Political Modernization in the Third World: Theory and Application.

Since the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, policy makers are being forced yet again to confront serious practical as well as theoretical considerations regarding how to transform societies unaccustomed to the tenants of Western political institutions into modern, democratic nations. This idealistic objective is neither simple nor novel. Since the end of the major world wars, the independence of dozens of new states, and the growth of economic globalization, a great number of theories have developed on the best way to integrate new and underdeveloped states into the global community. Many of these emerging countries were born out of centuries of colonial rule, and quickly descended into ethnic or tribal conflict. Some however, were able to make the transition from colonial subject to modern democracy more smoothly than others. This paper seeks to explore various modernization theories and analyze how those theories have been applied. It begins with the task of defining modernization, and then briefly describing the history of political development theory as it evolved in the post war period. Modernization shall than be discussed as it related to institutions, psychology, conflict, and State-building. The paper will also look at the underlining biases that influence modernization theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]