Praise for the first edition: "... this masterful and concise volume overviews the range of approaches social scientists have applied to explain events in the Third World." --Journal of Developing Areas Understanding Third World Politics is a comprehensive, critical introduction to political development and comparative politics in the non-Western world today. Beginning with an assessment of the shared factors that seem to determine underdevelopment, B. C. Smith introduces the major theories of development--development theory, modernization theory, neo-colonialism, and dependency theory--and examines the role and character of key political organizations, political parties, and the military in determining the fate of developing nations. This new edition gives special attention to the problems and challenges faced by developing nations as they become democratic states by addressing questions of political legitimacy, consensus building, religion, ethnicity, and class.

Research Paper (postgraduate) from the year 2010 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Topic: Development Politics, grade: 76%, University of Cape Town, course: International Relations Honours, language: English, abstract: The end of the Cold War, some have argued,1 has dealt the three worlds classification scheme a fatal blow and the break-up of the former Soviet Union and the associated disintegration of the Second World has to a large extent diminished the rationale which underlay the concept of the Third World.2 Furthermore, from its heyday in the 1970s, Third Worldism has been on a path of terminal decline due to a number of factors, such as disproportionate economic development among Third Worldist states,3 political differences and the failure to establish a "common programme for international economic and political reform."4 Within the literature relating to Third Worldism, the concept of the Third World itself, and the three worlds scheme, there is a lively debate with some arguing that the concept has become an anachronism,5 others maintaining that the concept maintains significance in the contemporary era. Furthermore, while there is general consensus within the literature that Third Worldism has experienced a declining trend, some argue that there is both the need and space for a revival of Third Worldism.6 == 1 Arif Dirlik, "Spectres of the Third World" Global Modernity and the End of the Three Worlds," Third World Quarterly 25 (2004): 131; Vicky Randall, "Using and Abusing the Concept of the Third World: Geopolitics and the Comparative Political Study of Development and Underdevelopment," Third World Quarterly 25 (2004): 43; Marc Williams, "Re-Articulating the Third World Coalition: The Role of the Environmental Agenda," Third World Quarterly 14 (1993): 7; Mark T. Berger, "After the Third World? History, Destiny and the Fate of Third Worldism," Third World Quarterly 25 (2004): 10. 2 Williams, 7. 3 Berger, After the Third World, 11. 4 Han

Both ambitious and original, Clapham's book covers governance, economic management, external relations, military leadership, and revolutionary orientations for all the nations involved. He shows how fragile Western institutions of political and economic management and accountability are in the Third World, and--on the other hand--how dependent on the advanced industrial nations Third World leaders remain. For all who seek a better understanding of the emerging nations of the Third World, Clapham's book will provide illuminating introductory and background information. The Wisconsin edition is not for sale in the British Commonwealth (excluding Canada) or Japan.

Today the colonial empires of the world are shrinking, and the new nations which have emerged from the colonial past are rapidly developing into an important force in international affairs--the "third world." They are faced by a common problem, the urgent necessity to transform a peasant society into a modern industrial economy, and they are united by a common outlook, absolute opposition to all forms of colonialism and neocolonialism. In this work Peter Worsley analyzes the unique political forms that have evolved as a result of these two basic conditions. In his view the third world has rejected both of the great ideologies of today. Their new solutions are unique in world history, being based on populism, socialism, and, often, the one-party state, which, although anathema to the Western liberal, is a natural development in societies united by the common enemy of colonialism. "No one seriously concerned with the greatest problem of our time, the division of the world between the developed, industrialized, 'affluent' countries and les nations prolétaires, can afford to miss this book. . . . Professor Worsley has succeeded in giving us more solid information about underdeveloped parts of the world than can be found in any other book of comparable length."--The Times Literary Supplement "Peter Worsley . . . has written an excellent descriptive analysis of the evolution and present state of a third force in world politics. Africa, Asia, and the Middle East have . . . given society not only a new philosophy with new goals but charismatic philosophers who have the potential to make the philosophy of the third world a vital presence to be reckoned with. . . . a brilliant book."--Peter Schwab, Journal of Modern African Studies