "this form of conflict is essential
to Mann's writing"

9.  Go against, as of rules and laws; "He ran afoul of the law"; "This behavior conflicts with
our rules"
 Dispute: a disagreement or argument about something important; "he had a dispute with
his wife"; "there were irreconcilable differences"; "the familiar conflict between
Republicans and Democrats"
Conflict resolution
 Conflict resolution is a range of methods for alleviating or eliminating sources of asses.
The term "conflict resolution" is sometimes used interchangeably with the term dispute
resolution or alternative dispute resolution. ...
These are the main 5 causes of conflict.
Recognizing these causes is the first step in dealing with conflict situations.
1. Differing values can lead to conflicts.
When people have differing values, conflicts can result. If one of your personal values in life is
that your family comes first, and if your boss’ personal value is that work comes first, conflict
can be the result when they ask you to stay late at work or to give up a planned family vacation
due to project deadlines.
2. Making assumptions can lead to conflicts.
If the husband assumes that his wife will have a hot meal waiting for him when he gets home
from work (after all he works so hard at bringing home the bacon) and when that hot meal is not
ready, conflict between the husband and wife can result.
When one person assumes anything about another person, well you know the saying about when
you assume anything (that it makes an ASS out of U and ME). If the wife assumes her husband
will remember their anniversary every year (how can he forget the most important date in their
relationship, after all?) a conflict can result when the husband not only doesn’t make special
plans to celebrate the day but doesn’t even remember that it is their anniversary.

10. 3. Differing expectations can lead to conflict.
We expect people to know things without us telling them. What do you mean they can’t read our
minds? Well, they should be able to, isn’t that obvious? Well, no. A lot of things are not obvious
to many people.
Having differing expectations of people, such as expecting the single person in the office to work
during the Christmas vacation while those married people with children expect to have the
vacation time to spend with their family. Isn’t it obvious that those with children have the special
holidays and March break off each year? No, it isn’t obvious.
Just because that may be your expectation, doesn’t mean that it’s the expectation of other people.
No wonder there is so much resentment and conflict at work, if you have that kind of
expectation.
4. Differences in the way you were brought up can result in conflict.
The way that you were brought up, your religion, your gender, your race, and your ethnicity can
result in conflict with people who are different than you.
If you are a woman born in the 1930’s and who grew up during the Great Depression, someone
who was grew up during in the free-loving 1970’s may have a conflict with you regarding
marriage and its vows.
Also, how many of us remember the Cold War and grew up believing that a nuclear war was
inevitable? How can we relate that fear to today’s youth who have no concept of what it was to
live during those times?
We see this all the time between men and women, too. We say that a man can act aggressive at
work, but the same actions by a woman are viewed as her being a bitch. Gender can play a major
role in conflicts.

11. 5. Knowledge and ability to deal with conflict can result in conflict.
If you don’t know how to resolve conflict or are unwilling to try to resolve conflict, this in itself
can conflict with someone else who has more knowledge and is more willing than you are. If two
nations are unwilling to resolve their differences, they are bound to keep that conflict alive for
future generations. We see this in the news every day. Neither side is willing to give an inch to
the other side nor so does the conflict continue.
Now that we know the 5 main causes of conflict, what can we do to resolve conflict?
Conflicts may be the sources of defeat, lost life and a limitation of our potentiality but they may
also lead to greater depth of living and the birth of more far-reaching unities, which flourish in
the tensions that engender them.
There are 5 main conflict resolution and prevention scenarios.
1. Ignore the conflict.
If you have a tendency to avoid or postpone talking about the conflict, you are trying to ignore it
and hope it goes away. This rarely works with serious conflicts. If you want to leave a
relationship because of the conflict, that’s your choice. But, putting your head in the sand and not
dealing with the problem means that you will not learn from the experience either. What you fail
to learn, you are bound to repeat in other relationships.
2. Smooth over the conflict.
Do you try to accommodate the other person and suppress your desires? Smoothing over any
conflict just to avoid confrontation or dealing with both sides of the argument can also result in a
temporary reprieve. The conflict may still be there, but resentment is also underlying as one
person has given up their values in order to smooth over the conflict.
3. Use your authority to settle the conflict.
This is the way that it’s going to be because I said so! Parents say this all the time to their
children when they want them to go to bed and the child wants to stay up and watch TV.

12. Isn’t this the boss’ favorite way, too? After all, they’re the boss and they have authority over you.
Right? Yes? No? How does it make you feel when someone has perceived authority over you
and tells you the way it’s going to be?
4. Negotiate a resolution to the conflict.
Ah, I love a good negotiation. You get what you want and I get what I want. Most of the time
this works out really well. But with all negotiation, I have to give up something and so do you. If
you want me to work this weekend, then I want more money. You may not want to pay me more
money because it’s not in the project budget, but that’s what I want. If you don’t pay my rate,
then you don’t get what you want. I want to make more money, so you have to give me
something in return. Working on that cool upcoming project would be good, too.
5. Use collaboration to resolve the conflict.
This is your typical win-win scenario. Both parties win when they use collaboration.
But, collaboration only works when people trust each other to come to a mutually beneficial
agreement. If you don’t trust the other person (and it doesn’t have to be blind trust, either) you
won’t believe that they are coming to the table to put an end to the conflict between you.
However, if trust is there, this conflict resolution scenario can be the best way to resolve conflicts
once and for all. When both parties come together, communicate, and trust each other, a
definitive resolution to their conflict can occur.
The Five most common types of conflict in the workplace
1. Interdependence Conflicts. A person's job depends on someone else's co-operation,
output or input. For example a sales-person is constantly late inputting the monthly sales
figures which causes the accountant to be late with her reports.
2. Differences in Style. People's style for completing a job can differ. For example, one
person may just want to get the work done quickly (task oriented), while another is more
concerned about having it done a particular way e.g. artistic or by including other people
in the project.

13. 3. Differences in Background/Gender. Conflicts can arise between people because of
differences in educational backgrounds, personal experiences, ethnic heritage, gender and
political preferences.
4. Differences in Leadership. Leaders have different styles. Employees who change from
one supervisor to another can become confused, for example one leader may be more
open and inclusive whilst another may be more directive.
5. Personality Clashes. These types of conflict in the workplace are often fueled by
emotion and perceptions about somebody else's motives and character. For example a
team leader jumps on someone for being late because she perceives the team member as
being lazy and inconsiderate. The team member sees the team leader as out to get him.
PEACE AND TOLERANCE CULTURE
Promoting Culture of Tolerance, Nonviolence, and Peace
What does Culture of Peace mean? And how does the concept become reality? In other words,
how can the ideas and ideals embraced by the term "culture of peace" be transformed into public
policies and private actions that will change lives everywhere?
First and foremost, a culture of peace implies a global effort to change how people think and act
in order to promote peace. It means transforming conflict; preventing potentially violent conflict
and rebuilding peace and confidence among peoples emerging from war. Its mission also extends
beyond war situations to schools and workplaces around the world, to parliamentary chambers
and newsrooms, to households and playgrounds.
A GLOBAL MOVEMENT
Building a culture of peace involves providing children and adults with an understanding of the
principles of and respect for freedom, justice, democracy, human rights, tolerance, equality and
solidarity. It implies a collective rejection of violence. It also implies the means and will to take
part in the development of society. The Culture of Peace concept has taken shape as a broad
socio-political movement, involving partners both in the UN system and beyond. Threats to
peace take many forms, from the lack of respect for human rights, justice and democracy to

14. poverty and ignorance. The Culture of Peace is a response to all such threats and seeks solutions
that must come from within a society, not imposed from outside.
Implementing solutions should involve women and men at all levels of society working together
on a wide cross-section of activities. Cooperation between countries in these areas can provide
the stability and support necessary for lasting results. In this way, efforts to establish a culture of
peace extend beyond individual sectors, communities, regions and countries - they become
global.
Culture of Peace is not just an idea. Since its inception, it has grown from a series of post-conflict
peace-building programmes in a few countries to a major theme of UNESCO’s Medium-
Term Strategy (1996-2001), involving a broad range of the Organization’s activities. Projects are
underway in many countries, including Angola; Burundi; Côte d’Ivoire; El Salvador; Ethiopia;
Haiti; Liberia; Mali; Mozambique; the Philippines; Somalia; Russia and the former Yugoslavia.
They include:
 Activities with parliamentarians and elected officials in the fundamentals of good
governance, democracy and social justice;
 Empowering women to participate in their society;
 Training and social insertion of demobilised soldiers;
 Development and support of media which contribute to the promotion of a culture of
peace;
 Civic education programmes, conflict management and leadership training; and
 Promotion of democratic ideals.
Generations for Peace identifies and brings together youth leaders from divided communities around
the world and trains them on to use the power of sport to unite children and youth from all sides of
their divides. A key element of the programme is to train leaders to be able to cascade the programme
in their own countries, in other words to train the trainers to train more trainers and instructors.
But why to use sports as a tool in peace building? Sport is a universal language; it brings people together

15. and breaks barriers. It is a form of physical education and through sports young people’s energy can be
rightly channeled. By participating in sports the young people learn the ideals of teamwork and
tolerance. In addition sports have had a significant meaning in peace building throughout centuries.
Sports Skills for Peace
Ogaga Maxwell from ECYG Warri has already started to use these newly learned skills to re-launch the
local Earth Charter Youth Group with a Sports Skills 4 Peace -project that is currently taking place in a
city of Sapele. The project is funded by the Youth Action for Change. Sports Skills 4 Peace is aimed at
bringing peace to Niger Delta, one student at a time. The 33 participants were selected from 5 schools.
The project has been endorsed by the Local Ministry of Education.
The project will consist of capacity building workshops in peace building, conflict resolution and
management and sporting sessions. As a part of the project, Ogaga Maxwell introduces the Earth
Charter to the students and school counselors. In his session, Ogaga concentrates in the 16th Earth
Charter principle “Promoting a culture of tolerance, nonviolence, and peace”. Specifically he
emphasizes the sub-principle”Implement comprehensive strategies to prevent violent conflict and use
collaborative problem solving to manage and resolve environmental conflicts and other disputes.” The
aim is to form to these secondary schools Peace Clubs and a new Earth Charter Youth Group (ECYG).
Ogaga stresses that ECYGs can play a meaningful role in the peace process in Niger Delta.
In addition to this, the ECYG Warri is going to organize an essay competition during the next semester in
these same five schools. In addition ECYG Warri will facilitate an Earth Charter Workshop on non-violence.
DEVELOPMENT AND DEFINITION OF CONCEPTS
Development means evolution, progress. These terms mean a progression from a simpler or
lower to a more advanced, mature, or complex form or stage: the development of an idea into
reality; the evolution of a plant from a seed.

16. Development is basically about how rich or poor a country is
Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/development#ixzz1B7VGmisi
Sustainable development (SD) is a pattern of resource use that aims to meet human needs while
preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for
generations to come. The term was used by the Brundtland Commission (1987) which coined what has
become the most often-quoted definition of sustainable development as development that "meets the
needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Socio-cultural development
 Socio-cultural development is an umbrella term for theories of cultural evolution and
social evolution, describing how cultures and societies have developed over time. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socio-cultural_development
Human development
Human development is the study of a human lifecycle from conception to death. It focuses on change
that is cumulative. There are many aspects that shape human development from biological,
psychological and sociocultural factors.
Biological
Physical or biological stages of human life from conception to maturity are as follows:
Prenatal (fertilization to birth)
Child (birth to puberty)
Adolescence and puberty
Adult (21 to death)
Death

17. Developmental Psychology
Psychological changes that occur in humans over the course of their lifetime involving motor
skills, problem solving, moral understanding, language acquisition and identity formation.
Developmental psychology focuses on how a person's behavior changes as he matures.
Societal
Societal human development focuses on the survival, growth, development and evolution of
societies. Some factors that effect human development are economic growth, health, education,
standard of living, social status and adaptability. A person's ability to adapt increases his
survival. Read more: What is the definition of human development? | Answerbag
http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/1866577#ixzz1B7bnuhZX
Human Development Index (HDI)
Definition:
The Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite statistic used as an index to rank countries
by level of "human development" and separate developed (high development), developing
(middle development), and underdeveloped (low development) countries.
A summary composite index that measures a country's average achievements in three basic
aspects of human development: longevity, knowledge, and a decent standard of living. Longevity
is measured by life expectancy at birth; knowledge is measured by a combination of the adult
literacy rate and the combined primary, secondary, and tertiary gross enrollment ratio; and
standard of living is measured by GDP per capita. The Human Development Index (HDI),
reported in the Human Development Report of the United Nations, is an indication of where a
country is development wise.

18. Development indicators
Definition:
Usually a numerical measure of quality of life in a country.
Indicators are used to illustrate progress of a country in meeting a range of economic, social, and
environmental goals.
Since indicators represent data that have been collected by a variety of agencies using different
collection methods, there may be inconsistencies among them.
Indicators of Development
 Literacy, education, and skills (literacy, education, training and skills, and opportunities
for all members of society to increase their capacities) — The availability and level of
education is an indicator in its own right; it also contributes to increased individual and
social choice, and is a prerequisite for better democracy and governance.
 Health (life expectancy, maternal and infant mortality, quality of life, and the levels of
health care available in situations of morbidity) — Physical health and well-being are
basic requirements of stable population growth and the ability to function more
effectively on a regular basis.
 Income and economic welfare (high levels of employment, high incomes per capita, and
increased gross national product, with appropriate corrections for environmental
protection and for income equity) — Personal savings and investment to support
structural change are important.
 Choice, democracy, and participation (participation in social and economic affairs,
with fair economic rewards, the availability of reasonable choice, and participation in the
democratic process). The political process can enable or inhibit development. The
importance of good government and appropriate democratic institutions to articulate
social goals cannot be over-emphasized. Participants were not greatly concerned with the

19. formality of these organizations, but were much more interested in their effectiveness in
serving social goals.
 Technology (the capacity to develop technological innovations and to make
technological choices). Few countries are capable of radical innovation as R&D becomes
more expensive and complicated. For these countries, a more appropriate indicator is the
capacity, in terms of know-how and wealth, to make the appropriate choice between
competing technologies and to develop or adapt technology to fit their own needs.
DEVELOPMENT FACTORS
Economic factors
Economic development means using existing previously unused resources to increase the
productive capacity of the economy by using either new or improved resources.
Economic development is helped by new training methods, better education, discovery of natural
resources and improved technology but for a country to develop economically, it is usually a
very long and tedious process. Usually it stems from the type of government (ie. how stable it is..
how powerful it is.. etc.), the abundance of people/resources or the general infrastructure of said
country. With and increase in general services available to a country comes better living
conditions and more job opportunity... which allows a country to develop in multiple areas for
creating new jobs. Transportation also becomes a factor at this point because a better
transportation system (ie. highways, bridges, airports, canals... etc.) becomes a vital importance
when a country is looking to improve their economy. With a stronger infrastructure... and a
skilled workforce a country becomes much more attractive for businesses looking to expand and
other countries to trade with.
Obstacles to Development

20. 1. Governance Certainly there is a great deal of evidence to suggest that disparities in the
level of development between countries are related to governance and that poor
governance is an obstacle to development.
o The decisions governments make particularly in terms of public spending
o The economic / political ideology
o The level of corruption
o The amount of bureaucracy and hindrance to private enterprise
o The accountability of government to its people
o Security and the rule of law. Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe is a tragic example of
this.
2. Access to Capital The growth of the economies of most of the richer countries in the
world has been based on the right to own property and access to capital. Without access
to capital businesses cannot grow. No property rights and no legal status for your
business = no access to credit = no capital to invest in the growth of your business = no
possibility for growth and expansion = low revenue = low profit. This is the main
problem for people operating in the informal sector. Hernando de Soto
3. Disease Diseases such as Malaria and HIV/Aids reduce the productivity of a country
because death rates among economically active population are increased, people are too
sick to work or caring for the sick. High levels of disease, infant mortality rates and
fertility rates can be related to poor provision of health care Nagle page 438/9
4. Natural Hazards Back to the idea of environmental determinism. Natural hazards can be
an obstacle to development. Drought (Ethiopia mid 1980s), 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami
impact on Indonesia, regular flooding in Bangladesh, tropical storm damage in
Caribbean.
5. Unfair trade and protectionism Subsidies paid to producers in MEDCs and trade barriers
and protectionism limiting access to MEDC markets for LEDC producers are seen as
major obstacles to development. Levels of protectionism are high in the global economy
and many analysts argue that the rules of the Global Economy were made by MEDCs for
the benefit of MEDCs.

21. 6. Trade – Benefits for all? In theory trade should benefit all countries. International trade
has been going on for a long time, so why are not all countries rich? http://
www.maketradefair.com
7. There is no easy answer The theories attempting to explain disparities in development
between countries are complex and offer sometimes opposing ideas. The obstacles to
development are in some cases environmental but in all cases a combination of internal
and external economic, social and political factors are involved. The debate on the
different approaches to development is fiercely fought…
8. Population Growth
Developing countries are primarily responsible for the population explosion in the world and, in
general, still have high rates of natural increase due to high birth rate. Due to this rapid growth of
population, we are witnessing the worsening of problems such as poverty, the growth of slums
and rising of crime, violence and social instability, malnutrition, difficult access to education and
lack of health care.
9. Natural Hazards
In general, developing countries are more vulnerable to natural hazards because the financial and
technical resources available to carry out disaster prevention, saving lives and rebuilding
infrastructure are lower than those of developed countries. That is why hurricanes, earthquakes,
tsunamis, floods and droughts, very common in developing countries, have a great impact on its
economy.
A good example is what happened in Haiti and Chile. A strong earthquake in Chile resulted in
less than a thousand victims. In Haiti, the death rate was more than two hundred thousand.Read
more: http://socyberty.com/issues/obstacles-to-development-2/#ixzz1BHwt6CxC

22. Obstacles or constraints to economic development
1. Political Instability. In most of the developing countries, the governments are not stable. A
new government comes into power overnight, either through coup defeat or army take over. The
new government introduces a new system of rules for the operation of business which causes
frustration and discontentment among the people. How does political instability affect growth is
discussed in brief below.
(i) Influence of political instability. When there is lack of political stability in the country, it
directly affects economic growth. It closes off sources of internal and external investments.
(ii) The external investors. The external investors do not invest in a country where there is
political instability. The flow of investment in countries where there is civil war coups, army
take over etc. is either negligible or zero.
(iii) Internal investment. Political instability also limits internal investment. The wealthy class
in developing countries have enough income to spare. They can invest their savings in profitable
projects. Generally, they avoid investing founds in their own country for fear of nationalization
of their projects, large scale interference by militant trade unions, harsh and exploitative attitude
of the various govt. agencies involved in the setting and operation of the projects etc. The well
off people including the politicians in developing countries prefer to take their money outside the
country or channel their investment out of their own country. The developing countries are
therefore, deprived of investment funds which adversely affect economic growth.
(iv) Internal disorder. The defeated political parties, the rich landlords, the various ethnic
groups etc. who are not able to capture power take up and support anti govt. activities by taking
out processions, making bomb blasts, killing the innocent people by indiscriminate firing etc. All
these activities result in creating political instability in the country and as such adversely affect
economic development.
2. Corruption. Corruption is another obstacle to economic development in developing
countries. The bribery or gift of money has becomes institutionalized. The govt. officials think
bribery is built into their pay structure. The businessmen, if they are to stay in business, have to

23. pay bribes to different departments of the govt. The employees give gift of money to their
superiors. When bribery is an acceptable practice, it then becomes difficult for businessmen and
industrialists to take part, stay and grow in business. Bribery thus limits economic development.
It is one of the major obstacles to economic growth in Pakistan also.
3. Lack of investment. For an economy to grow, it must have investment. The funds for
investment can come either from domestic savings or from abroad. Both these sources of
investment funds have their own peculiar problems which in brief are discussed as under.
(i) Investment funding by domestic savings. For economic growth we must give up
unnecessary expenditure so that the economy can achieve even greater consumption in the
future. In developing countries, the people with per capita incomes of as low as $ 600 per year
hardly meet the bare necessities of life. They have little to put into savings. The middle class
persons do save for their old age, marriage of children etc and put their money in saving banks.
The rich people prefer to invest their savings abroad. The overall result is that domestic savings
in most of the developing countries is as low around 13% of GDP; whereas it should not be less
than 25% of GDP to promote growth.
(ii) Investment funding from abroad. Another way to generate funds for investment is to
obtain (a) Foreign loans or (b) foreign private investment or (c) both. The foreign loans or the
foreign private investment has their own peculiar problems.
(a) Foreign loans. For financing development of the less developed countries (LDC's) the flow
of capital comes from (i) individual national govts (ii) multinational assistance organizations and
(iii) multinational companies. (i) The individual national govts give financial assistance to LDC's
mainly for their own economic and political interests. So long as the developing country is
protecting the interest of the donor countries, the flow of capital counties. It is stopped or very
much slowed down when the recipient country is of no benefit to them (America stopped
financial assistance to Pakistan after the Afghan War was over). A developing country, therefore,
cannot rely on such foreign aid for economic growth. (ii) Same is the position now of the
multinational assistance organizations like the Word Bank and international Monetary Fund
(lMF) These organizations which are mainly funded by the developed capitalists countries of the

24. world are also using these organizations to promote their own economic and political interests.
All the developing countries including Pakistan are now knee deep in bebts of these
organizations. The problem of debt servicing, rescheduling has adversely affected economic
growth of the poor countries. (iii) As regards the flow of capital from multinational companies,
they make investment in those countries where infrastructure facilities such as transportation,
power, cheap labour force, raw material etc. are available. As these companies do not generally
help in establishing infrastructure in poor countries, therefore they do not contribute much to
economic growth of the LDC's. The problem of lack pf proper investment, therefore, remains in
developing countries.
4. Right Education. The provision of right education to the citizens of a country is a necessary
component of any successful development strategy. In developing countries, the educational
system is defective. There is mush-room growth of English medium schools in cities. The syllabi
taught to the students at each level of education reflects the Western culture and not the culture
and requirements of their own country. The result is that the students holding degrees remain
jobless which creates discontment and frustration among them. The brilliant students of the
developing countries go outside the country. The outdated syllabi of various classes, the mass
failure of the students in various board and university examinations, outflow of the brightest
students from less developed countries to the developed countries (Brain drain) create gaps in
business, administrative circles and become obstacles to economic growth.
5. Over Population. In developed countries of the world, only 2 to 4% of the population is
engaged in agriculture and produces enough food and fibre to meet the requirements of their
citizens and also earn foreign exchange by exporting surplus goods. Through technological
progress, they have avoided the fate predicted by Thomas Malthus. The developing countries, on
the other hand, are struggling very hard to avoid the Malthusian fate. In these countries about
50% to 60% of the population is engaged in agriculture. The diminishing marginal
productivity has exceeded technological change. The result is a falling output per person and a
slow economic growth. The rapid population growth in developing countries is a major obstacle
to economic growth Effective measures shall have to be taken to reduce population growth
falling which development of these countries will remain a dream.

25. 6. Inefficient Human Capital. In addition to physical capital, human capital is also limited in
developing countries. The quality of population as measured by its skills, education and health is
far below the standard in developed countries of the world. Deceases, starvation, glut of
unskilled workers stand in the way of economic development of the developing countries of the
world.
7. Dual Economy. In developing countries, there are two types of economies which are
generally functioning. These economies are somewhat unrelated to each other. One economy is
the market economy and the other is a traditional non market or subsistence economy. The life
stile of the people, social customs, the methods of production etc. differ very much from each
other in these two different economies. The occurrence of dualism stand in the way of optimum
utilization of resources. Thus dualism is also considered an important obstacle to economic
growth.
8. Demonstration effect. Demonstration effect on consumption level is also a major constraint
on the path of economic development of under developed countries. The international
demonstration effect increases propensity to consume of the people and reduces the rate of
saving and investment in the countries.
9. Inadequate infrastructure facilities. The under developed countries suffer from lack of
basic infrastructure such as transport and communication system, power supply, banking and
other financial facilities. The provision of inadequate infrastructure facilities stand in the way of
economic development of the poor countries.
10. Inappropriate Social Structure. Inappropriate social system such as outdated religious
beliefs, caste system, irrational attitude toward family planning etc. is also a constraint on the
economic development of developing countries.
11. Market imperfections. Market imperfections in the form of immobility of factors of
production, ignorance of market conditions, price rigidity etc. are serious obstacles in the path of
economic development of the backward countries.

26. Summing up we can say that economic development is a complete process. It is directly
influenced by economic, social, cultural, administrative and political factors. Ragnar Nurkse
has rightly said, ''Economic development has much to do with human endowments, social
attitudes, political conditions and historical accidents. Capital is necessary but not a
sufficient condition of progress.' Read more: http://socyberty.com/issues/obstacles-to-development
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