What is Political Economy? How does the Global South differ from the

North?

Political Economy of the Global SouthProf. Tyson Roberts

Responses to readings and film

What is political economy?

Write down your answer, then share with a neighbor

What is political economy?

• A topic• An approach

What is political economy?

• A topic– For example (from J.S. Mill, 1844): • “Political Economy is a science which teaches, or

professes to teach, in what manner a nation may be made rich.”• "The science which treats of the production and

distribution of wealth, so far as they depend upon the laws of human nature.”

What is political economy?

• An approach– For example, (from Frieden 1992):• “Modern political economy, simply put, studies how

rational self-interested actors combine within or outside existing institutional settings to affect social outcomes.”

Modern Political Economy Approach

• Actors• Interests & Ideas• Policy Preferences• Groups• Institutions• Outcomes

Frieden’s stylized evolution of crisis politics

What were some crises in the Mobutu film?

Mobutu example

1. Crisis: Copper production falls, Cold War aid ends2. Unfavorable effect on soldiers & civil servants

(salaries unpaid), students (no scholarships), etc.3. Groups put pressure on government for relief4. Government policies enrich Mobutu and family

at cost of other groups5. Pressure for change in political leadership or

regime

In this class we will treat “political economy” as both a topic and an approach

What is the global south?

Write down your answer, then share with a neighbor

Categorizing Nations

• 1st, 2nd, and 3rd World• Developed and Developing• Low, Middle, and High Income• Global North and South

1st, 2nd, and 3rd World

• French demographer Alfred Sauvy wrote of "Three worlds, one planet" in 1952

• 1st World: U.S., Western Europe & allies• 2nd World: the “Communist Bloc”: USSR, China,

Cuba & friends• 3rd World: The remaining nations, which

aligned with neither group

1st, 2nd, and 3rd World

1st, 2nd, and 3rd World

• Drawbacks to this categorization scheme– Unclear which countries are included in 3rd World– Does “Communist Bloc” exist anymore?– Why should the West be considered “1st”?

The World Bank includes Low and Middle Income countries as “Developing Countries”

What is Gross National Income per capita?

• GDP is Gross Domestic Product, the sum of gross value added by all resident producers in the economy – Plus any product taxes and – Minus any subsidies not included in the value of the

products.• GNI (Gross National Income) is GDP plus net

receipts of primary income (compensation of employees and property income) from abroad

• GNI per capita is GNI divided by population

The Group of 77 (G77) is a coalition of “developing nations” in the UN (now with 134

members) with common interests

Developing vs. Developed Countries

• Drawbacks to this categorization scheme– Implies hierarchy of nations– Implies that “developed nations” have achieved

ideal state– Implies that “developing nations” are growing– Use of GNI per capita ignores issues such as

inequality, environmental deprivation, etc.

Global North vs. Global South

• Using language that is more neutral, the Global North refers to the advanced industrialized nations in North America, Europe, and Japan

• Drawing the line between the two is a challenge, since many former Communist countries are in the north but relatively poor, while the Asian Tigers are south but wealthy

• West German Chancellor Willy Brandt drew a line that included Africa, the Middle East, and most of Asia (excluding Japan) as the Global South

The Brandt Line

Global North vs. Global South

• According to Wikimedia,• The Global North includes – Australia, Canada, Israel, Hong Kong, Macau, New

Zealand, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, the United States & all of Europe (including Russia).

• The Global South includes – Asia (with the exception of Japan, Hong Kong, Macau,

Singapore, South Korea & Taiwan), Central America, South America, Mexico, Africa, & the Middle East (with the exception of Israel)

Developing vs. Developed Countries

• Drawbacks to this categorization scheme– Implies hierarchy of nations– Implies that “developed nations” have achieved

ideal state– Implies that “developing nations” are growing– Use of GNI per capita ignores issues such as

inequality, environmental deprivation, etc.

Global North vs. Global South

• According to Wikimedia,• The Global North includes – Australia, Canada, Israel, Hong Kong, Macau, New

Zealand, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, the United States & all of Europe (including Russia).

• The Global South includes – Asia (with the exception of Japan, Hong Kong, Macau,

Singapore, South Korea & Taiwan), Central America, South America, Mexico, Africa, & the Middle East (with the exception of Israel)

Defining characteristics

• What are some general characteristics of the Global South (or “developing countries”)– Consider the Lipset article

Differences between “Global South” relative to the “Global North” (in general, per Lipset)

• Lower wealth– Less income, doctors, motor vehicles, telephones,

radios, and newspapers per capita• Lower industrialization– Fewer workers in agriculture, less energy consumed per

capita• Less education– Lower literacy and enrollment rates

• Less urbanization• Fewer stable democracies

Question: Is democracy related to development level?

• How to answer such a question? • One approach: Case studies– Together we will examine DRC/Zaire and Bolivia– Each student will study his/her own country

• Another approach: Cross-national analysis

Source: PWT & Polity IV via QoG; Year: 2007

“…. In this symposium, … deviant cases which do not fit a given proposition are cited to demonstrate that there are no social conditions which are regularly associated with a given complex political system. So the conflicts among political philosophers about the necessary conditions underlying given political systems often lead to a triumphant demonstration that a given situation clearly violates the thesis of one’s opponent, much as if the existence of some wealthy socialists, or poor conservatives, demonstrated that economic factors were not an important determinant of political preference.”

Seymour Martin Lipset, 1959: 70

The potential danger of selecting few cases…

Source: QoG; Year: 2007

Linear regressionPolity score = 2.3 + 1.3 * GDP per capita in $10k + “error”

Source: QoG; Year: 2007

What are some topics or questions you are interested in for this class?