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Why Nations Fail In the book, Why Nations Fail, Moglu and Robinson the do not base the success and failure of nations on the common factors such as culture, neither geographical location nor the economic policies. However, they base it on the centralization of the political institutions. Centralizing the political institutions is the backbone of a nation’s economic success, which ensures the provision of public necessities such as education, justice, and implementation of contracts for the people. Inclusive and extractive political institutions are also a determinant of the success of a country. Extractive ruling is where a smaller number of people govern a nation, and the rate of exploitation is high, inclusive, on the other hand, a bigger population governs a nation and reduces the exploitation rate significantly.
The role of a centralized government is crucial to the prosperity of any nation. The centralized government assures there is security for the people and disperses any fears from unstable economies and wars by the people. In Korea, for instance, the country separated into two due to the different ideologies of the leaders. South Korea has improved greatly economically, socially and politically compared to their neighbors North Korea (Acemoglu and Robinson 73). This can be attributed to the inclusive South Korea political institution, which is the opposite of the extractive North Korea political institution. This is because only an elite family or group of people governs the nation while the majority is left out thus leaving the country in a dejected state.
The two Korean countries have different political institutions. In South Korea, the inclusive political institutions provide the people with better opportunities to grow. South Korea administration acknowledges private property and people’s rights, which make it a favorable place to invest. As a result, the countrys productivity and prosperity are seen in many sectors such as agriculture, which is usually the backbone of most economies. In North Korea, there are no stable property rights and people literary own nothing. Due to these unstable property rights, the people of North Korea are faced with hunger, famine due to lack of markets, private enterprises, contracts, political and economic freedoms, which drag the country down.
Creative destruction has been described in a number of ways, but it could simply mean coming up with an improved solution to a problem that makes the previous solution obsolete. Creative destruction in political institutions is possible in countries to achieve the nation’s prosperity. In South Korea, the nation was administered through dictatorial, which was later changed to democratic that gave people power to own property, to trade and to partner with other international investors. North Korea has maintained the administrative structure that continues to oppress the people. South Korea employed creative destruction of its political institutions, and the country has improved economically compared to North Korea.
Inclusive political institutions are those that involve diverse and a larger number of people in governing the nation. The elite initially ruled South Korea, but it changed to an inclusive system where other people are involved in governing the nation. In North Korea, the political institutions are strictly for the elite and those close to the presidents family. The people are restricted to major rights, and only the elite can get the best out of the oppression of the people. The inclusive government also gives the people an opportunity to grow in many areas of education to economic and political.
There are no sure methods that can be used to transform a country into an inclusive political administration. Due to this difficulty in achieving an inclusive political system, Acemoglu and Robinson introduce the importance of contingencies to the nations. The authors emphasize the importance of the effects of catastrophes in transforming the political systems. Death of an incumbent leader, for instance, can provide an opportunity for a new leader with a different type of ruling. The contingencies experienced in North Korea, however, have not provided an opportunity for the institutional drift by the political systems when the leaders die.
Politically, the book why nations fail is practical for the current political systems in the world. Segregation of the factors such as geography, culture, policies, etc. is quite impressive. The facts they lay out is not only theoretical but practical. These factors, they put out centralized governments and the inclusive type of administration clearly determines the prosperity of the nation. On the other hand, there are countries such as Libya and Egypt, which had dictatorial forms of government which had a prosperous regime compared to the time they were liberated. The concepts brought out by Moglu and Robinson are true, but other factors away from the political institutions play a major role in a country’s prosperity.
Works Cited
Acemoglu, Daron, and James A. Robinson. Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty. New York: Crown Publishers, 2012. Print.