Authoritarian Governance in Natural Resource Dependent Countries - Thesis Proposal Example

Why do some Natural Resource Dependant Countries have itarian Governance? Why do some Natural Resource Dependant Countries have Authoritarian Governance? Part I: Research Questions & Problem Statement Natural resources have vital contributions to the economy of various nations across the world. For instance, nations such as Norway and Australia have gained enormously from sustainable exploitation of their natural resources for economic progress. Other nations such as Azerbaijan continue to experience economic development from their utilizing natural resources alongside institutional development. On the contrary, Angola and Sierra Leone are prime examples that illustrate the influence of natural resources as key among the factors that contribute to unending conflicts. In essence, dependency or overreliance on natural resources in such nations is, most probably, the cause of ending conflicts. It is noteworthy that the conflicts have been devastating, stressing to its victims and extensive. Most of such countries that have overdependence on natural resources are subjects of poor governance. In relation to the trend, the research intends to identify, examine, and illustrate the relationship between natural resource dependant nations and authoritarian governance. From an empirical perspective, it is evident that nations whose economies rely heavily on natural resources tend to experience authoritarian governance. In most circumstances, governments and regimes in nations tend to provide a platform for compromising democracy. In addition, leaders of such nations have control over all the aspects of the nation as well as dictating the distribution of the natural resources or wealth. Consequently, that presents an opportunity for exploitation and mismanagement of resources at the expense of structural and institutional development. In diverse scenarios, state governments utilise revenues from the natural resources for the achievement of personal gain that do not fulfil national interests. Various nations that over rely on natural resources often experience situations in which leaders to cling to power after the end of their constitutionally stipulated periods (Andersen & Aslaksen, 2008). The political context of the issue makes it a common trend, which experienced among developing economies. Nigeria, Libya, Zaire, Algeria, Cameroon and Angola, for instance, have encountered such political trends. An interesting aspect of the trend relates to the fact that in these nations, nearly one percent increase in resource dependence measured in terms of the ratio of primary export to the GDP per Capita leads to about 8 percent increase in the probability of authoritarianism (Andersen & Aslaksen, 2008). According to different economic and political observers, valuable natural resources in a nation might lead to improvement in living standards. Conversely, some nations focus on the exploitation or utilisation of natural resources negatively, thus the generation of lower wages, as well as high poverty rates. For instance, Nigeria comes out as a prime example because of ineffectiveness of the nation to use oil wealth towards sparking economic growth. On the other hand, wealth has been a source of conflict between diverse or various communities, as well as leaders. Sudan also comes out as another example of nations that greatly depends on natural resources while demonstrating the use of authoritarian governance approach. Oil discovery in the southern regions of the Eastern African nations has been essential in the generation of the long period of dictatorial government in the case of Sudan. Natural resources have been essential to understanding the influence of the conflicts before and after the split of the nation into two states (Jensen & Wantchekon, 2004). Leaders involved in fights and struggles over resources under the influence of dictatorship and authoritarian rule, thus such aspects of governance becoming the aftermath of the struggles. One of the controversial and contentious issues relate to the possibility of existence of a curse under the influence of the natural resources in various nations across the world. From that perspective, the use of free disposal concept promote the viewpoint that different options in relation to having such resources remain unexploited. Under best practices in resource utilization and proper leadership, it is unimaginable that a nation might end up misusing all the existing natural resources. The situation becomes worse if leaders turn from serving the interest of citizens and electorates with absolute dictatorial authority over all other aspects of the nation. The research outlines available literature on the empirical studies that aim to discover the affiliation amid the existence of democracy, economic development or improvement, and natural resources within the nation of interest. According to the observations by Boix and Stokes (2003), which are supported by the viewpoint of Becker (2008), there is a positive link and correlation between aspects of a nation’s leadership upholding principles of democracy and sustainable use of natural resources. Available literature, however, give minimal complementary theory in relation to the empirical findings on these correlations. This research will focus on developing comprehensive and detailed theoretical link between sustainable natural resource use and authoritarian rules in diverse nations. Attaining that goal of the research promotes the potentiality of answering specific research question. The economic implications of overdependence on natural resources continues to be an area of study that continues to receive extensive attention among researchers. It is essential to note that nations whose potential exports based on the natural resources endowments grow at relatively lower pace. The slow growth and economic progress relates to the initial income levels, trade policies and economic variables. There are model nations such as Nigeria, which has oil resources that are renowned to outperform countries not well endowed with natural resources. It is interesting to examine the essence of the discovery of natural resources. Some of the nations that have natural resources have focused on the development of institutions with no authoritarianism at all. The issue has changed following discovery and reliance on natural resources meant to spur economic growth and national development. From that perspective, it is imperative to concentrate on exploration of the trend with the intention of understanding the underlying causes of the relationship between natural resources and existence of authoritarian governance systems in various nations across the world. Part II: Hypothesis H1: Authoritarian governance emanates from the struggle over ownership as well as tussle over the distribution of natural resources under the influence of powerful groups and people in leadership of relevant nations. Various explanations might be essential in illustrating the trend that nations with natural resources are experiencing. Nevertheless, the most appropriate one that answers the research question relates to the struggle by powerful individuals and groups to own and control the natural resources. The extent of struggle is evident in some nations as promoted by private gains, thus the perfect platform in enabling leaders to gain power. The dependence on natural resources facilitates detachment of the people in power from the reality of their nations, as well as citizens. Such entities do not have to levy taxes with the intention of acquiring income in the course of running governments, thus the tendency of lacking accountability during their reign. Most states rely entirely on returns and gains from natural resources that makes it difficult for state actors to have the opportunity to control numerous policies of the nations including the governance systems. On the other hand, certain nations tend to divert the resources meant to benefit the entire nation towards addressing illegal and unpopular objectives. According to viewpoints of various political scientists, the major reason why natural resources end up being a curse in diverse nations relates to the behaviour of the people in control of the state. Few political practitioners have been at the forefront in the hypothesising or theorizing appropriate explanations, which tend to be formal relating to different assumptions. The behaviour of these nations’ rulers, as well as leaders seems to have direct link with the lack of democracy in the nations depending entirely on the natural resources. According to Boix & Stokes (2003), H1 provides the most appropriate answer to the research question. The hypothesis is essential in utilisation of the counter-intuitive properties in association with Nash equilibria with the intention of coming up with more concrete evidence in relation to the suggestion. The struggles have the tendency of generating unproportional increase in the taxation among the powerful groups relating to rise in the natural resources. Leaders have the tendency of shrinking the resource extraction sectors and industry resulting in the decline in economic progress. The approach relates to the need to exploit protection from the increased and enhanced taxations by the leaders. The decline in GDP and economic growth might generate opposition from the public. Adoption and implementation of protective and undemocratic policies are essential in the course of responding to the rebellions. In the midst of such policies, the nations have the tendency of developing into full dictatorial nations while seeking to exploit the natural resources (Sachs & Warner, 2001). Over reliance on the natural resources, relate to the huge benefits for the members of the government seeking to control at least a portion of the nation’s wealth for personal gain. For instance, under Muammar Gaddafi, the leader of Libya focused on single-handedly controlling the entire oil wealth the nation had, which paved way for authoritarianism. The achievement of extra power and control requires state actors to pass policies and regulations for the benefit and interests of the leaders (Haber & Menaldo, 2011). In the case of Congo, constitutional amendments focus on keeping the incumbent in power, thus enabling the current or present government to retain control in relation to vast natural resources. It is critical to execute further research with the intention of understanding the trend to obtain concrete answers and explanation to the research question. Part III: Alternative Hypotheses H2: Obsession with national security from the authoritarian governments might be a reason for behind the tendency to adopt this type of government by nations depending on the natural resources. Nations, which rely entirely on the environment-based wealth, have the obligation of putting in place appropriate measures and mechanisms with the intention of protecting such resources from the foreign exploitation. For instance, nations endowed with the oil wells have the responsibility of protecting such resources to generate appropriate revenues to the governments. It is essential to note that investments are made in the best available fighting equipment while keeping any intruder at bay. Nevertheless, militarization process creates an avenue of incorporating dictatorial trends within the nation of interest. The tendency of the citizens to question government plans, as well as military policies, enables the governments to adopt and integrate the security equipment and apparatus aiming at controlling the masses while discouraging them from asking questions about the policies. The leaders ruling the elite end up integrating dictatorial practices, which aim at protecting their personal interests in the pretence of protecting the natural resources (Panchok-Berry, Hardin, & Wantchekon, 2005). H3: Natural resource wealth undermines democracy. The hypothesis implies that had the nations not found natural resources, the current authoritarian, resource-dependent nations would have focused on the utilisation of the democratic government policies. It is essential to note that the operationalization of the hypothesis is straightforward aspect, which is vital in illustrating the appropriate counterfactual case noting that the same resource-dependent nations prior to becoming resource dependent. It is difficult to sustain the truth relating to his hypothesis in case the democracies remained equally democratic after the development of the natural resources. H4: Natural resource wealth has the potentiality of impeding democratic transitions in such nations The hypothesis implies that had the nations not become major resource produces, countries practicing authoritarian prior to developing the natural resource sector would become democratic. In addition, the operationalization of the hypothesis is less straightforward because of the existence of two appropriate counterfactuals. In the first instance, it is ideal to note that the same resource-dependent nations prior to becoming a major resource producer. In case the study finds that authoritarian states became democratic after becoming reliant on on oil or minerals, it is challenging to justify the viewpoint that resources have the potentiality of impeding democratization (Wantchekon, 2002). In the course of answering this question, researchers have the obligation of imagining a counterfactual nation, which was the same as the resource dependent nation in all respects, except for the failure to find the resources. In obvious aspects, such a nation does not exist, thus fails to under the observation process. In this context, it is critical to make an assumption at the resource dependent nations would focus on following the same path in relation to democratization as the aspects of other nations within the same geographic or cultural settings. Part IV: Conceptual and Operational Definitions of Variables In the execution of this study, the dependent variable is the authoritarian rule or governance system in the nations depending significantly on the natural resources. The dependent variable refers to the output or the variable, which undergo testing with the intention of seeking to determine an effect of another variable. In the development of this research, authoritarian system of governance experience critical testing with the intention of seeing if it is an effect or output of another variable. Various indicators of authoritarian rules exist among the nations, which might depend on the natural resources. According to Becker (2008), various levels of appreciation of human right by the regime, media control, and electoral practices might be vital in the characterisation of authoritarian governance. In addition, electoral practice is one of the most effective indicators in relation to understanding the implications of the dependent variable with reference to the development of the research or study. Whenever a nation has a dictatorial regime, there is substantive usage of the legislations with the intention of controlling the approach to voting by people, thus the perfect opportunity towards keeping the elite in the valuable power. In the development of this research, the first independent variable would relate to the struggle by the political elite over the resources. The independent variable would associate with the formation of alliances, as well as portion of the resources under the control and management of the political or national leaders aiming at achieving personal goals. The second independent variable relates to the focus on militarization. Some the indicators include extensive investments on military personnel, as well as equipment and government engagement on the national security. The third independent variable is the lack of democracy. Some of the characteristics include implementation of authoritarian policies and minimisation of institutional development programs by the current regimes. Part V: Research Design The study will focus on the adoption and implementation of an observation research design. From this perspective, the study will incorporate cross-sectional analysis, which will concentrate on the assessment of the causes of authoritarian policies and governance systems in the resource-dependent nations. The approach will be essential in the assessment of the relationship between the dependent and independent variables with reference to examination of why some natural resource-dependant nations have authoritarian governance system. In addition, the research design will be appropriate because of it is relatively inexpensive while taking up little in the collection and analysis of data in accordance with the research question and hypotheses. It is also possible for the research design to estimate the prevalence of the outcome of interest because the sample will emanate from the whole population. The research design will also provide the perfect platform for the assessment of various outcomes, as well as cause of the authoritarian governance policies in the natural resource-dependant nations across the world. Moreover, the research design does not provide any loss in the course of following up in relation to the findings of the study. The research design is critical towards the development or generation of hypotheses in accordance with the research questions, as well as the scope of the study. On the other hand, the study will have to focus on handling the need to make causal inference with the intention of understanding the issue or topic of study across the globe while comparing diverse aspects of the nations. Cross-sectional analysis will provide the perfect platform for understanding how the nations seek to exploit the natural resources. Similarly, the study will focus on the utilisation of the extensive literature review in the course of collecting appropriate and useful data concerning the research question and objective. The approach will be essential to the generation of quality research data concerning the issue of authoritarian government policies in the natural resource-dependant nations across the globe. The design will be vital in understanding how the new study might contribute to the development and growth of the existing body of information on the issue of authoritarian government policies, as well as the existence of such policies in natural resource-dependant nations. References Becker, G. (2008). Competition and Democracy. Journal of Law and Economics, 1,105-9. Boix, C. & S. Stokes (2003). “Endogenous democratisation.” Unpublished manuscript, University of Chicago. Wantchekon, L. (2002). Why do resource dependent countries have authoritarian governments? Journal of African Finance and Economic Development, 2, 57-77. Haber, S., & Menaldo, V. (2011). Do natural resources fuel authoritarianism? A reappraisal of the resource curse. American political science Review, 105(01), 1-26. Panchok-Berry, J., Hardin, R., & Wantchekon, L. (2005). The Correlation Between Resource Dependence and Electoral Competitiveness in African States. The New York University. Sachs, J. D., & Warner, A. M. (2001). The curse of natural resources. European economic review, 45(4), 827-838. Jensen, N., & Wantchekon, L. (2004). Resource wealth and political regimes in Africa. Comparative political studies, 37(7), 816-841. Read More