Answer to Question #324213 in Macroeconomics for zola

Question

Compare and contrast the Linear Stages of Growth Model (Modernization Theory) and the Neoclassical Counterrevolution (Market Fundamentalism). In your analysis, try to address the causes of underdevelopment and how development best occurs in developing countries

Answer 1

Modernization theory is used to explain the process of modernization within societies. Modernization theory originated from the ideas of German sociologist Max Weber (1864–1920), which provided the basis for the modernization paradigm developed by Harvard sociologist Talcott Parsons (1902–1979). The theory looks at the internal factors of a country while assuming that with assistance, "traditional" countries can be brought to development in the same manner more developed countries have been. Modernization theory was a dominant paradigm in the social sciences in the 1950s and 1960s, then went into a deep eclipse. It made a comeback after 1991 but remains a controversial model.

Neoclassical Counterrevolution; During the 1980s, many governments of the developed wodd adopted a free-market theory of economics. This viewpoint has been referred to as the Neoclassical Counterrevolution. The theory supported freer markets, private ownership, statist plan- ning, and government regulation of economic activities.