Author : S. N. Sangmpam
Publisher : State University of New York Press
ISBN 13 : 0791479994
Total Pages : 348 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (914 download)
Book Synopsis Comparing Apples and Mangoes by : S. N. Sangmpam
Download or read book Comparing Apples and Mangoes written by S. N. Sangmpam and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2012-02-01 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Two competing approaches currently dominate the debate about the state and institutions in developing countries. The first projects a picture of transnational, vertical uniformity descending from the West to developing countries and views liberal democracy as "the only game in town." In this view, the state and institutions resemble or ought to resemble those in the West. The second, by contrast, explains political outcomes by local idiosyncrasies and regional variations in institutions. In his original approach to third world politics, S. N. Sangmpam challenges both views by uncovering important similarities in the political features of developing countries. He shows that they share political behaviors and features unaccounted for in either local/idiosyncratic or liberal democratic theories. These behaviors converge toward a common property—overpoliticization—that defies political compromise, leading to an overpoliticized state. Sangmpam provides a wealth of empirical, historical, and quantitative evidence from Latin America, Asia, Africa, and the West and demonstrates the overpoliticized state constitutes the cornerstone of an integrated theory of politics in developing countries.