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State, society and strategy of development: Nigeria in comparative perspective
Abstract
This dissertation attempts to achieve two objectives. Using the case of Nigeria, the first objective is an evaluation of general propositions concerning state, society, and development strategy in the economic development process of Nigeria in particular, and developing countries in general. The second objective attempts to generalize these propositions through the comparative method with a limited number of cases--Nigeria, Brazil, and South Korea. The argument of this study is that economic development is an outcome of the interaction between state, society and economic development strategy. The interaction is described by what is termed the SSS (state, society, and strategy) Model. The major thesis is that cohesive states that promote demand-driven strategies in stable societies tend to maximize economic development goals. This thesis is based on three main arguments about the role and behavior of elites, particularly political elites, who are defined in this research as key agents of development. First, cohesive elites tend to promote expansive or encompassing coalitions, thus increasing the capacity to achieve development goals. Second, unstable societies promote exclusionary coalitions and political conflict (exclusionary coalitions represent narrowly-defined interest groups rather than broad-based, collective interests). Third, demand-led strategies which intensify resource processing and value-added activities promote both economic development and stability. Conversely, strategies such as import substitution and commercial capitalism which do not optimize societal resources lead to poor development performances and instability. Since a small number of cases limits generalization, this study has drawn modest conclusions. Evidence from Nigeria shows that there are relationships between stability, elite cohesiveness, particularly political elites, and economic strategy, on the one hand, and development performances, on the other. In South Korea, where the relationship between the three variables is positive, its development performance score is higher than those of Brazil and Nigeria. Brazil predominantly adopts an import substitution strategy and performs better than Nigeria, which has a weak, unstable state and ineffective development strategies. The study concludes that the SSS Model's hypotheses are supported by the case studies. Further research involving larger samples and more extensive empirical tests is needed to confirm these preliminary results.
Subject Area
International law|International relations|Economics
Recommended Citation
Akpan, Joseph Jimmy, "State, society and strategy of development: Nigeria in comparative perspective" (1992). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9308162.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9308162