Lecture 5: Culture and History Flashcards
Institutional Strength
Definition: “The degree to which [written] rules are complied with in practice”
Strong Institutions depend on: 1. Enforcement by the State
2. Compliance by Society
Informal Institutions
definition: “Socially shared rules, usually unwritten, that are created, communicated, and enforced outside of officially sanctioned channels”
Also known as Social norms. Examples:
Let people off the train before you get on Shake hands after a sports match Queuing
Don’t question your elders
Women should not be seen in public (‘purdah’ in Muslim and some Hindu communities)
Culture
A stable, coherent set of identities, beliefs and informal institutions in a socie
How does Culture affect Development?
- ‘Modern’ culture is subjective
-No single ‘modern’ culture
‘Tradition’ can be harnessed for development (Japan, Botswana, Rwanda’s Imihigo accountability practice) some things have bene integrated; like pre-colonial processes that enabled good governance. - Culture is too ‘broad’ a concept
Specific informal institutions matter, but are not limited to any particular culture
Catholic France still had the norms to make institutions work for development - Reverse causation: Culture is a product of institutions and development, not just its cause Formal rules anchor what is acceptable
eg. North vs South Korea
Poverty and bad governance makes people untrusting and skeptical
Modernization Theory
Development requires ashift in values, beliefs and social norm
Modernization Approach
Traditional institutions are hierarchical, exploitative and backwards
Eg. Tanzania’s villagization program in the 1970s
Informal institutions Approach
Traditional institutions are the foundation of key informal institutions like trust, conflict mediation, community identity
Eg. DFID supported the authority of traditional chiefs in Sierra Leone
development is about
productivity
If institutions - formal and informal - and the relationship between State and society matter, where do they come from?
History
The local conditions at the time determined the institutions colonizers set up:
Extractive where they found natural resources and exploited the local population
Inclusive where they settled and had to produce their own crops
Not by choice; this was the only way to stop colonists running away
Path dependency
The ‘lock-in’ of initial choices that limits future changes –> past choices affect or limit the ones in the future
path dependency due to:
-Inclusive institutions gain legitimacy&support
-Extractive institutions concentrate power andwealth, preventing changeIn
-formal institutions and culture adapting
The intensity of colonial rule also matters for development
The intensity of colonial rule also matters for development (Iyer 2010)
Direct rule: British colonial officers in charge
Indirect rule: Indigenous leaders and
institutions in charge
In India the British used both
Indirect rule areas are more developed today More schools, clinics and Less poor Lower infant mortality
ALSO SLAVERY: poorer countries
slave trade
- A direct loss of human capital (short-term)
- Weakening institutions of property rights -
especially labour freedom you don’t have right; cant do whatever you want - Preventing the formation of centralized states
In addition to the partition of Africa
Nations with many ethnic groups and no monopoly of violence
Nigeria has >500 languages
Nunn (2008) - Weakening informal institutions - social trust -among Africans
The trust has never recovered –> PATH DEPENDENCY.
Dependency Theory
Development is constrained by developed countries’ past and current economic and political power
dependence theory: Rejects Modernization theory:
Development is constrained by external factors, not internal traditional culture
Developed countries prevent ‘modernization’ through colonialism and extractive trade
Integration into the world economy is dependent on developed/colonizing countries
At best, ‘dependent development’ (Caporaso 1980)
