Question
Politics in Third World Countries
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Subject | Law and governance | Pages | 4 | Style | APA |
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Answer
Politics in third world countries
Politics can be defined as the activities related to the governance of a country or an area. Since evolution of humanity, human beings evolved to more complex beings in terms of ways of life, this includes politics. As seen from the wolf packs, structured ways of leadership has seen to have evolved since the early ages, from the communities as far as the red Indians in the United States of America to the Soninke people in ancient Ghana. The main question is, has third world politics and leadership evolved with the world? Or it has since lagged behind and if so what could be the possible reason for the staggering growth of the third world politics and what could be done to rescue the situation. This task tries to understand the issues and problems that have dominate the structures of third world politics more so African politics.
Africa, as it is often called the mother land. The scramble for Africa aided Africa’s growth and the same time robbed its resources to feed the insatiable appetite of the west. Although some of the African countries were not colonized (Ethiopia), in one way or the other all African countries suffer from imperialism and it has affected the leaders and politics in overall. ( ADUKU 2018 ) Most of the European countries like Germany and Britain tried to implement their structures of leadership to their colonies which have been adopted by most of the countries. For example, the British used indirect rule which meant overseeing the existing African leadership and replacing them with Britain’s own structure. Since independence there have been a number of interventions from the western countries to try and uplift the status of the African countries but one that seems to act as a huge obstacle in developing societies is in terms of the indigenous traditions. Modernization and tradition seem not to mix as tradition seems to be more conservative and undervalue the aid of external help in terms of development.
During the 19th century almost every major super power was in china and for its ports, (Hungary, the UK, and France) railways, water ways and its coastline but the current day china is one of the developed countries in terms of its politics and infrastructure. How did it manage all this while the African countries still lag behind? China’s development was highly dependent on a myriad of factors: large-scale capital investment and rapid productivity growth all of which is possible because of their good structural political system compared to the African countries like Congo which have the resources but their futile political structures hamper its growth. Africa has its politics incapable of performing for the people because of its instability and this due to a number of reasons. For instance, to date, a good number of African countries are still being affected by historical injustices and structures that were left behind post colonization. In countries like Zimbabwe and Uganda, leaders use the iron fist to rule over the people. As the leaders tend to have a firm grip on power making their people suffer and almost all the property relinquished after independence is automatically theirs in turn crippling the country’s economy. In this context, some of African countries have seen their freedom fall into dictators as they loot their country’s natural resources, practice politics of exclusion to imbalance power in their favor to continue to dominate the public sector. Though the problems have been highlighted and fought for by some ordinary citizens, it still has its roots sunk deep in the society and in the end the person may be labeled an enemy of the people.
It is undeniable that the political instability in most of the African countries is due to internal causes but it is evident and documented that the international community plays its part in the deterioration of African politics as they undermine the existing African institutions put in place to promote democracy. Elements such as poverty, violence, diseases and unequal development is on the radar of some elite group who use in their favor to rip Africa its resources and seem to be helping Africans battle their problems by making sign some international treaties which will come to haunt Africans. Africa is well endowed with resources and if well managed, it has the capability sustaining its economy with no strain whatsoever. It is well documented that stolen wealth from the African countries always end up in banks abroad. For instance, the case of Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire, Abacha of Nigeria and the Anglo-leasing scandals ( Chama 2019). in Kenya in the kibaki era.
Another pressing matter playing its part in the un-functional African political structures is the existing institutions of the states and how they operate. In spite of the existing institutions which are structured to operate and serve the people through their constitutions often structured by the African elites are always tempered with by the people in power themselves because of their scavenging nature to tend to act above the law thus undermining and weakening the country’s own political stability. This behavior tend to make the already bad situation worse by provoking the ethnic rivalry, xenophobia, resources wars and more recently the post election violence that happened in Kenya which claimed a colossal number of Kenyan citizens because of the elite bending rules to suit them.
Lastly, the main theme that’s characterized African politics and Africa itself as a man kill man society is its bad leaders. Despite the political awareness of some of the African population, it still surprising how the most biased and most incapable of leaders tend to get the power to lead the people. The incapable leaders then tend to run the countries in ways labeled as far from western world that run by the book and follow everything by the book despite the wealth or position of someone. Most of the leaders in Africa tend to practice politics that plays with the people’s mind in terms their traditions, geographical area and make empty promises. Due to all this, Africa has gained it’s a reputation as a continent that operates in a closed cylinder and it’s the architect of its own problems.
Conclusions
In conclusion the leadership predicament is being challenged by few knowledgeable individuals who tend to ask the governance the right questions which is a huge step forward as people begin to understand the difference between bad and good politics and the consequences that come with bad politics. The existence of the pull and push factors in the African politics because of the rise of activist like P. L. O Lumumba from Kenya will rip benefits in due time cause the African elites are being monitored closely. I still believe leadership in Africa is not a lost cause as one day Africa will be enjoying.
References
ADUKU, A. I. (2018). THE SCRAMBLE AND PARTITION FOR CONENT: THE PLACE OF AFRICA IN A GLOBALISED PREGRAMMES MARKET. Chama, B. (2019). Tabloid Journalism and Anti-corruption Crusade in Kenya, In anti-Corruption Tabloid journalism in africa (pp. 147-163). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. |