Title

Varieties of developmental states: Three non-western pathways to the millennium development goals

Publication Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

9-2012

Abstract

The "developmental state" discourse has opened up fruitful scholarly explorations of alternatives to neoliberal capitalism, but its scope has been somewhat narrow and geographically limited. As a remedy, I propose a broadening of the "developmental state" concept to include three varieties of non-Western states on track to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In these states, political leaders actively developed an initial "comparative advantage" in either (a) human capital; (b) natural capital; or (c) social capital that allowed the state to invest the returns-to-capital into a broader state-led development strategy to satisfy most citizen's basic human needs. I illustrate these three different pathways via the relatively successful experiences of Singapore, Kuwait, and Costa Rica.

Keywords

developmental state, human capital, Millennium Development Goals, natural capital, social capital, Singapore, Kuwait, Costa Rica, Asia

Discipline

Asian Studies | Political Science | Politics and Social Change | Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration

Research Areas

Political Science

Publication

Journal of Developing Societies

Volume

28

Issue

3

First Page

355

Last Page

378

ISSN

0169-796X

Identifier

10.1177/0169796X12453783

Publisher

SAGE Publications (UK and US) / Brill Academic Publishers

Additional URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0169796X12453783

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