PSCI 209: Introduction to Comparative Politics

Final Exam

In your essay, students should address the question completely, being sure to include all relevant information.  Please define your terms and treat this assignment as if you are now the teacher and I am the student.  Explain the necessary concepts and terms by drawing on both the classroom discussion and the required readings. 

write a comprehensive essay that answers the question. 

 Zombies have attacked the world but they contain their desire for destruction to the developed, industiralized, capitalist world (Western Europe, the United States, and Canada).  With the destruction of these 1st world nations you must now flee for your own survival.  Your hope is to find a “successful” developing country to reside in.  All of the countries we discussed during the last part of the semester are considered developing states (Russia, China, India, Mexico, Brazil and Iran).  By first describing what you would consider a “successful” non-zombie invaded country (this is absolutely essential because it sets the foundation for the rest of your essay), then discuss why ONEof the countries has failed to achieve success or development and counterpoise this with a discussion of ONE of these developing countries that best fits or has the potential to fit your description of success.  In other words, which of these countries would you want to live in (based on the issues discussed in class) and which country would you not want to live in. Be sure to be comprehensive in your answer and avoid superficial descriptions. You may NOT write on your country! Be sure to engage the “case studies” in the book on each country and the presentations and reading lists provided by your peers (these are posted in the “journals” section of Blackboard. 

The Human Development Index – going beyond income
Each year since 1990 the Human Development Report has published the human development index (HDI) which looks beyond GDP to a broader definition of well-being. The HDI provides a composite measure of three dimensions of human development: living a long and healthy life (measured by life expectancy), being educated (measured by adult literacy and gross enrolment in education) and having a decent standard of living (measured by purchasing power parity, PPP, income). The index is not in any sense a comprehensive measure of human development. It does not, for example, include important indicators such as gender or income inequality nor more difficult to measure concepts like respect for human rights and political freedoms. What it does provide is a broadened prism for viewing human progress and the complex relationship between income and well-being.
Of the components of the HDI, only income and gross enrolment are somewhat responsive to short term policy changes. For that reason, it is important to examine changes in the human development index over time. The human development index trends tell an important story in that respect. Between 1980 and 2007 India’s HDI rose by 1.33% annually from 0.427 to 0.612 today. HDI scores in all regions have increased progressively over the years

Slow Economic Progress Of India

The reasons for the slow economic progress of India can be classified under the following five heads:
1. Social Causes
2. Administrative Causes
3. Economic Causes
4. Political Causes
5. Technological Causes

SOCIAL CAUSES
1. Religious Bigotry And Communal Violence: The communal violence and fundamentalism related violence leads to the draining of the resources of the nation as the government has to spend extra on the security of the nation. Also the violence leads to the loss of man and material resources, which slows down the economic progress.
2. Caste & Creed Distinction: The cast and creed distinction breeds discontent and enmity in the country, which results in economic disparity as well as the backwardness of some of the social groups.
3. Illiteracy: Illiteracy is one of the major causes of economic backwardness of the nation as illiterate people are not able to make their ends meet which leads to their low economic standards as well as slowing down of the economy.
4. Lack of basic amenities: lack of basic amenities like water, sewage, electricity etc. leads to poor hygiene conditions which results in poor overall health levels of the nation.
5. Overpopulation: Overpopulation puts extra strain on the limited resources of the nation, which results in poverty and low per capita income.
6. Terrorism: Terrorism also results in extra burden on the national resources as government has to deploy extra resources for the national security and protecting the assets of the nation.

Taking these into account – I think that India has done very well, and will continue to develop at a faster rate over the coming years. (Wars permitting)

10 reasons Why India will never become a developed country

1) Corruption in the country.

Our corruption index have back pedalled for many years. Each year getting from bad to worse.As long as our politicians and civil servants are well schooled in the fine art of corruption, the less likelihood the chance for our country to progress to a develop country. No one can disagree in this with me.

2) Judiciary

Our country’s judiciary has totally lost the confidence. They have made a lot of decisions based on political expediency rather than on the rule of law.

3) Racial Discrimination.

In today’s border-less world any form of racial discrimination is viewed with abhorrence.Not only is it repulsive but it is totally unaccepted in every uncivilized country’s. But here in India its a way of life, people discriminate fellow country men every day in whatever way they can. As an Indian i know this, any one from India say they don’t then its a lie, We discriminated on their skin colour,  on their state, what language they speak, on religion, on cast system list goes on. Every one is ready to discriminate as much they can.

4) Growing gap b/w rich and poor -Recipe for disaster

India’s GDP is  around 7% to 9% but still gap between Rich and a poor is too high. In ever 30 minutes a farmer commit suicide and in 1 hr 3200 people die with water borne diseases.

5) Environmental degradation

Environmental issues in India are many. Air pollution, water pollution, garbage pollution and wildlife natural habitat pollution challenge India. The situation was worse between 1947 through 1995. According to data collection and environment assessment studies of World Bank experts, between 1995 through 2010, India has made one of the fastest progress in the world, in addressing its environmental issues and improving its environmental quality. Still, India has a long way to go to reach environmental quality similar to those enjoyed in developed economies. Pollution remains a major challenge and opportunity for India.

6) Apathy of the media –

 Media is of India is a joke for TPR They can put any false news on Air. eg-

The TRP ratings of Zee News was soaring on Monday as it discovered the cave on an 8,000 ft high hill in Sri Lanka where they claimed that Ravana’s body was kept in a casket (taboot). and people go crazy about this news.

7) political fragmentation and policy incoherence-

8) Disturbance in Northeast and j&k- Jammu and Kashmir is no longer the hot bed of militancy and separatist violence in the country as the conflict-ridden northeastern states have surpassed it in respect of insurgency-related violence and civilian casualties. The northeastern states recorded 1,489 incidents of insurgency-related violence in 2007 while Jammu and Kashmir recorded about 900 incidents, according to the latest report titled, Status Paper on Naxal Activities, prepared by the ministry of home affairs.

Dear Mr Ban Ki Moon,

As asked by you, we present you six reasons why we consider our country India (also known as Baraat) to be a developed nation. We hope you fall in love with our great nation.

    Decline in Population Growth: Ever since 2001, we have undertaken steps to ensure that the Indian population growth decreases drastically. We have ensured events like the 2001 earthquake, Godhra riots, a tsunami, continuous violence in Kashmir, and our critical callousness, ensuring continuous terrorist activities in almost every state, so that a number of people are frequently removed from the population of our country. Other strategies like price rise have also contributed, by pushing people to commit suicides. This is one of the most innovative and a first-of-its-kind measure adopted by us to fight huge population.

    A Zero-Scandal Country: After watching several of our actresses switch to the policy of size zero, our nation was inspired. We organised events like the IPL, Commonwealth Games, the Hockey World Cup—all of which went on successfully, without any conspiracy. The IPL, if you should know, is one cricket event in which we expect soccer stars to be bought in the auctions for the coming seasons. And the smoothness with which the Commonwealth Games were held in 2010, has been recorded and praised all over the world. Companies have had zero reports of conspiracy, and men like A Raja have been worshipped as heroes in our news. Our nation has been completely unaffected by WikiLeaks which has created worries across the world. Also, politics—a dirty game everywhere—is considered “spiritual and holy” in our country. Criminals all over the country, upon understanding politics, got a mind changeover. Their minds got cleansed, and they became saints. They decided to preach their thoughts by joining politics. They are the ones who ensure that our country will now forever be a zero-scandal nation (and hence, Mr Moon, a developed nation).

    Stars on Earth: Our nation has the luxury of having the best stars from various fields—for example, cricket, movies and some more which I don’t remember. Our nation has ensured that these individual stars, who have inspired development in our nation, get paid crores of rupees, keeping in view their contribution to the nation. This is the reason why a major percentage of Baraat Ratna award-recipients are cricketers and movie stars. We have stars like Katrina Kaif, whose song Sheila ki Jawani (do watch the video, Mr Moon, you’ll love it) inspired the entire youth to a new level of hard-ons. We have Shah Rukh Khan, whose dancing skills have inspired me too, personally. A major chunk of the youth’s schedule is spent watching cricket matches which go round the clock round the calendar, which in turn benefits the nation. Our nation has shown how there can be so many stars in a single country, enriching millions of minds. Our people have been so very much inspired and awestruck by them, that they have come out as actual payers of the stars’ money, rather than giving the money for other uses. Thus, stars have taught us the way to use both time and money efficiently.

    An Unaffected Youth Brigade: The youth, aka GenX, aka NextGen, has descended as a generation totally unaffected by what goes on around them. They love to focus on their lives. They have no interest in what happens to them as a nation and hence have had no complaints about what we have been doing. Instead, they are involved in more important stuff like drinking, smoking, enjoying, sleeping, bunking classes, etc. They have shown a tendency to shift their lifestyles to a more Western manner (what more to deserve a “developed” tag, Mr Moon?!). Their happiness makes the nation developed. They are the perfect consumers of whatever is served to them. Most of them shout a lot, but are still very much under control and tamed. And this youth branch spreads itself through every age and part of the society. That’s why, we boldly state that our country is a young country and a poverty-free country. When you come to our cities, you would see bridges and flyovers, but no slum houses, as they have been well-covered by our intelligent functioning.

    100% Tolerance to Terrorism: Even though events like the 26/11 Mumbai attacks happen almost every year, we are unperturbed. We have not retaliated. We have rejuvenated our non-violent stance towards such meagre events and we are sure that this is the only way that terrorists would ever get to be silent. We have allowed neighbours like Pakistan to attack our people, with complete ease. We are sure that you respect this strategy and will suggest other nations to employ it too. Our nation is a ground setter on how to fight terrorism.

    Dynamic and Strategic Leadership: Our country has a very discreet and secretive system of leadership which the world is unaware of. Our country is not ruled by me as the PM, as I have made apparent to everyone. In fact I plead to a certain lady for all decisions. And, what makes our country unique and developed, is that 50 years ago, she didn’t even know the name of the capital city of our country. Our nation has such a trendsetting cultural diversity that we have let her settle here and take our decisions. If you must know, it was she who chose who the next president of our nation should be. I am sure Mr Moon, that you have never seen any nation so advanced and strong in its leadership, that it strategically bluffs the world about its actual leader. (You should sometimes seek her advice too; she even tells me what to do on Friday nights).

The most important fact which is common to all of these is that our nation serves to entertain the world. We never let the news end up short and boring, and the recurring events in our nation keep the people of the world engaged. We are a great source of amusement, Mr Moon—but, I am sure you have realised that before.

Also, you may ask any Indian—he will tell you that he is satisfied. We hope that you make us developed by including in your esteemed list. Also feel free to ask for monetary fees for the same, we have a lot of Swiss bank accounts. We will be happy for another 100 years if you agree to our demand. This is the reason why our India or Baraat will be better than China—our happiness.

Dear Mr Ban Ki Moon,

As asked by you, we present you six reasons why we consider our country India (also known as Baraat) to be a developed nation. We hope you fall in love with our great nation.