Written Assignment: Comparing Factors that Lead to Underdevelopment
Due Week 8 and worth 200 points: THIS ASSIGNMENT IS DUE IN WEEK 8
This assignment calls for you to select two Less Developed Countries (LDCs) and assess if there are any factors that are common to both as far as their development is concerned. Your two countries must come from the following list:
| Burundi | Benin | Cameroon | Nigeria |
| Nicaragua | Guatemala | Central African Republic | North Korea |
| Angola | Ghana | Chad | Yemen |
| Eritrea | Cuba | Congo | Thailand |
| Egypt | Iran | Equatorial Guinea | Zimbabwe |
| Zambia | Oman | Ethiopia | Philippines |
| Congo | Liberia | Gabon | Bahrain |
| Tanzania | India | Guyana | Mexico |
| El Salvador | Lebanon | Honduras | Pakistan |
| Syria | Guinea | Kenya | Sri Lanka |
| Algeria | Gambia | Mozambique | Senegal |
| Malawi | Indonesia | Namibia | Vietnam |
| Morocco | Myanmar | Rwanda | Haiti |
| Sudan | Bolivia | Somalia | Kuwait |
| Mauritania | Mali | South Africa | Iraq |
| Botswana | Bangladesh | Tunisia | Niger |
| Libya | Malaysia | Uganda | Panama |
Source: United Nations, 2014
It may help you to be familiar with the concept of poor governance, because this often plays a significant part in why a country is underdeveloped. According to the World Bank, governance is defined as how power is exercised in the management of a country's economic and social resources for development. Therefore, if good governance is synonymous with sound development management, then poor governance means a government has failed to deliver desirable outcomes for its people. This could mean that officials are corrupt, not transparent with their decisions, unqualified to make decisions in the first place, or prone to make decisions based on racism, tribalism or ethnicity — all of which are very common practices in LDCs.
The most common factor used to decide whether countries are underdeveloped nations is through the Human Development Index. Countries that are underdeveloped in nature offer poor health care, few educational opportunities, a low average life expectancy, a low number of job opportunities, few recreational facilities, poor economic growth, a low standard of living, and a poverty-stricken life.
Instructions:
Write at paper that is at least six (6) pages long in which you:
1. Identify the two LDCs (from the approved list) that you will compare and assess. Explain why you chose these two countries.
2. Analyze the features that the LDCs have in common using at least five of the following nine factors (clearly label the five factors using headings):
a. geography
b. extractive institutions
c. governmental corruption
d. internal or external conflicts
e. shaky financial systems
f. unfair judicial systems
g. ethnic, racial or tribal disparities
h. lack or misuse of natural resources
i. closed (statist) economies
3. Go to https://research.strayer.edu to locate at least seven credible sources. Wikipedia, encyclopedias, dictionaries, blogs, and other material that does not qualify as reputable academic source work at the college level are not acceptable sources. Do not use sources that are older than seven (7) years.
Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:
● This course requires the use of new Strayer Writing Standards (SWS). The format is different than other Strayer University courses. Please take a moment to review the SWS documentation for details.
● Be typed, double-spaced (no extra spacing between paragraphs), using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
● Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date (do not include an abstract).
● The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length. Graphs, tables and photographs are not counted toward the length of the paper; only what you have written as text itself is counted.
● NOTE: Please REPORT your SafeAssign Score on the Title (Cover) page OR in the Assignment Comment section BEFORE submitting the FINAL DRAFT of your paper.
●
The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:
· Determine why private investment, open political competition and the intelligent use of natural resources can serve as incentives to further economic development.
· Decide why good governance, a sound financial system, and a fair system of judicial justice are necessary to development.
· Assess why enforceable environmental regulations are critical to sustaining development.
· Use technology and information resources to research issues in sociology of developing countries.
· Write clearly and concisely about sociology of developing countries using proper writing mechanics.
Grading for this assignment will be based on answer quality, logic / organization of the paper, and language and writing skills, using the following rubric:
| Points: 200 | Written Assignment: Comparing Factors that Lead to Underdevelopment |
| Criteria | Unacceptable Below 60% F | Meets Minimum Expectations 60-69% D | Fair 70-79% C | Proficient 80-89% B | Exemplary 90-100% A |
| 1. Identify the two LDCs (from the approved list) that you will compare and assess. Explain why you chose these two countries. Weight: 20% | The countries identified are not LDCs. Did not or incompletely explained why you chose these two countries. | Identified two LDCs not listed. Insufficiently explained why you chose these two countries. | Identified two LDCs to compare and assess, but one of the LDCs is not listed. Partially explained why you chose these two countries. | Identified two LDCs (from the list) to compare and assess. Satisfactorily explained why you chose these two countries. | Identified two LDCs (from the list) to compare and assess. Thoroughly explained why you chose these two countries. |
| 2. Analyze the features that the two LDCs have in common using at least five factors. Weight: 40% | Cited none or only one factor. Made no attempt to analyze any features that the two countries have in common. | Cited two or three factors. Insufficiently analyzed the features that the two LDCs have in common. | Cited three or four factors. Partially analyzed the features that the two LDCs have in common. | Cited five factors. Satisfactorily analyzed the features that the two LDCs have in common. | Cited more than five factors. Thoroughly analyzed the features that the two LDCs have in common. |
| 3. References Weight: 10% | References were not provided, or the references were not of a quality nature. | Five quality references were provided. | Six quality references were provided. | Seven quality references were provided. | More than seven quality references were provided. |
| 4. Clarity, writing mechanics, and formatting Weight: 30% | More than eight errors were present. | Seven to eight errors were present. | Five to six errors were present. | Three to four errors were present. | Zero to two errors were present. |