1. Introduction
How has the meaning of development changed during the twenty years of its existence? Development can simply be described as the growth of a human being throughout the life span from conception to death. The concept “Development is elusive” is perceived not only as a condition of life but also as a goal to be attained and seen as the capacity to grow, change and development [1] as discussed. Acemoglu, Johnson, and Robinson.
These three ideas of development are bound together in an effort to understand and deal with the phenomenon of development. Here, the meaning of development also encompasses measures and strategies of development and approaches to its study. Development is conceived as the progressive change or improving the standard of living of the people of low-income population residing in less developed countries. Source development is a necessary aspect of all human society. In fact, a society without development could be said to be static.
As discussed by Addision, see [2] development is a type of change in which new ideas are introduced into the social system in order to produce high per capital income and level of living through modern production methods and improved social organizations.
However, before examining Dudley Seers in detail, Seers noticed a few changes in the field of development economics during the last 20 - 25 years. These changes resulting from world events or new tools and advances that have influenced the field of development are only representative and not comprehensive. The econometric tools help us to examine how trade liberalization reduces least developed countries’ (LDCs) poverty and how financial liberation increases LDC growth, at least in the long run.
The government uses monetary instruments or policy to control the money in circulation at the World Bank and to control inflation. Inflation occurs when too much money is chasing few goods and services available in society. That is when too much money is chasing few goods and services as a resort of scarcities in the market. Related to this, as discussed by Bruno and Easterly [3] discovered a negative correlation between inflation and economic growth for inflation growth rate is under 40 percent annually, which Population growth which was rapid in the mid-century has decreased from 1960 to the present time.
The recent empirical studies have established the negative impact of population growth on growth in GDP per capital [4] as discussed by Barro. In the last two decades, adjustment (macro-economic stabilization, structural, adjustment and economic reform) has been universal for LDCs and transitional countries, a condition required for finding by the World Bank, IMF and other monetary bodies which act as the lender of the last resort.
2. The Work of Dudley Seers
2.1. Dudley as Critics
As discussed by Dudley Seers [5] neoclassical economist had a paradigm and dependency theory lacked policy realism. After the fall of state socialism in 1989-1991, the ideological struggles among economists reduced. Neoclassicism’s Washington consensus of the World Bank, IMF, and the USA government reigned [6] as discussed by Williamson.
2.2. The Purpose of Development
The development could be seen as involving the provision of basic needs of the people, which is the target population as a subject rather than an object. It lays more emphasis on human potentialities, creativity, energy and the involvement of people and government with individuals, and group of communities leading to increase capacity to control or make decisions on issues and problems that affect the less developed countries.
As discussed by Dudley Seers [7], the purpose of development is to reduce poverty, inequality, and unemployment. To Seers, development involves reducing deprivation or broadening choice. It represents a multidimensional view of poverty that includes, hunger, illiteracy, illness and poor health, powerlessness, voicelessness, insecurity, humiliation and lack of access to basic infrastructures [8] as discussed by Narayan et al.
2.3. Growth as the Objective
At the end of the Second World War, the scholars and the third world governments were concerned with wider objectives than the growth process [9] as discussed by Lewis. Set the tone for the late 1950s and 1960s when he noted that our subject matter is growth and not distribution. From this point of view, UN’s first development decade (1960-1970) is on less developed countries’ LDCs development.
What has been happening to poverty? What has been happening to unemployment? What has been happening to inequality? If all three of these have become less severe, then beyond doubt this has been a period of development for the country concerned. If one or two of these central problems have been growing worse, especially if all three have, it would be strange to call the result “development” even if per capital income has soared, i.e. increased.
He is of the opinion that if one or two of the above exist at a high level in any society, even if its Gross National Product per Capital Income (GNP-PCI) is high such a society cannot be said to have experienced development. To him therefore, development is “a measure of the degree of eradication of the above named three indications”.
2.4. Dependent Development
According to dependency theory, global changes in demand resulted in a new international division of labour in which the peripheral countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America specialized in primary products in an enclave controlled by foreigners while importing consumer goods that were the fruits of technical progress in the central countries of the West. The increased productivity and new consumption patterns in the peripheral class and its allies, (less than a tenth of the populations, who co-operated with the developed countries to achieve economic modernization development among a modernizing minority) the result is “peripheral capitalism unable to generate innovations and dependent for transformation upon decisions from the outside” [10] as discussed by Furtabo.
Dependency theorist Andre Gunder Frank criticized the viewer many development scholars that contemporary under-developed countries resemble the earlier stages of new-less developed countries LDCs are satellites of the highly developed regions of North America and West Europe in the inter-national capitalist system. The African, Asian and Latin American countries least integrated into this system tend to be the most highly developed. For Frank, Japanese economic development after 1868 is the classic illustration of his theory. Seers generally agree with Frank on Japan but emphasize its selective borrowing it, slow pace of westernization and elite that has remained firmly. Japan [11] etc. as discussed by Seers. Dependency theorist fail to recognize the constraints of two independent of policy and the importance of avoiding “the inflow of capital replaced by an outflow” his class analysis suggests that the decline in levels of living of the professional and managerial classes and their possible revolt reflects what dependency entails (Ibid: 53-61) while the dependent government can take advantage of the international divisions of the dominant power they are limited by support for populism (Ibid: 61-126).
3. The Internal Consistency of the Development Process
As discussed by Nayyar described [12] development as:
A change process characterized by increasing productivity equalization in the distribution of the social product and the emergency of an indigenous institution whose relation without file world and particularly with developed centers of international economics are characterized by equality rather than dependence and submission.
Reducing unemployment is one of the main causes of eliminating poverty and inequality. Moreover, a reduction in inequality will correspondingly reduce poverty.
The classical argued that inequality is essential to generate savings and investment and thus to promote economic growth, which savings are, of course, also affected by the absolute level of income, but the explanation must also lie in the high consumption levels of the rich designed to maintain standard so important in an unequal society. Similarly, the rich in most countries tend to have extremely high propensities, not merely to spend, but to spend on goods and services with high foreign exchange content, and countries suffering from an acute foreign exchange bottle neck; this is a major obstacle to development.
3.1. Dudley’s Contribution to Political Science
Development implies change and it describes the process of political, economic and social transformation within countries. Scholars in political science distinguish three basic components of core value which includes: life sustenance, or self sustenance, self-esteem and freedom.
1) Life Sustenance: It is concerned with the main provision of basic needs. This basic needs approach to development was initiated by the World Bank in 1997. It is a fact that no country can be described as fully developed if it cannot provide the people with basic needs e.g., shelter or house, food, clothing and the minimum education standard.
2) Self Esteem: It is concerned with the feeling of self-respect and independence. However, no country can be described as fully developed if it is exploited by others and does not have the power and influence to conduct relations on equal terms.
3) Freedom: This refers to freedom from ignorance, wants, and poverty. No man is free if he or she cannot choose, if he or she is imprisoned by living on the margin of subsistence with no education and no skills. The merit of material development is that it expands the range of human choice open to individuals and societies at large.
From the above, we can say that development has occurred when there has been an improvement in the basic needs of the people.
3.2. Indicators of Political National Development
The major indicators of political development are: political, social, economic, health and education.
3.2.1. Political
1) Qualify of governance (accountability and transparency);
2) Level of populace participant;
3) Political education and good leadership;
4) The political awareness and consciousness;
5) Enlightenment campaigns to encourage support and development.
3.2.2. Social
1) Child abuse and exploitation;
2) Women empowerment;
3) There should be access to specialized training and general education that can lead to more development.
3.2.3. Economic
1) Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capital income;
2) Average annual GDP growth rate;
3) Average annual rate in agriculture, manufacturing service;
4) Total external debt and debt servicing;
5) Infrastructure transportation, roads, waters ways, electricity, communication.
3.2.4. Health
1) Life expectancy at birth for male and female;
2) Percentage of the population provided with health services;
3) Rate of infant mortality;
4) Type of communicable and non-communicable diseases.
3.2.5. Education
1) The enrolment in vocational institutions;
2) Adult literacy rate (male and female);
3) The percentage of group enrolled in primary, secondary and tertiary educational institution.
(Source unpublished Lecture Note by Dr. E.O. Ojo).
4. Conclusions
Looking at the world as a whole, we can bring together the earlier remarks on development inside industrial and non-industrial countries. There has been progress in the whole human population living below any subsistence line must have fallen.
But since the last century, there have been enormous gaps between the rich countries and poor countries. Inequality on the present scale is an entirely new phenomenon.
Inequality between nations, like inequality within them, means differences in status and power, affecting the attitude of men towards each other.
Moreover, unemployment must have grown over the past century since the emergency of unemployment in the third world must numerically outweigh the decline of unemployment in the industrial countries.
This study has shown that development is an instrument for growth and has a great role to play in the development of least developed countries’ LDCs. Therefore throughout this effort, the living standard of the least developed countries will be alleviated.
For the past 30 years, changes in events and technologies must have changed development economics substantially and this has led to different meanings, descriptions and definitions of development, due to the development which has led to illiteracy and preventable diseases in the development community.
The goals of Dudley Seers are to reduce deprivation, discrimination, and conflict and their skepticism about National commitments to these reductions still produce within the economic development and not to provide a systematic view of its inter-relationship. One challenge for future work is for development integrating economic development, human rights and conflict reduction.
Dudley’s ideas and their usefulness in development throughout the world today. The government of every country uses it to budget and plans ahead for development. The government is able to allocate the different amounts on a budget for different sectors e.g., education sector, agricultural sector, health sector, industrial and non-industrial sector, and economic sectors, etc.