The Tyranny of Experts and Its Implications William Easterly’s book The Tyranny of Experts is a complicated analysis of the problems of the development of Third World states. His conclusion is that Western nations seeking to make an impact for the better on the economic development of the Third World cannot do so without supporting democratic goals for these countries (Easterly Chapter 14). Dealing with the often dictatorial leaders of the Third World may improve economic development over time, but it will not better the poorer people of these countries nor enhance their lives. His argument revolves around four topics: the Blank Slate versus learning from history, nations versus individuals, conscious direction versus spontaneous solutions,
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Easterly’s book is driven by the thesis that democracy will lead to development, not the other way around (Easterly Chapter 1). However, in this writer’s view, Dave Roodman has a point to make. Western leaders in the twenty-first century have to take many Third World countries as they are which does mean that sometimes policy decisions have to be made with dictatorial and unethical heads of state. These leaders can be difficult to work with and it is hard for many Western countries to accept the fact that in order to help the development of a country, they might have to sit across the table from a leader who constantly executes his own people. This is the most pragmatic response. Easterly is certainly correct when he says that democratic government is the best way to increase development at a faster rate in many Third World countries, but there is the constant problem of the fact that a democratic revolution on the scale of America’s or France’s takes a long time to develop and many of these constituted countries are very young indeed. The only other way to achieve this level of democracy is a Western takeover of the country. When the West conquers modern nations, it attempts to make these countries democratic based on Western models. Thus, if the West wants quick development in these countries it has only two solutions: deal practically with the unethical leaders or invade and bring a democracy to a country. Clearly these theories advance as many problems as solutions. What is clear from Easterly’s book is that these questions about development in underprivileged countries today are ones that every Western leader and philanthropic organization must wrestle
Easterly’s book is driven by the thesis that democracy will lead to development, not the other way around (Easterly Chapter 1). However, in this writer’s view, Dave Roodman has a point to make. Western leaders in the twenty-first century have to take many Third World countries as they are which does mean that sometimes policy decisions have to be made with dictatorial and unethical heads of state. These leaders can be difficult to work with and it is hard for many Western countries to accept the fact that in order to help the development of a country, they might have to sit across the table from a leader who constantly executes his own people. This is the most pragmatic response. Easterly is certainly correct when he says that democratic government is the best way to increase development at a faster rate in many Third World countries, but there is the constant problem of the fact that a democratic revolution on the scale of America’s or France’s takes a long time to develop and many of these constituted countries are very young indeed. The only other way to achieve this level of democracy is a Western takeover of the country. When the West conquers modern nations, it attempts to make these countries democratic based on Western models. Thus, if the West wants quick development in these countries it has only two solutions: deal practically with the unethical leaders or invade and bring a democracy to a country. Clearly these theories advance as many problems as solutions. What is clear from Easterly’s book is that these questions about development in underprivileged countries today are ones that every Western leader and philanthropic organization must wrestle