Assignment: Comparing Factors that Lead to Underdevelopment
Written Assignment: Comparing Factors that Lead to Underdevelopment
Due Week 9 and worth 400 points
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 LCDs.
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 least a six-page paper, in which you:
1. Identify the two LDCs (from the list above), which 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. Use 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. Do not use sources that
are older than seven years.
Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:
• Be typed, double-spaced (no extra spacing between paragraphs), using Times New Roman font (size
12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
• Citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any
additional instructions.
• 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.
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.
Click here to view the grading rubric.
Points: 400 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 list above), which 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 above.Insufficiently explained why you chose these two countries.
Identified two LDCs to compare and assess, but one of the LDCs is not listed above.Partially explained why you chose these two countries.
Identified two LDCs (from the list above) to compare and assess. Satisfactorily explained why you chose these two countries.
Identified two LDCs (from the list above) 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 reference were provided.
Six quality references were provided.
Seven quality references were provided.
More than seven quality references were provided.
4. Clarity, writing mechanics, 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.