ABSTRACT
Economic development is in great demand in developing countries. Although there is a concensus among most policy makers, development scholars and residents of developing countries that development is to be encouraged, disagreement arises as to exactly what development does entail and what it should entail. Those concerned with development issues have implicitly or explicitly defined the goals that a development program should strive for and how these objectives may best be achieved. Currently there is agreement among mainstream development scholars that the achievement of economic growth, a decrease in poverty and a climate of political freedom are reasonable development objectives for which to strive. However, this range of goals was not always prevalent The 1950s and 1960s were characterized by a focus on growth maximization at the virtual neglect of other issues, reflecting a unidimensional approach to development that proved to be unsatisfactory. Experience in Venezuela and South Africa during the 1960s and Brazil and Colombia during the 1970s showed that economic growth can occur simultaneously with an increase in relative poverty within the population. 1 Bairoch (1975) provided evidence showing that although extensive economic growth in the developing countries occurred in the aftermath of World War II, the welfare of the populations in these countries did not improve. Lipton's study indicates a similar trend"... since 1945, growth and development in most poor countries have done little to raise the living standards of the poorest people" (Lipton 1977: 14). Lastly, Higgins comes to a similar conclusion:
114... even countries with quite respectable rates of growth of national income did not enjoy development in the sense of wide and deep improvements in the welfare for the masses of the population.
(quoted in Mandle 1980:179) At the same time, the experience of Pakistan, Nigeria and Iran during the 1960s and 1970s showed that the stresses and strains associated with economic growth can also have negative effects on the political climate in these countries, causing disruptions which in turn affect the economy. 2