In Pursuit of Development
168 episodes - English - Latest episode: 3 days ago -Unlock a World of Insight: Your Passport to Global Development!
Embark on a journey that transcends borders and transcends boundaries. Our podcast is your gateway to a deeper understanding of democracy, poverty eradication, and the urgent battle against climate change. In each episode, we transport you to the heart of developing and "emerging economies" in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. As we tackle the world's most pressing issues, we don't just dwell on problems; we spotlight innovative solutions and success stories that are making a difference on the ground.
Your host, Professor Dan Banik, leads the way from the University of Oslo. Tune in to this intellectual adventure and become part of the change! đđ§ @danbanik @GlobalDevPod
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Episodes
Administrative Capacity and Its Impact on Development in Pakistan â Sameen A. Mohsin Ali
April 24, 2024 04:19 - 52 minutes - 47.7 MBEffective bureaucracies are pivotal in mobilizing resources, implementing development projects, and ensuring equitable distribution of growth benefits across all societal segments. Conversely, weak administrative systems often result in inefficiency, corruption, and the derailment of vital development efforts aimed at improving health, education, and economic opportunities. The significance of administrative capacity extends beyond immediate program implementation. Strong administrative syst...
Infrastructure, Governance, and Society in Modern Africa â Karuti Kanyinga
April 17, 2024 04:11 - 43 minutes - 40.1 MBA common concern voiced by leaders in many developing nations is the deterioration of their road systems and the apparent hesitance of the international community to fund infrastructure improvements. In response, China launched the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013. This sweeping project has facilitated investments in sectors such as transportation, infrastructure, telecommunications, logistics, energy, and oil and gas. While some African citizens and policymakers view the BRI as an opp...
Politics of the Planet â Lan Marie Nguyen Berg
April 10, 2024 04:34 - 52 minutes - 47.7 MBThe continued reliance on a "business as usual" model is insufficient for countering the detrimental consequences of global warming. Numerous studies, including the influential reports from the IPCC, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, have sparked a keen interest in understanding the prerequisites for the societal transformations necessary to address climate change effectively. However, a significant disconnect persists between the scientific consensus on global warming and the a...
Tackling the Energy Access and Development Challenge â Jörg Ankel-Peters
April 03, 2024 04:28 - 45 minutes - 41.7 MBMany nations around the world are grappling with the challenge of providing reliable and sustainable energy access to their populations. Half a billion people, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of South Asia, still rely on biomass for their basic needs, underscoring the urgent necessity for innovative energy solutions. Â The quest for electrification, especially in rural and underserved regions, is not just about lighting up homes but igniting opportunities for education, healthcar...
The US-China Partnership That Transformed International Trade â Elizabeth Ingleson
March 27, 2024 05:29 - 47 minutes - 43.9 MBIn the fabric of today's interconnected globe, "Made in China" has emerged as a richly layered emblem, intertwined with economic, political, and cultural narratives. Every day, consumers worldwide engage with this tag, embedded in an array of products, prompting us to ponder: What deeper meanings unfold from the assertion that a product is "Made in China"? Pursuing this question guides us through a complex labyrinth of global manufacturing practices, the ebb and flow of international relatio...
Empowering Change: Leadership's Role in Global Development â Willem Fourie
March 20, 2024 05:12 - 45 minutes - 42 MBEffective leadership is characterized by its ability to inspire collective action, foster inclusivity, and navigate the intricate dynamics of political, economic, and cultural landscapes to drive meaningful change. The challenge of leadership in the context of development is further complicated by the need for adaptability and resilience. Leaders must be capable of steering their communities through uncertainties and crises, demonstrating a commitment to long-term goals while addressing imme...
Cityscapes and Sanctuaries: Exploring the Socio-Spatial and Religious Dynamics of Johannesburg and Lagos â Obvious Katsaura
March 13, 2024 05:41 - 47 minutes - 43.8 MBThe African continent is projected to have the fastest urban growth rate in the world: by 2050, Africaâs cities will be home to an additional 950 million people. While this surge presents urban centers with a wealth of opportunities such as a larger workforce, increased consumer markets, and greater potential for cultural exchange, it also brings forth substantial challenges. The rapid population growth can exacerbate existing problems such as inadequate infrastructure, housing shortages, an...
Voices and Votes: Shaping the Democratic Landscape in Africa â Boniface Dulani
March 06, 2024 05:20 - 1 hour - 55 MBThe landscape of democracy in Africa is characterized by a dynamic interplay between achievements and obstacles, particularly as the continent approaches a pivotal year with numerous elections scheduled in 2024. Countries such as South Africa, Namibia, Mozambique, and Senegal are preparing for electoral contests, underscoring a persistent belief in the electoral system as a legitimate means to select leaders and representatives. Despite this faith in democracy, there is widespread disenchant...
Democracy in the Balance: Navigating Latin America's Political Landscape â Gerardo Munck
February 28, 2024 04:58 - 45 minutes - 41.3 MBThe political landscape of Latin America has undergone major transformation since the democratization wave of the 1980s and 1990s. During this time, most democracies in the region have managed to persist, albeit with a few notable exceptions. However, the quality of these democracies has often been questioned. Guillermo OâDonnell's characterization of Latin American democracies as "strange and flawed yet surviving" aptly captures this scenario. In Latin American Politics and Society: A Com...
The Globalization of Finance and Its Impact on State Building â Didac Queralt
February 21, 2024 05:45 - 50 minutes - 46.1 MBAn increasing number of countries are struggling with rising debt and facing defaults. A recent World Bank report revealed that developing countries paid a record $443.5 billion in 2022 to service their public debts, a situation exacerbated by surging global interest rates and a strong U.S. dollar. This debt servicing cost represents a 5% increase from the previous year, with warnings of more challenges ahead for the worldâs poorest nations. Therefore, it is crucial to gain a deeper understa...
The Genesis of the Human Development Report and Index â Meghnad Desai
February 14, 2024 04:36 - 20 minutes - 19.1 MBThe landscape of development theory, measurement, and policy was transformed in 1990 with the publication of the first Human Development Report by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). This report also introduced the Human Development Index, which is a summary measure of average achievement in 3 key dimensions of human development: life expectancy at birth, literacy and income. In 1981, Amartya Sen published a paper titled "Public action and the quality of life in developing countri...
Global Structural Reform: Poverty, Freedom, Justice, and Innovation â Thomas Pogge
February 07, 2024 05:51 - 57 minutes - 52.6 MBWe explore the idea that the gravest deficits in freedom are intrinsically linked to poverty, impacting individuals and nations worldwide. We also examine the global innovation regime's crucial role in shaping progress and human development. International impact funds encourage and reward innovations based on their social benefits, potentially revolutionizing the current innovation regime. Towards the end of the conversation, we briefly discuss the work of John Rawls and the theory of justic...
The Future of Industrialization â Jostein Hauge
January 31, 2024 05:21 - 47 minutes - 43.8 MBFew events have transformed society as profoundly as the Industrial Revolution. The introduction of the factory system not only revolutionized the production landscape but also reshaped the social and economic contours of nations. This transformation was marked by the birth of industries such as textiles, iron, and glass-making, which catapulted productivity and altered every facet of daily life, setting the stage for modern civilization. However, the bastions of industrialization are not im...
Development as a Right: Unpacking Principles and Practices â Surya Deva
January 24, 2024 05:36 - 50 minutes - 45.8 MBThe right to development enables individuals and communities to actively participate in and benefit from various forms of development â economic, social, cultural, and political â while ensuring their human rights and freedoms. It involves a range of responsibilities, including the roles of states, multinational companies, NGOs, businesses, and educational institutions. Central to this right are principles of self-determination, intersectionality, intergenerational equity, and fair distribut...
Shifting Paradigms: The Global South and Feminist Political Economy Unveiled â Sara Stevano
January 17, 2024 05:01 - 49 minutes - 45.3 MBThe term "Global South" has seen an exponential rise in both academic discourse and international policy dialogues, having evolved from a mere synonym for the âThird Worldâ to a complex geo-historical concept. In the first part of this episode, we critically analyze the utility and limitations of the term, acknowledging the diverse economic, political, and cultural realities it attempts to encapsulate. In the second section, we unpack how feminist political economy scrutinizes the power rela...
Beyond Trade: China's Cultural and Political Relations in Africa â Joshua Eisenman
January 10, 2024 05:30 - 56 minutes - 51.5 MBChina's burgeoning relationship with the African continent has been characterized by significant economic investment, trade, and infrastructure development, with China emerging as Africa's largest trading partner and a major player in the continent's evolving economic landscape. In recent years, we have seen an influx of Chinese involvement in African industries ranging from mining and construction to manufacturing and retail. This has been accompanied by an ambitious drive to develop Africa...
Accountability in Action: The World Bank's Inspection Panel on the Frontlines â Ramanie Kunanayagam
December 27, 2023 05:34 - 55 minutes - 50.8 MBEstablished as an independent complaints mechanism in 1993, the Inspection Panel is tasked with bringing transparency and redress to those adversely affected by World Bank-funded initiatives. The Panel is widely recognized as an international pioneer in respect to holding a major multilateral organization to account on social and environmental issues. Over the past three decades, it has registered numerous âRequests for Inspectionâ, from communities potentially affected by World Bank-finance...
From Miracle to Menace: The Fight Against Plastic Pollution â Gloria Majiga
December 20, 2023 04:44 - 53 minutes - 49.4 MBOnce heralded as a miraculous material, plastic now poses a slow and insidious threat to our waterways, landscapes, and ecosystems. Plastic pollution impacts different regions of the world to varying degrees, and Malawi stands out as a notable example. An estimated 75,000 tons of plastic are manufactured annually in the country, with a minimum of 80% of these plastics being discarded as single-use items. Following pressure from environmental activists, the Government of Malawi took action by...
Decoding Development: The Crucial Role of Institutions â Shiping Tang
December 13, 2023 04:23 - 53 minutes - 49.2 MBDevelopment implies not just growth over a significant period of time but also progressive changes in the structure of an economy. Many influential scholars have identified the crucial role of property rights and the importance of constraining the power of the state while others highlight the importance of political settlements, development clusters, and inclusive economic and political institutions. Shiping Tang is Fudan Distinguished Professor and Dr. Seaker Chan Chair Professor at the Sc...
Making Sense of Cancer: Why Better Therapy Leads to More Disease â Jarle Breivik
December 06, 2023 05:41 - 47 minutes - 43.3 MBThe overarching objective of cancer research, championed by organizations like the US National Cancer Institute and the American Cancer Society, is to "end cancer as we know it". While this statement may suggest a future with less cancer, the stark reality unfolds quite differently. My guest argues that modern medicine is not in the process of ending cancer; rather, we are accelerating the problem. Globally, the number of new cases each year is estimated to increase from 18 million in 2020 t...
Beyond Red Tape: Unraveling Bureaucratic Paradoxes in Public Service Delivery â Akshay Mangla
November 29, 2023 06:05 - 57 minutes - 52.4 MBScholars have highlighted the extent to which institutions in certain developing countries often lack the power to effectively project authority and implement policies. There may also be a substantial gap between public policy objectives and their actual execution, which in turn reduces the credibility and legitimacy of the state. Bureaucracies exhibit significant variation in their ability to implement policies both between and within countries, across various policy functions, and even wit...
Unpacking the Backlash Against Globalization and its Impact on Inequality â Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg
November 22, 2023 05:41 - 1 hour - 56.8 MBGlobalization is a force that has transformed our world in ways both remarkable and challenging. From the historic wave of trade liberalizations in the late 20th century to the monumental rise of China, an intricate interplay of a range of forces has molded the interconnected nature of our planet. Along the way, we have witnessed the decline of manufacturing in advanced economies and the far-reaching impacts of trade on global poverty, inequality, and labor markets. Despite a rapid advance f...
A New Horizon: Advancing Public Sector Reform in Africa â Happy Kayuni
November 15, 2023 05:53 - 54 minutes - 49.9 MBMany African countries have undergone various phases of public sector reform aimed at enhancing efficiency and service delivery. But how effective have such reforms been? How and to what extent can some of these reforms be characterised as "institutional mimicry", where institutions adopt the language and behavior of reform without necessarily achieving substantial changes on the ground? How meritocratic is the civil service? And what about political interference, bureaucratic motivation and...
Political Constraints in Growth and Development: Moving beyond talking about them to actually tackling them â Peter Evans
November 08, 2023 05:57 - 1 hour - 55.7 MBAlthough political constraints have significant negative impacts on development, mainstream approaches to addressing these issues are often primarily technical and lack a willingness to understand and address political economy factors. Despite decades of technical efforts in sectors like health, education, and climate, some critical problems persist, such as drug supply losses, tree planting failures, and chronic absenteeism in health and education. Peter Evans is a governance specialist w...
India's Aspirations on the Global Stage â Suhasini Haidar
November 01, 2023 05:58 - 52 minutes - 48.1 MBIndia's journey from a post-colonial nation to a global powerhouse has been nothing short of remarkable. The journey to this point has been marked by twists and turns, economic reforms, and strategic partnerships that have propelled India onto the world stage in ways that were once unimaginable. In the process, it has become an economic powerhouse, fostering innovation, trade, and partnerships that have set the world abuzz. But India's story isn't just about impressive economic growth. It's...
Humanity's Enduring Quest for Power and Prosperity â Daron Acemoglu
October 25, 2023 04:50 - 48 minutes - 44.1 MBWe engage in a discussion centered around Daron Acemoglu's latest book, co-authored with Simon Johnson, titled Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity. The choices we make regarding technology can either advance the interests of a select elite or serve as the foundation for widespread prosperity. But technology's trajectory can be, and should be, controlled and directed for the benefit of all. The remarkable advances in computing over the past fifty year...
Unveiling the Global Tapestry: Liberalism, Democracy, and the Path to Development â Francis Fukuyama
June 28, 2023 04:41 - 1 hour - 57.2 MBGrounded in fundamental principles of equality and the rule of law, liberalism is a system for governing diverse societies and emphasizes the rights of individuals to pursue their own forms of happiness free from government encroachment. But classical liberalism is in a state of crisis and is now being challenged from both the political right and the left. In his latest book â Liberalism and its discontents â Francis Fukuyama outlines some of the main reasons for the current state of crisis ...
Unraveling Brazil's political and legal landscape â Conrado HĂŒbner Mendes
June 21, 2023 04:28 - 49 minutes - 45.1 MBIn the wake of President Lula's re-election, Brazil finds itself at a critical juncture, with numerous questions arising about the relationship between the political, legislative, and judicial systems. As Brazil grapples with its political dynamics, it is crucial to understand the extent to which the judiciary maintains its autonomy and upholds the rule of law. In this episode, we dive deep into this crucial aspect, highlighting the challenges and potential implications for the country's dem...
Planet & Progress: Navigating Climate, Poverty, and Aid â Anne Beathe Tvinnereim
June 14, 2023 05:55 - 48 minutes - 44.7 MBOur world is currently facing numerous crises. While progress on global poverty reduction has stalled, the incidence of violent conflicts is on the rise. Along with rising poverty and inequality in some parts of the world, geopolitical tensions are also fast escalating, and we are in the midst of a climate crisis that requires urgent political action. The resources available to address these numerous challenges appear, however, to be grossly inadequate. There is growing concern whether and t...
Forging New Paths in Challenging Geopolitical Landscapes â Stephen D. Krasner
June 07, 2023 05:46 - 50 minutes - 45.8 MBSteve Krasner has for decades been one of the most influential international relations scholars in the world. He is the Graham H. Stuart Professor of International Relations and a Senior Fellow at Stanford Universityâs Freeman Spogli Institute and the Hoover Institution.In 2002, he served as Director for Governance and Development at the National Security Council. And from 2005 to 2007, he was Director of the Policy Planning at the US Department of State. In his latest book, How to Make Lo...
Unleashing the Power of Business to Change the World â Raj Kumar
May 31, 2023 05:25 - 54 minutes - 50 MBAlthough traditional approaches to aid may often have been well-intentioned, they relied heavily on large-scale endeavors initiated by a handful of aid agencies and international organizations. The situation today is very different. There are disruptive forces in the form of large corporations, Silicon Valley startups, and billionaire philanthropists, who are spearheading a paradigm shift towards data-driven and outcome-focused global development. Entrepreneurial startups are also offering a...
Using Evidence to Drive Policy and Achieve Lasting Development Impact â Rachel Glennerster
May 24, 2023 05:22 - 51 minutes - 47.4 MBThere is considerable and growing attention and interest on understanding what works, where, how, and why in development. This also means there are numerous debates on how best we ought to generate evidence and measure development success and impact. One way of measuring development impact is through randomized control trials (RCTs), which have been very useful for establishing causal relationships and providing robust and reliable evidence for evaluating the effectiveness and safety of deve...
Unpacking the complexities of corruption â Daniel Agbiboa
May 17, 2023 05:49 - 53 minutes - 49.2 MBThe conventional wisdom is that corruption is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon that has a significant impact on societies and individuals around the world. And most people would agree that corruption is bad. It can undermine the rule of law, erode public trust, and distort economic development. But there are those who argue that to truly address corruption, we must rethink our understanding of what it is and how it operates. This may include adopting a dialectical approach that pays att...
How industrialization reshapes modern ethnic identities â Elliott Green
May 10, 2023 05:27 - 53 minutes - 48.6 MBOne of the most important factors explaining ethnic change in the modern world is industrialization, which has resulted in significant changes in the way we live and work, including changes in migration patterns and social structures. As people move from rural areas to urban centers, they may find themselves interacting with others from very different cultural backgrounds and must therefore adapt to new social norms and customs. Elliott Green is Professor of Development Studies in the Depar...
How China's digital entrepreneurs are redefining innovation and reshaping the global economy â Lin Zhang
May 03, 2023 05:00 - 53 minutes - 48.6 MBInternet-based entrepreneurship has flourished in China for the past decade and a half. This includes start-ups in big cities, rural areas experiencing an e-commerce boom, and middle-class women reselling luxury goods. My guest argues that for many of these individuals involved in digital entrepreneurship, reinventing oneself as an entrepreneur has been an appealing way to adapt to a changing economy and society. Indeed, this everyday labor of entrepreneurial reinvention is remaking China am...
Making every dollar count â Ryan Briggs
April 26, 2023 05:04 - 53 minutes - 48.8 MBEffective altruism has been in the news of late. Sam Bankman-Fried, the CEO of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, which collapsed in 2022, was for many years a leading voice for and financial sponsor of the effective altruist movement. He and others have argued for âlongtermismâ: the idea that positively influencing the distant future is a key moral priority of our time. As effective altruism and longtermism have become increasingly influential, these ideas have also been subject to greater sc...
Patching development â Rajesh Veeraraghavan
April 19, 2023 05:02 - 55 minutes - 50.9 MBMany well-designed development programs do not deliver social benefits effectively, especially to marginalized citizens. While political will and good policy design are vital for a programâs success, they often run into resistance from local power systems. How states react to the local exercise of power that often comes into play at the âlast mileâ of project implementation appears to be particularly important. Indeed, the extent to which development programs avoid being captured by state or...
Is economic growth the magic wand for ending poverty? â Charles Kenny
April 12, 2023 05:20 - 54 minutes - 49.5 MBCharles Kenny is a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development in Washington DC. He was previously at the World Bank, where his assignments included coordinating work on governance and anticorruption in infrastructure and natural resources, and managing investment and technical assistance projects covering telecommunications and the Internet. Charles has written several books, two of which we discussed in this conversation: Getting Better: Why Global Development is Succeeding, and Our...
A more fragmented world â Helen Clark
April 05, 2023 05:53 - 46 minutes - 42.3 MBOur guest on this very special (100th) episode is someone I greatly admire and needs very little introduction. Helen Clark has engaged widely in policy development and advocacy across the international, economic, social and cultural spheres. She was Prime Minister of New Zealand for nine years and has also served as the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme. Since 2019, she has chaired the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) and in 2020, she was appointed...
The European Union and global development â Johanne DĂžhlie Saltnes
March 29, 2023 06:05 - 47 minutes - 43.9 MBThe European Union is collectively the biggest provider of international aid in the world, contributing over ⏠50 billion a year to the fight against poverty and the advancement of global development. However, while the EUâs capacities and impact in foreign and security policy have been extensively discussed among scholars and policymakers, its role in promoting global development has attracted less attention. Our guest has focused her research on the contestation of international norms and ...
Banking on Beijing â Axel Dreher
March 22, 2023 07:00 - 57 minutes - 52.9 MBChina plays a crucial role in the development policies of many countries around the world. It offers grants and loans, and builds major infrastructure projects such as roads, bridges, power plants, parliament buildings, hotels, and football stadiums. A new book claims that that much of the conventional wisdom about Chinese development finance rests on untested assumptions, individual case studies, and incomplete data sources. The authors argue that Beijingâs use of debt rather than aid to ba...
Africaâs youth in the race for climate action â Hilda Flavia Nakabuye
March 18, 2023 08:00 - 54 minutes - 49.9 MBFridays For Future is a youth-led  movement that began in August 2018. This movement was inspired by 15-year-old Greta Thunberg and other young activists, who sat in front of the Swedish parliament every school day for three weeks, to protest against the lack of action on the climate crisis. While Greta has become a household name, there are many other young activists around the world who are also making a vital contribution by pressuring their governments to undertake climate action. Our ...
Poverty and the new threat to prosperity â Indermit Gill
March 15, 2023 07:00 - 49 minutes - 45.6 MBThe onset of the pandemic in 2020 marked a turning point in the 30-year pursuit of successful global poverty reduction. According to recent World Bank estimates, the incomes of the poorest 40 percent of the worldâs population likely fell by 4 percent in 2020. And as a result, the number of people living in extreme poverty likely increased by 11 percent in 2020âi.e. it increased from 648 million to 719 million. The pandemic also increased global inequality. In terms of lost income, the world...
Rethinking "evidence" â Eivind Engebretsen and Mona Baker
March 11, 2023 16:15 - 54 minutes - 50.2 MBIn the past few decades, we have witnessed the rise and consolidation of âevidence-based medicineâ among health professionals. This refers to a systematic approach to medicine in which doctors and other health care professionals use the best available scientific evidence from clinical research to help make decisions about the care of individual patients. But the COVID-19 pandemic has managed to transform what constitutes reliable medical evidence into a topic of public concern and debate. Th...
Locally led development and the future of aid â HĂ„vard Mokleiv NygĂ„rd
March 08, 2023 07:00 - 1 hour - 57.2 MBThe global development domain currently faces huge challenges. Apart from trying to stimulate economic growth and ensuring a fair distribution of the benefits of that growth, national governments and their international partners must also tackle complex conflicts, provide humanitarian assistance, and not least address the harmful impacts of climate disruption. What then should the role of external actors be? How can good intentions be best mobilized into effective actions on the ground? HĂ„v...
The Wild World of WhatsApp â Jamie Hitchen
March 01, 2023 07:00 - 58 minutes - 53.3 MBThe role of social media in spreading political misinformation has received considerable attention. But various forms of social media also facilitate and enable participatory democracy across boundaries. They help to hold leaders to account as well as provide channels for airing the needs and demands of marginalised communities and vulnerable groups. These demands can sometimes even be propelled to the centre of public debates. While there has been considerable focus on Twitter and Facebook,...
Christmas special â The acronisation game
December 26, 2022 07:00 - 8 minutes - 8.04 MBWhile much of the success of the show is due to my fabulous guests, I am also lucky to have a wonderful team to assist me at the University of Oslo. I wish to in particular thank Kristoffer Ring, our IT guru, and Oda Fagerland, Bella Reid, and Eliska Sottova for research assistance and transcripts. My colleague Desmond McNeill, who was on the show earlier this year discussing the power of ideas and metaphors in international development policy, has invented a game which he calls âacronisati...
Just copy us! Why canât the rest of the world be more like Scandinavia? â Harald Eia
December 21, 2022 07:00 - 51 minutes - 47.5 MBScandinavian countries are well-known for high standards of living and many people wonder about the origins of the welfare state model in Scandinavia and why it has worked so well. The features of the welfare state in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden typically include high state spending, strong universal public services, and relatively high equality in gender roles. But what explains the success of this model of development and how did these countries get to where they are today? These are some...
Contemporary state building and elite taxation in Latin America â Gustavo Flores-MacĂas
December 14, 2022 07:00 - 58 minutes - 53.3 MBWhile many Latin American states have experienced severe public-safety crises in the context of fiscal duress, elite engagement in state building has taken place in some countries but not in others. Why is that the case? In explaining the adoption of elite taxes for public safety, Gustavo Flores-MacĂas argues that the conventional crisis-centered explanations are insufficient. Whereas economic elites are generally reluctant to shoulder a greater tax burden, public-safety crises can soften t...
The power of the Chinese state: Examination, Autocracy, Stability, and Technology â Yasheng Huang
December 07, 2022 07:00 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBEver wondered why the state in China is so powerful? Yasheng argues that Keju â the Imperial civil service examination â has historically maximized a specific type of knowledge in the minds of the population such as memorization. It also reduced the scope of, or eliminated, alternative ideas. Keju made the state all powerful. The state was able to monopolize the very best of human capital. And in doing so, the state deprived society access to talent and pre-empted organized religion, commerc...