GROUPING COUNTRIES

Different ways of looking at the

world

•“First World”

•“Developing nation”

•North-South split

A new way of grouping countries involves the degree to which

each country is an active participant in a globalized world.

•The level of global involvement can be assessed by examining 3 major areas

Economic development

•a community’s material wealth and trade, which is determined by such measures as per-capita GDP, ratio of cars to people, and per-capita electrical power capacity.

Social Development

•the level of education, healthcare, life expectancy, and rate of infant mortality in a society.

Political Maturity

•measured by considering factors such as whether a country is democratic, has a low level of corruption, a functioning and established electoral system, and rule of law.

Measures of Global Involvement

•FREEDOM HOUSE RATING

•measure of political rights and civil liberties.

•relates to political growth and social development

•INFANT-MORTALITY RATE

•measures the number of children (per 1000 births) who die before age one

•relates to social and economic development

•GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT (GDP) Per capita on a Purchasing-Power-Parity (PPP) basis

•frequently used measure of a country’s wealth

•relates to economic development

•HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX (HDI)

•an index that combines measures of wealth, education, and health

•relates social development and economic development

•NUMBER OF McDONALD’S LOCATIONS PER MILLION PEOPLE

•values range from 0 to 43

•relates to social and economic development

•INTERNET USERS (PER 100 000 PEOPLE)

•indicates access to the information and entertainment of the internet

•relates primarily to social development but also relates to economic developments and political growth

Globalized Core• Countries in the CORE have contributed

significantly to and benefitted greatly from, GLOBALIZATION

• They are relatively wealthy and have comfortable lifestyles as a result of their countries’ advanced economies.

• They live in a secure environment with good healthcare. They have a high degree of freedom and governments mostly free from serious corruption

Old Core vs. New Core

•Old Core includes members like Canada and Germany

•New Core includes members like Malaysia and Poland

Less Globalized Peripery

•They are much poorer than countries in the CORE and their people have much less personal security

•They have limited political freedom and civil liberties, and corruption is almost always a serious problem

Near-Core Periphery

•With continued economic, social, and political growth, they have the potential to join the CORE within the next few decades

•Iran and philippines are examples

Far Periphery

•Far Periphery: The level of economic, social and political growth is so limited it will be many years until these countries are able to become fully functioning members of the globalized world

•Bangladesh and Zambia are examples

Other Ways to Group Countries

USING TWO GROUPS

based on differing levels of economic development

so few groups must inevitable lead to imprecision within each group

Developed/Underdeveloped

Worlds

Simple model which divides the world into economically developed countries (old core) and underdeveloped countries (everyone else)

creates confusion. How?

Developed/ Developing Worlds

believed to be static or unchanging

ignores the fact that most developed countries are still developing in almost every respect

more fairly reflected the dynamic nature of this process of development.

North-South

Most developed nations are often collectively called the North

Developing nations are called South.

What are some exceptions to this grouping?

Using Three Groups

FIRST WORLD Nations were the Old Core capitalist countries, such as Canada, US, Japan and the United Kingdom.

SECOND WORLD Nations were communist countries, such as Russia, Poland and Hungary

THIRD WORLD Nations were those considered to be Periphery, Developing or South

Developed/Newly industrialized/Develop

ing

This model is entirely economic in nature

Adds a transitional stage for countries moving from an agriculturally based economy to a more advanced industrial- or service based economy

The end