Developing countries are the countries – countries that want to quickly hold new development to catch up developed countries. This is done because they think that building the success or failure depends on the participation of the people. Community participation can help the handling of problems – problems that arise from differences in ethnicity, culture, social status, economics, religion and so forth. The formation of national identity and loyalty are expected to support growth through political participation.

Participation in some developing countries are autonomous, that is born of themselves, are still limited. Therefore if this is the case in developed Countries often considered a sign of satisfaction with the management of political life. But if it happens in developing countries, not always the case. In some countries the people apathetic, the government faces a problem how to increase participation, because participation would otherwise face an impasse, can lead to two things that lead to anomie or it was a cause of revolution.

Life has thought me that greed does not pay

Selfless service to humanity  does not make you less than yourself instead it adds value to your personality.

We must look beyond ourselves.The stocks that never crash when you invest in them are human lives because even in life or death you still claim your dividend.

Are there people around you today that you should at least show love to please do not hesitate.Love someone today,meet the needs of someone today,carry someones burden today.Let the love in your heart be seen!

            Md. Rezaul Karim, Assistant Professor, Southern University Bangladesh

Introduction

Doing social science research in developing countries is always a difficult task. While conducting a research, researchers from such countries face lot of difficulties in most of the steps of research. This paper presents the methodological challenges of doing social science research in developing countries and it is mainly based on my practical experience in conducting a research work for preparing an M. Phil thesis at the Department of Administration and Organization Theory, University of Bergen, Norway. The title of the thesis is “Participation in Forestry: A Study of People’s participation on the Social Forestry Policy in Bangladesh: Myth or Reality?”

In graduate schools in developed countries many new graduate students from the developing countries are facing different problems. Sometimes it’s hard to know exactly what they are supposed to learn. Most of the students have to complete a dissertation but they don’t know how to start?

As a research student I have found that conducting research work is interesting as well as challenging. I think my practical experience will be helpful for the future research students especially from developing countries to face the different challenges in conducting research work.

Selection of the Topic

The first and the most important task in the whole process of scientific inquiry are to identify a research problem. Human societies abound with problems but all problems are not researchable and hence do not qualify as scientifically nontrivial. The choice of a research problem is not as easy as it seems. Sometimes choosing a problem is no less difficult than finding a solution for it

In my research, I found that the selection of the topic is the first difficulty for research students like us. We who are the students from developing countries have many ideas in mind but when we are going to think about any particular topic to conduct a research, we need to give a look on whether it is possible to collect data for that topic or not. For instance, if we want to conduct a research on a particular bureaucratic organization or on sensitive policy issues, it will be very difficult for us to collect data. For that causes it is not an easy task to conduct research on those topics. But we know, in conducting a research work it is better to choose a topic that interests one.

Because one will have to spend a lot of time and energy in doing so and there’s more chance one will do a good job if it’s something that one wants to know more about. Also, it is better to tie it in with other courses or assignments if possible (http://manta.colostate.edu). Moreover, in a foreign country like Norway there is always a lack of availability of reading materials on developing countries. So we usually go for such topics that have available reading materials and relatively easy for us to collect data.

In my study, at first I was very interested to do something on the politics of agenda setting of the gas export policy of Bangladesh. Now a day it is a contentious issue in this country and almost every day it appears in the newspapers’ headlines. After thinking about the topic as a researcher I know that it is better to discuss the research interest with persons who have rich practical experience and knowledge on that topic. They can help to sharpen one’s focus of attention on specific aspects within the area. In this regard, I discussed the above mentioned topic with my supervisor. He told me from his practical experience that it is a very controversial issue and collecting data on this topic would be very difficult for me. So I had to choose another topic on social forestry where I would get the help of one official of the forest department who was familiar to me. But we know, if anyone pick a topic to conduct a research on it that he is not truly interested in then it will be difficult to stay focused and motivated. The same is true for choosing a topic because of its marketability: if he is not personally interested in the topic, he’ll have a harder time finishing and a harder time convincing other people that his research is interesting. But I had no other options without doing so.

Development of Research Design

The Relevance of Concepts

Before going to the field study we had to work on research design of our topic. In my research design, people’s participation was termed as the dependent variable. The role of bureaucrats, the patron-client relationship of the farmers with the bureaucrats and the Union Parishad  Chairman and members, the socio-economic background of the farmers, the role of NGOs were identified as the independent variables. In my design, it was found that those independent variables influenced in ensuring people’s participation. But after gaining some experience from the field, patron-client relationship seemed to me as the most important independent variable and the role of socio-economic background of the farmers seemed to me mostly useless. In this respect if I focused more on patron-client relationship than on socio-economic background of the farmers, I think the research work will be more interesting.

The role of bureaucrats was also discussed in terms of classical and political bureaucrats. It was assumed that the role of political bureaucrats is more helpful in ensuring people’s participation than the classical bureaucrats. But most of the bureaucrats tried to identify themselves as political and only in a short interview it was not possible to know the right answer. But I believed that most of them were classical in nature because in other aspects, for instance: giving interview, sharing documents; they always showed me that they were the slaves of rules. Moreover, when I asked the farmers to give their opinion about the nature of bureaucrats, I think most of them responded without understanding the terms properly’.

Operationalization

Operationalizing different concepts in a research work is one of the most challenging parts for a researcher. Not every observation among the range of observations we make in our day-to-day life does represent absolutely different things. Many have something common in them. This commonality shared by observations represents something more general than the simple content of any observation. But, there are also some concepts that cannot be observed by senses. This is because, they do not have direct empirical referents and hence cannot be easily related to the events or phenomena they stand for. It is very important that such concepts used in any research be defined precisely so that readers can know what these concepts do represent in a particular research situation. Different scholars have given different views about different concepts. Sometimes some of them are found opposite or overlapping. But a researcher should develop his own views about the concepts for his study.

In my study, operationalizing the concept of people’s participation was the most difficult part. Because most of the definitions are given by the western scholars and have little relevance with my study. For instance, there are two broad but different interpretations of participation i.e. a) Participation as a means and b) Participation as an End. But in my study I have found that people’s participation is a means as well as an end.

Designing of Questionnaire

Designing of questionnaire was a difficult job for me because I had to prepare it before having good ideas about the field. In my study, I used a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods to collect my data. To get data from my main target group (the farmers) I used the quantitative method. I also conducted some unstructured qualitative interviews of the farmers to get more in-depth views of them. For getting data from the bureaucrats, Union Parishad Chairman and members, NGOs personnel I used the qualitative method namely interview. At first I wished to use both this approach to collect data from all of my respondents. But inadequate time, lack of money, lack of access to situation, lack of gaining cooperation from others did not permit me to pursue such a procedure.

Preparing the quantitative questionnaire seemed to me the most challenging one because in this type of questionnaire if necessary you cannot change the format easily after going to the field. For instance, in my study after gaining some experience from the field I felt that if I could bring some changes in the quantitative questionnaire it would more appropriate to collect the necessary data. But it was not possible to bring necessary changes because the allocated time was limited. Moreover, quantifying the concepts of social science is not an easy task. I had to work hard to quantify the views of the farmers. Another thing was that when I tried to know the views of farmers about the complex concepts of public administration I found it very complicated to make them understandable to the illiterate farmers. 

When I was preparing the questionnaire one thing always had to keep in mind that the number of questions should be minimum because the respondents would not give a researcher his desired time. Preparing the qualitative questionnaire also was not easy though if necessary you can change the format by giving less effort than the quantitative questionnaire. In my study, I used an interview guide. But in the field, I had to reformulate it every time.

Finding Respondents and Determining Sample Size

I chose the case study method for collecting my field data. Because we know, the use of case study provides us an opportunity for relating concepts with reality and helps me to learn more about the phenomenon and general condition.

In staying abroad it was difficult for me to know about the different projects of social forestry. So when I went to Bangladesh for my field study I contacted with the officials of the forest department and experts in this field to have some idea about the overall condition of social forestry in Bangladesh. Social forestry projects are being implemented in various parts of Bangladesh but to get some interesting findings in my research I had no other alternative but to contact them.

We know, sampling is the process of selecting a subset of individuals from a larger group of individuals, the selection being done with a view to drawing inferences about the larger group on the basis of information obtained from the subset. But, I suffered a lot to select the sample size and relevant respondents. Because, before going to the field I had no idea about my selected two cases. So the field areas were much unknown to me. I talked with the local people and bureaucrats to fix those things. I used the simple random sampling method to choose the respondents from a list founded in the local bit office of the Forest Department. I tried to select the respondents from different villages of the Union Parishads.

Making Initial Contact and Gaining access

I was totally unfamiliar with my two cases. So making initial contact with the respondents and gaining access were too difficult. The important parts of my questionnaire were designed to get the ideas of the farmers about the bureaucrats’ role in ensuring their participation. At first I talked with some local people. They knew about the project but they could not help me to find out the participants of this project. Then I consulted the officials of the forest department to find out them. They informed me about the participants of the project and show me the way that how I could contact with them. Then I interviewed some farmers who were called by the officials. But I found that they only called those farmers with whom they had good personal relationship. To solve this problem I had to take other strategies.

Contacting with the bureaucrats is always a tough job in my Bangladesh. I was lucky enough that I knew one official in the head office of the Forest Department. He introduced me with lot of officials of the social forestry project from whom I got various relevant information about the project. But it is needed to mention here; some officials did not co-operate well with me in giving information although they were well known to him. Moreover, the NGOs’ personnel in the field area were very little in numbers. They contacted with me in the forest office when they heard that I came to know something related to their activities. But they were not very flexible in giving my required information about the project. They always tried to make me understand that to get any information about their activities it would be better to contact with their head offices and if that offices allowed them to talk they would feel free to express their views.

It was also not so easy for me to find out the Union Parishad Chairman and members of the respective unions. They were very busy with their different local activities.  I had to visit several times to talk with them. But when they knew that I had been working in a public university as a teacher and studying in a European university, they felt honored to talk with me.

Problems of Data Collection

Data collection for the study went through several but difficult processes. Researchers face lot of difficulties in collecting data both from primary and secondary sources. In my case, problems of data collection are enumerated below:

First, to select the project area I visited some projects with the help of the officials and experts of the forest department. The reason was lack of my knowledge about the different social forestry projects running in the country.

Second, my main target group comprised of farmers and most of them do not read and write and they were not familiar with the topic of my research questions. It was difficult to make them understand about the complex terms of public administration, for instance bureaucratic rule-orientation, bureaucratic rigidity etc.

Third, farmers thought that though I was a person from the capital I could do something for them. So they were mostly interested to talk about their own problems, which were not related to my research questions. It extended the time of interviews and in filling up questionnaires.

Fourth, the farmers were afraid to share their views. They thought that if they told anything against the local elites and bureaucrats they would lose their farming land given by the project. So I had to work hard to make myself trustworthy and convinced them that I would not disclose their views.

Fifth, Carrying out the interviews requires pre-arranged schedules. In most cases the interviewees would not honor their appointments so I had to arrange and rearrange the appointments.

Sixth, when I interviewed the respondents, especially the bureaucrats and farmers they were interested to talk about the technical matters of social forestry which was not related to my research queries. They liked to discuss more about, what is Agro forestry, what is strip plantation or what kinds of trees should be selected instead of talking about people’s participation.

Seventh, I faced problems when I attempted to record the interviews. Sometimes tape recorders drew unnecessary attentions of the respondents. Most of the respondents (farmers) did not feel free to talk when their voices were recorded. They thought that this could create some problem. Most of the bureaucrats also did not give permission to record. So after some interviews I stopped to use the tape recorder and tried to take important notes in a notebook.

Eighth, some bureaucrats were more interested to know how could I manage this fellowship and what are the opportunities abroad for them or for their children instead of talking about my queries.

Ninth, the personnel of the NGOs were not local people. And they were very careful in expressing their views. 

Tenth, the study was a systematic investigation. Therefore, a time-series or longitudinal study would have been more benefiting. I could only visit a few particular sites in a given period. This has somewhat delimited the scope of the study. Data from the secondary sources and some other first hand data were used to compensate this weakness partially. 

In my interview session, I had to give more time to make the complex concepts easily understandable to farmers.  I used different examples to clarify a concept. I have tried to act with the interviewees as persons rather than merely as instruments for data collection.  Because as a researcher it is necessary to follow certain social rules that allow me to create a trustee atmosphere in order to obtain the information I seek.

Most of the respondents especially the officials of the forest department viewed that such kind of research work has no importance. Even some of them asked me directly about the significance of carrying out this. For that cause they gave little importance in answering my questions.

Access to Documents/Information Sources

Secondary data is used for the reanalysis of previously collected and analyzed data. There are some clear advantages to working with an existing body of data, including cost, time and making difficult populations accessible. However in a country like Bangladesh with the given bureaucratic culture, data collection from secondary sources particularly from the public offices is rather difficult. In this study the use of books, journals, reports, official records and documents have been some of the most important sources of the data collection. These official records and documents included organizational documents, reports etc.

In Bangladesh most government offices do not collect and record their information properly. Because of poor management system, collection of time series data is extremely difficult. In many cases only the current data are kept and rest of the previous years data is dumped in the store room for ultimate disposal as waste.

Due to the lack of popular and political accountability, public offices in Bangladesh are more or less treated as a closed system with limited access of the common people. Like other developing countries, the bureaucracy in Bangladesh treats data and information as a secret matter where only selected people with appropriate authority have the access. Moreover, it is not also permitted by the law to have access to the official documents and papers. For that cause, I faced lot of hurdles in gathering official records. When I went to use the official library of the forest department they did not co-operate with me well though I showed a letter of their top authority to them to help me in that respect. I was able to collect some official records through my personal connection with one top officer of that organization. 

Data Collection Strategy to Overcome Validity and

Reliability Problems

Earlier I mentioned that I used the case study method to collect data. In this study I took two cases not for a comparative study. The main reason is that I wanted to ensure the validity of data. Validity is referred to the extent of which an instrument measures the way it is claimed to have measured.

When I visited the field, it was difficult to come in contact with the farmers without getting help from the bureaucrats and one of the important parts of questionnaire was designed to get the ideas of the farmers about the bureaucrats’ role in ensuring their participation. Bureaucrats summoned those farmers who had good relationship with them and talked in favor of them. I realized the situation when I talked with some other farmers in the village market. Then I realized that it was very difficult to get reliable data in this way. So to ensure the validity of my data I followed a method, which was ethnographic in nature. I talked with different people of this local area, for instance, the driver of the human puller, people in the village restaurants, people in the streets etc. I talked with them in a manner that I had no intention to find out any information from them. I asked them about their opinion regarding people’s participation in SF project in the locality. Moreover, I did not rely on the information from a single interviewee. I cross checked the opinions of the respondents by asking others to ensure the validity and reliability of the data.

The Perception about Social Research in General and My Research Issue in our Country:

Most of the people in our country give little importance to the social science research. They thought that only the research activities running in the field of science and technology have importance. People also know that the research findings will not be taken in consideration and the situation will be the same. When I went to the field study I faced few questions in common from different parts of people that what is the significance of this study? Is it possible for me to bring any change? The present situation is so worse that people think social science research is only for getting consultancy from the donors. Moreover, general people did not believe that my research work was only to fulfill my academic purpose. They thought that only financial benefits could direct one to conduct research.

Now a day people’s participation is a hot issue in the world especially in the developing countries. Government of my country tried to incorporate it in many rural development programmes. It is a demand from the donors. But so far there is lack of research works based on empirical data to find out what is the extent of people’s participation in different governmental programmes. So I chose this issue as my research topic.   

Conclusion

Most of the people in developing countries do not understand the significance of social research and give little importance to it. Respondents are always afraid of giving their actual views because they think if they give any information against their superior or any other powerful group they will face a lot trouble. Moreover, data base system is not sufficiently developed for one to get information easily. Government office records are inaccessible.  These things make the research work very difficult for a researcher.

In conducting any research work in our country it is necessary that before designing the research framework a researcher should have some ideas about the field. Moreover, before selecting a research topic a researcher should think how far the offices and respondents would be accessible to him or her.

To know the respondents and research issue well it is better if the researcher follows the strategy of ethnographic study to some extent. Data should be cross checked and it is not wise to rely on a single source of information.  Researcher should try to make him trustworthy to the respondents. Moreover, in interviewing people, it is better not to use the recorder as it creates unusual curiosity of the respondents and some respondents do not feel free when their voices are recorded. Instead of this a researcher can take notes of all of the relevant information during the field study. Moreover, if enough time is given to a researcher in carrying out his research a lot of difficulties can be minimized. At last but not the least it can be said that a researcher in developing countries gains experience through the passing of time and this expertise will be helpful for him to overcome most of the challenges in doing social science research work.  

To Me, Poverty is a state of the mind, but that does,t undermine the

Scourge in our mixed. The absence of the essentials of life,Shelter,Clothing,Food are some of the Faces. Poverty brings about pains,diseases of all kinds springs up, and it continues dropping it’s bomb on her unwitting Victims day in day out.

                      THE REAL FACE

The real Face of poverty is ignorance. People becomes Poor or face different challenges because They fails to avails Themselves with the right information that will guide Them in their various endeavors. This is the type of Poverty experienced in the Third Countries or developing World.

                   LACK OF EXPOSURE

The level of  exposure You receives determines Your position in life. However, there are People without any form of civilisation and They depends on the primitive way of life as being received from their Parents and also passed it to Their Offspring’s.

              Human factors to poverty

The Bible says Man has dominated Man to his injury. More so, corruptions, greed, and mismanagement of public funds causes hardship among different Class of the society. And it has been observed that mental immaturity is the only reason why People acquires primitive Wealth for Themselves to the detriment of the Society at large

One standard measure of education is achievement in tests scores. For a number of countries indeed higher test scores are associated with higher growth of output (and hence of TFP).

Well, think about it like this…

When the rich donate their excess food to the those in developing lands, the local producers have to lower their prices to compete with the free foods that have been provided as “help”. This leads to their own poverty as there is no way that they can really compete and starving people are not worried about buying local produce they are worried about feeding themselves and their families. So the cycle continues and leads to even more poverty.

We all know that sending money to governments really does not help either. Many are corrupt and do not give it to those who really need it.

Also, when aid is sent to a central location it is easy to steal and can lead to other corruption which in turn leads to more poverty.

So in the end foreign aid does not succeed as it does not deal with the root of the problem – the poverty itself.

                                Protecting the natural abundances of resources should be of huge concern to developing nations. One of the greatest assets developing nations hold is the fact that they are undeveloped and still have access to a vast amount of their natural resources and agricultural lands. But as a result of being in debt from unreturned aid, developing nations are encouraged to produce cash crops, the two major ones being coffee and cocoa. Many farmers of developing countries will only mono-crop their chosen cash crop which often is not a subsistence crop; this forces many farmers to spend money on food that they could have been farming. In order for a developing nation to break away from the dependency they have on Multinational Corporations, farmers must begin producing a large range of different crops. By not putting all of their eggs in one basket farmers can begin to independently support themselves. Furthermore, by setting up bartering deals to trade crops and goods with other farmers, citizens of developing countries can begin to contribute to the economy independent of money and independent of the MNC’s. In order to break apart even more LLD’s need to begin producing manufactured goods and limiting the amount of raw resource exportation.

                                In general Least Developed Countries operate under the first level of industry; this being fishing farming forestry and mining. The first level of industry however provides the smallest amount of income. Instead of exporting large quantities of natural resources for relatively small amounts of income developing nations should focus on keeping their resources in the country and converting them into manufactured goods. Manufacturing is the second level of industry and produce much higher profits. With a limitation on raw resource exportation and a more focused approach towards manufacturing products, undeveloped nations will benefit their economy dramatically. By creating initiative towards manufacturing self generated resources small businesses and enhanced trading opportunities will be presented over time and this could eventually lead these nations into the tertiary and quaternary levels of industry being sales and services and research and development respectively. Not happening over night of course but over time this could reduce and eventually diminish the dependency for job opportunities from the MNC’s that undeveloped nations currently depend on. Despite these economical developments without a fundamental educational background people will continue to manipulate ignorant individuals.

                Child Labour is one of the major issues that set back developing countries. By emitting children early on to the work force a nation is preventing children from receiving proper education. Moreover children are being robbed of their childhood and necessary leisure. Despite the obvious lack of formal education children may begin to mentally deteriorate from being over worked; this does not nurture a child into a healthy adult. With improperly educated youth LLD’s suffer from uneducated adults which limit advancements into higher level industies and make a society more susceptible to dependency. By removing child labour and gradually introducing mandatory education programs for children there will be a reduction in the amount of labour intensive jobs and an increase in jobs centered on healthcare, waste management, water facilities and trading relations. Beyond conventional educational methods children in LLD’s need to be educated in cultural aspects of their heritage. These include learning how to grow food for themselves and how to preserve the land they live on. With a properly educated youth future generations will see change in old lifestyles; one free from MNC’s destroying land and plundering resources.

                There are definitely alternatives for the Least Developed Countries to avoid being plundered by Multinational Corporations. It is most certainly not a simple endeavour but to state that developing countries have no other choice is wrong. For many people giving up instant gratification to look into the betterment of the future is something very difficult for most people. When this expectation is purposed to citizens of an underdeveloped nation where having food on the table every night would be a luxury, looking into the future becomes quite difficult. If an underdeveloped nation were to do its best in following the reduction of mono-cropping cash crops, limiting the export of raw materials, promoting the manufacturing of products and abolishing child labour the results would be impeccable. Idealistic as it seems, if you asked any individual living in an impoverished nation if they would want their child to live the same life that they have; I can personally guarantee you that they would say…no.

Regressive or unstable economy is one of the manifestations that the country is a developing country. What is really economy? In the simplest definition, it is careful and efficient management of material resources. Material resources are everything that we need; everything that we work on to live; everything that we get after a hard work; everything that manufacturing companies produce; everything that stores sell; everything that we buy; and everything that we use. If we are entrepreneurs and we have our small-scale or household industry, the products that we are making or producing through the use of our hands or of a machine are material resources. These products are to be sold to become income of the industry that will make or produce new products. And this is one type of economic system.

Every country has its own economic system. A country establishes an economic system in order to efficiently manage the problem of scarcity – an economic state where economic goods or “mga kalakal na pangkabuhayan” in Tagalog or supply are deficient or not plentiful in quantity or number in proportion to demand. The economic system of a country refers to the institutions and the standards of manner as a whole that are institutionalized molding such an economic activity as business and industry. One example of this is the management of the natural resources to sustain the needs of the people. There are such basic economic problems to be considered by an economic system: what goods or products are to be produced; how many will be produced; how could it be done; to whom the goods or products are distributed; who will make the products; which segment of products are for private sector and for public sector; and how will production be progressive in the future?

The economic systems could be seen through the way economic problems are given solutions.Usually, the difference between the economic systems has something to do with the three main factors: (1) public or private ownership rates in the production methods; (2) focus of planning; and (3) public or private decision-making rates.

What are the types of economic systems? They are the traditional economy, market economy, command economy, and mixed economy. Oftentimes, the economic system that’s chosen or established by a country is a system related to its political system. Traditional economic system is bound with the traditions and methods of ancient people. In this community, almost all economic activities are results of rituals and traditional beliefs. In a market economy, the ruling regulation is capitalism. Capitalism is a system where the capital is owned by private people who are called capitalists. Market economy is also called free enterprise or free private enterprise as it is free of regulations. It is based on “laissez faire” doctrine which means that a business or an industry is allowed to freely do activities which have competitions and free market. Command economy can be also called authoritarian socialism or an economy that is planned from the center. An example of this system is the economic system of socialist countries such as Norway, Sweden, and the Netherlands. In this system, private ownership of properties is not allowed by the government. Mixed economy is also a market economy but with government interventions. It is not a simple program. Government efforts are needed for the economy to be progressive. And the government is the body that gives solutions to economic problems. That’s why powerful, strong, efficient, and clean government is needed in countries having mixed economic system.

Capitalism is the usual economic system of democratic countries. Capital is owned by private people. Wages, prices, and productions are determined through free feedbacks or responses of the people over the needs of the market. The services that are not given by private sector are owned and managed by the government. In this system, the interest or “tubo” in Tagalog leads on the producers to manufacture goods. The decision of what will be done, how will it be done, and for whom the production will be is left on the private sector. Philippines has capitalism economic system. Only that private ownership and management of manufacturing companies are controlled by the government.

Because of the information above, we can clearly see already what is the economy of the Philippines. That is why we know that when oil prices are hiking, our government will intervene and directs the oil companies to stop price hiking because people can’t afford to pay high transportation fares everyday or buy oil products. That is why when powerful storm Ondoy had troubled Metro Manila so badly, and grocery and department store owners took advantage of the calamity and increased prices of their goods because of scarcity due to storm aftermaths, the government declared “price freeze.” And anybody who would violate shall be given due penalty. That is why there is always misunderstanding between the government and private companies.

First, keep in mind, when comparing or criticizing other countries, and their political systems, or what their perspectives might be, one must include their own (Roskin, 2009). At the same time, one must note that, “No country is born with functioning institutions: they have to evolve over time” (Roskin, 2009, p. 484).

In regards to modernization, it is not only learning ways of, or “new” ways of, “doing things right,” within the realm of technological advancement, it is also the deeper meaning behind this work that penetrates individual lives within society. Therefore, when one considers modernization in light of the developing world, one must also consider the peoples within the civilizations of those developing worlds, who possess a combination of diverse language and ethnicity (Roskin, 2009).

Furthermore, modernization brings industrialization, industrialization requires change, and change affects lives, and “often accompany other aspects of social change, such as colonialism, global tourism, or political transitions” (Miller, 2007, p. 386). Moreover, change propels “…urbanization, growth of education and communications,” which, “uproot people from their traditional villages and lifestyles…” (Roskin, 2009, p.5)

Given this, along with the importance of traditions and culture in the developing worlds, if one has to be, “uprooted,” so to speak, from their traditions, modernization, it seems, might not be so easily accepted. More importantly, primary human need for sustainability, such as food, shelter, and clean water, cannot be over looked. Primary needs are at least one category in common with all societies in Humankind. Therefore, one cannot rightly consider modernization of the developing worlds, without considering the impact it will have on its peoples, the cultures it may rip apart, or homes it might destroy.

In his article, Tatchell (2009) inquires, “…are there no universal humanitarian values that should be defended in all cultures at all times? Is everything relative?” (p. 32). On the one hand, “All these differences are equally valid and must be respected…to question them…is to impose our way of life on others – a form of cultural imperialism” (p. 32). On the other hand, “Some values and ideas are better than others…The Enlightenment was better than the Dark Ages…Freedom is better than slavery…Democracy is better than fascism…Scientific knowledge is better than superstition” (p. 32). At the same time, Roskin (2009) inquires, “Compared to what?” (p.13)

In light of this, some things are obvious and some things are not. However, one thing for sure is, in a true democracy inequality cannot breathe in the presence of equality, people are free to choose, discrimination is left at the door, employment is gained according to ability rather than gender, or race. Women can hold office and freely alternate their style of dress. Likewise, women and men can vote, regardless of class, ethnicity, or religion.

From here, we further explore the arena of inequality and growth. According to one theory, “inequality and growth are twins” (Roskin, 2009, p. 422). It implicates that, “If people can make a lot of money, they will have a greater incentive to work hard and get rich. And rich people invest more” (Roskin, p. 422). In the context of income, possibly so, however, if one considers, “inequality and growth,” in their own sense of meaning and in light of developing worlds, then this is not the case, for inequality is rampant in areas such as gender or class, and the citizenry lives in poverty: an impediment to growth.

In this, one discovers a sense of ambiguity, due to corrupt governance and greedy elites, found in the developing worlds, who resist change for fear of losing their public office positions through which demagogues manipulate the lives of the citizenry (Roskin, 2009). This is characteristic of an unstable government, evident in measures self-interest, and not seeking the betterment of society as a whole.

In view of stable government, it must have legitimacy. Legitimacy, “is basic to political culture…created over time,” and earned according to the extent in which the government earns the respect and trust of its citizenry, for in this, they are more likely to obey the laws (Roskin, 2009, p. 9). The sticky part is it tends to overlap with authority and sovereignty and, “weakness in one usually spreads to the others” (Roskin, 2009, p.204). For instance, East German sovereignty collapsed, due to a weak legitimacy that, “toppled into authority,” (Roskin, 2009, p. 204).

Now, considering the present and past socio-political conditions of the developing world, in relationship to patterns of interaction in and among groups, one looks for, “recurring behaviors,” as an approach to understand, “the whys and wherefores,” of socio-political controversy, “whether they are long-standing issues or short-term problems” (Roskin, 2009, p. 4-5). The determination of either, one should think would require a particular variation of approach toward mending.

From here, we step into the arena of political systems, their similarities, and differences. China and the United States have their obvious differences: one communistic and the other, a democracy. However, they mutually agree that,

…countries, regardless of their social systems, should conduct their relations on the principles of respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states, nonaggression against other states, noninterference in the internal affairs of other states, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence” (Sariolghalam, 2008, p. 9). Seemingly, however, it is as though quarrels are bred into political systems, because, there is no country without political quarrels…it is usually about who gets what (Roskin, 2009, p. 4, 13).

In economics, some believe that the underlying problem is, “the gap between financial assets and real assets.” In view of world wealth, “The liquidity crisis turned into a crisis of trust…has produced an enormous loss in world wealth of between 30 and 50 trillion dollars” (Cardoso, 2009, p. 1-2).

For example, the United States Department of Treasury has spent 80 billion dollars, “in an effort to keep the AIG insurance company afloat,” this is twice the size of Brazil’s foreign debt in the 1980’s (US$40billion). Of even greater concern,

The decline of US hegemony, and the rise of emerging countries, is producing a multi-polar world in which the power of persuasion – soft power – may be more effective than military power. The spirit of freedom, creativity, experimentation, and innovation may be new conditions for leadership in the world that will emerge from the crisis (Cardoso, 2009, p. 2).

In reference to “emerging,” sounds familiar in relationship to the emergence of the developing worlds of China, India, Mexico, Nigeria, and Iran (Roskin, 2009, p. xxx). China is the most ancient, a country of communism that, “founded civilizations far earlier than Europe” (Roskin, 2009, p. 371). Their political culture, “sometimes reinforce and sometimes contradict one another” (Roskin, p. 401). The power heads are the president and the prime minister. They are truly the ones that run things, but the catch is, it is only because the Chinese Communist party (CCP) dictates it (Roskin, 2009, p. 387).

According to Roskin (2009), China and India are more different than they are the same. The difference is their chosen development paths. “China’s path is labor-intensive, using manufacturing with low-cost unskilled labor to export massive amount of goods…India’s path is capital-intensive, using services such as IT staffed by educated, English-speaking young people” (Roskin, p. 469). “China is an export maniac,” and the economic interest of India lies in, “developing its domestic market” (p. 469). Chinese save their income and Indians spend theirs. Unfortunately, probably the greatest commonality is corruption encompasses both their lands (Roskin, 2009).

Now, in regards to Mexico and India, their commonalities are, “rural poverty,” and “vast inequality” (Roskin, 2009, p. 465). In Mexico, poverty lies most prevalent in the interior south and maldistribution of income gives rise to hunger. The poor, faced with barriers to education, remain poor, and cities, consumed with shantytowns, further reflect economic conditions, and are characteristic of Third World countries. The urban poor have no representation and crime rates are “astronomical” (Roskin, 2009, p. 505).

India has a fragmented political system, as does Mexico, and like Iran, Mexico is influenced by outside ideas that come and go, cannot reach a point of stability, is subject to uprisings, and ultimately, suffer one overthrow after the next (Roskin, 2009). India is a large geographical space and immigration of poor peoples from other parts of India sometimes occurs and ignites into deadly riots. Crime is widespread and continues to grow (Roskin, 2009, p. 466).

Like Mexico, Nigeria suffers from fragmentation, but far worse than Mexico, and “parallels Iraq” (Roskin, 2009, p. 524). Their troubles stem from direct actions of  the Imperialists, who raped their country at gunpoint, formed the Slave Trade, and “cobbled together an artificial country composed of tribes who disliked each other, and then left” (Roskin, 2009, p. 520).

From here, although Nigeria attempts to establish a democracy, it assumes a weak political culture and, a “Consciousness that focuses on religions, tribes, and regions…the elites look out more for the tribes than for Nigeria as a whole” (Roskin, 2009, p. 520). This is probably why some of Africa’s ruling elite, “have emerged as among the wealthiest in the world” (Fofack, 2009, p. 2)

How do these multiethnic societies hold together? According to Georg Simmel, a German sociologist, these societies hold together by way of cross-cutting social cleavages that are, “divided along several axes,” which stabilize the political arena (Roskin, 2009, p. 528). Once these cleavages cut across one another political life actually stabilizes. However, “where cleavages do not cross-cut,” they are cumulative and, “dangerous divisions grow,” (p. 528).

First, social cleavages are defined by social class, geographic region, religion, and urban-rural, and each are politically important within their given contribution. There are other cleavages such as gender as in the United States where, “women vote more democratic than men” (Roskin, 2009, p. 11). However, Karl Marx believed social class determined everything in regards to political orientation.

For example, middle and upper class are “conservative and working-class people are progressive or radical” (Roskin, 2009, p. 11). Geographic Regions are important because of the instance of, “past conquests,” or “injustices” (Roskin, 2009). These associations serve as a part of the whole, because once a form of political interaction or association is established, this “history,” is a part of determinants that forms a certain identity, gives meaning, and a reference point.

Moreover, religion and urban-rural social cleavages are also important in that religion is a powerful force and says much about how one might vote and actually is a determinant in, “formation of political parties,” more than social class might be (Roskin, 2009, p. 11). The urban-rural social cleavage falls mainly within the developing lands, and is subject to urban-rural split in regards to, “living conditions, education and political orientation,” for example, in China (Roskin, 2009, p. 11).

Now, cross-cutting cleavages are, “multiple splits in society that make group loyalties overlap” (Roskin, 2009, p. 528). Cumulative-cleavages is evident in Africa, because of their lack of cross-cutting cleavages, which ultimately serves as an impediment to political stabilization. For example, in Nigeria tribe counts most, and some Nigerians Muslims are Hausa-Fulani of the North, whereas, “some are Yoruba in the Southwest” (Roskin, 2009, p. 528). In addition, this tribal preference is reinforced by religion. In this instance, it would seem that the instance of reinforcement might strengthen this band of impediment even greater.

Another example is, when the Communists outlawed the crossing-cutting of the working class and middle-class, the Yugoslavian, having several nationalities, were left with little in common, but if there is a situation, for example, where a Yoruba businessman can communicate effectively, having commonalities with the Igbo businessman, for instance, then there is a chance for stabilization in this cross-cutting cleavage. In short, all social cleavages influence political attitudes and according to the instance or degree to which a cross-cutting social cleavage might exist, determines stabilization or cumulative results (Roskin, 2009).

What role might political ideologies play in the political arena? Political ideologies play an important role in political culture, and reach to improve society, through initiatives that perceive the direction of society, whether it might be headed down a wrong path, how to fix it through evaluation, probable solutions, usually by reform, and finally, a plan of action or movement toward a solution (Roskin, 2009, p. 10).

Unfortunately, ideologies do not work, because they are ideas that are driven toward, “perfect,” societies, and, “happy,” humans (Roskin, 2009, p. 10). Nevertheless, society must continue to at least strive for the better society and it is felt that, however imperfect, ideologies provide a point of departure.

In closing, some developing worlds hope to achieve modernization. However, in view of the risk of losing traditions, cultures, or heritage that lies within each respective country, the chance of the developing worlds adopting modernization completely, is not likely, and furthermore, neither should they have to.

Fofack, H. (2009, Nov) The Shame of plenty in the midst of poverty African Business (Issue 358, p. 20, 3 pgs) Retrieved from ProQuest website November 29, 2009 at: http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=9&sid=4&srchmode=1&vinst=PROD&fmt=3&s…

Miller, B. (2007) Cultural anthropology (Custom Edition) Allyn & Bacon: Pearson Education, Inc. Boston: Massachusetts

Roskin, M.G. (2009) Countries and Concepts: Politics, geography, culture (10th. Ed) New York: Pearson Longman

Sariolghalam, M.. (2008). Iran in Search of Itself. Current History, 107(713), 425-431.  Retrieved December 7, 2009, from Research Library at: http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1608999851&sid=8&Fmt=3&clientId=74379&RQT=309&VName=PQD

Tatchell, P. (2009, Nov. 3) Not all cultures are equally valid and commendable The Independent (p. 32) London: UK Retrieved November 29, 2009 from ProQuest website at: http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=8&sid=4&srchmode=1&vinst=PROD&fmt=3&s…

Wolf, M. (2004, March 3). Growth requires painful choices, not platitudes Financial Times, p.19 (London’s 1st ed.). Retrieved December 7, 2009, from ProQuest website at:  http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=569279861&sid=15&Fmt=3&clientId=74379&RQT=309&VName=PQD

The answer is NO, of course temperory.

To China, USA is the most largest market that it can export to, which weight one forth of the total export amount of China. If China use this to threat the USA, it is temporary impossible.
Due to USA import many of China’s good, China will not start a economic war with the USA. If they do, USA will get harm as well as China, and China would suffer the most.

However there is one thing we can understand, China require protection. Over the recent two decades, as China become the focus of the world, pressure from the United State have become greater. By using Japan as an indirect threat, China felt pressurize. Many of the politican felt that if China rises its power, many local market and business would be lost, and investors from China would come and destory their nation by capital. 

To have in congtrol of this pressure, China buy out United States treasury bond. By becoming the worlds biggest buyer of the US, the United State are able to become more curropted into the will of buying cheap labor goods from China. This will help China to develop, and in the same time hold the weakness of the US in hand for future use. It is clear that China is not going to use this Treasury bond as a weapon so far, but only for trading purposes.

For The United State, they also have to look at what China might do with these treasury bond. The threat of China is really forcing the United state to take a stepdown from the leader of the world, and have to balance its power and stretch it to every where in the world. It is easy to see how China become the worlds largest nation, and to become a threat at the same time. In order to keep its power, China choose to become a close ‘friend’ of the USA, and buy out its bond, in order to keep the power of USA as far away as possible from Asia. It is clear that this bond have both side. One for protection and destruction, one for the greater good of China.