Political Development Theory in the Sociological and Political Analyses of the New States

POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT THEORY IN THE SOCIOLOGICAL AND POLITICAL ANALYSES OF THE NEW STATES by ROBERT HARRY JACKSON B.A., University of British Columbia, 1964 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in the Department of Political Science We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA September, I966 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission.for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the Head of my Department or by his representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department of Polit_i_g^j;_s_gience The University of British Columbia Vancouver 8, Canada Date September, 2, 1966 ii ABSTRACT The emergence since World War II of many new states in Asia and Africa has stimulated a renewed interest of sociology and political science in the non-western social and political process and an enhanced concern with the problem of political development in these areas. The source of contemporary concepts of political development can be located in the ideas of the social philosophers of the nineteenth century. Maine, Toennies, Durkheim, and Weber were the first social observers to deal with the phenomena of social and political development in a rigorously analytical manner and their analyses provided contemporary political development theorists with seminal ideas that led to the identification of the major properties of the developed political condition. But the "before-and- after" models of these social philosophers were essentially static and did not explain the movement of societies from a condition of political "backwardness" to one of political development. Accounts of various paths to political develop• ment were sought in evolutionary and diffusionary theories of social change. In addition to formulating various conceptualizations of political development, both as a condition and as a process, contemporary theorists have attempted to discern possible iii instruments of political development in the new states. Among those identified were elites, ideologies, parties and groups. The capacity of such instruments to effect political development in the new states has been the subject of considerable discussion and debate among theorists. While such instruments may aid in the acquisition of political modernity in the new states, effective and enduring political development appears to require a fundamental human trans• formation. Such a transformation encompasses two conjoint developments: a fundamental alteration in the political status of individuals in society that is summed up in the concept of citizenship; and a fundamental change in the social and psychological attributes of individuals involving their acquisition of a sense of political effectiveness and a capacity to associate and cooperate in the pursuit of common political goals. The discussion reveals that political development theory constitutes a fusion of the sociological and philosophical dimensions of political analysis. This property of contemp• orary political development theory places it in the tradition of classical social and political thought. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I THE NATURE OF THE QUEST 1 PART I CONCEPTUAL ASPECTS OF THE POLITICAL ..... 22 DEVELOPMENT PROCESS II THE IDEA OF POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT 23 III PATHS TO POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT 51 PART II INSTRUMENTS OF POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT 81 IN THE NEW STATES IV ELITES AND POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT 82 V IDEOLOGY AND POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT Ill VI GROUPS, PARTIES, AND POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT. 145 PART III THE HUMAN GOAL OF POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT ... 183 VII THE DEVELOPMENT OF POLITICAL MAN 184 EPILOGUE 203 BIBLIOGRAPHY 209 CHAPTER I. • THE NATURE OF THE QUEST Unless the study of politics generates and is guided by broad, bold, even if highly vulnerable general theories, it is headed for the ultimate disaster of triviality. Robert Dahl The dominant characteristic of the contemporary non- western and underdeveloped world can be summed up by the word "change" -- change in the attitudes, values, and beliefs of an ever-increasing proportion of the inhabitants of these areas; change in their behavior which Involves breakdowns in tradi• tional and age-old patterns of social relationships with the emergence and formation of new social rolesj and change in the structures and institutions within which social interaction takes place. The veneration of the past and the acceptance of the status quo as the best possible solution to the problems confronting men are giving way to new expectations about the possibilities contained within the future. Spiritual solutions to the dilemmas of social life are being supplanted by secular Utopias; the futuie and its promises are eagerly awaited. Villages are being supplemented by the modern city and people are becoming mobile, both socially and geographically. Tradi• tional authority structures — the extended family and its head• men, the village and its elders, the tribe and its chieftains — are weakening with the assault of new forms of political organ• ization such as the political party, new ruling elites, and new ideologies that define a .larger-social collectivity, the nation. 2 The nation-state has emerged, as the new source of pomp, splen• dor, and power designed to encompass and subordinate all other sources of legitimate authority. I The politics of the developing areas is a "politics of change". It is a politics of change in at least two respects: it is an involvement of the political system with an attempt to change the form and content of the economies and societies of these areas and it is a change in the political system itself. Some elaboration on this distinction is necessary. To speak of a politics of change in the first sense implies a relation• ship between the political system and the larger social system; in this view the dependent variable is the society and its changes, while the independent variable is the political system and the matter of concern is the impact of the latter on the former. Such studies of political change have usually been couched in the phraseology of "nation-building" focusing on the creation of national societies, national integration, and political unification. To speak of a politics of change in the secondOsense is to' regard the political system as the depen• dent variable and to analyze the manner in which it is changing and the internal and external forces that are contributing to its transformation. Such studies of political change have focused on the "state" or "political system" rather than the nation. This essay will concern itself with the politics of change in both these senses but the emphasis will be on the latter. That is, we will concern ourselves with political as• pects of change in national societies but we will be even more 3 concerned with the changes in the political subsystems of such societies. What are we to understand by the word "change"? While it is often useful to speak of change by comparing what was (tradition) with what is becoming (transition) and with what will be (developed, modern), the opposite of change is not the ancient or traditional but rather the notion of permanence 1 or persistence. What has characterized the peasant communities and tribal societies of the non-western world for past millennia and what characterizes many of them still is the persistence of their governance by received tradition; the application of tried and tested past solutions to present problems of social, econom• ic, and political life. Since the governance of received tradi• tion persists in the form of social values, behavioral norms, and social structures, change may be seen to involve alterations in these. While all societies are '^characterized by both con• tinuity and change — one sociologist writes that a "major task" of social science is to discover the relationships between the 2 two processes -- the degree of change in the developing areas appears to be greater than in developed nations. What distin• guishes western societies is their "institutionalization1* of change by means of a highly differentiated, rational, and effi• cient social structure; a relatively optimistic value system; and individuals who can perform the great variety of complex 1 Joan Bondurant, "Traditional Polity/ and the Dynamics of change in Indiaj" Human Organization, vol.22-~?(Spring 1963), p. 5. 2 T.B. Bottomore, Sociology, London, Unwin, 1962, p.278. h roles that a modern society requires. Most traditional societies, on the other hand, have institutionalized contin- - uity and the persistence of customary practices. In this' view social change is a process involving alterations in the value system, change in social structures and institutions, and be• havioral changes in the social roles of individuals. "Political" change then becomes a process of alteration in the political values, political structures and institutions, and political; behavior of individuals. However, it is important not to think of political change as simply the addition of new values, struc• tures, and roles; rather, as Kilson points out "...the process" of political change involves its own set of inter-related norms, 3 institutions, and procedures." Thus,

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