Poverty Alleviation/Reduction & Income Inequality Policy Differences B/W Malaysia and Indonesia Assignment | Get Paper Help

“The research paper is a 20-page comparative analysis of how two governments address a politically charged public policy issue. You are urged to focus on managing inter-group conflict, but that is not mandatory. It will be standard Times New Roman, 12 Font, double spaced paper.” We pick our own topics. The particular proposal I have been peddling is the poverty alleviation and income inequality policies between Malaysia and Indonesia. In particular, Malaysia has done a better job of alleviating poverty than Indonesia and the goal of the paper is to outline what policies can Indonesia adopt from Malaysia to have similar success. I chose the two countries because it was mandatory to pick similar developing countries. For sources I put ten, but there is no strict limit. I will attach some of my previous writings for the class so you have an idea of how I write. I’ll also send the one page I have done so far [ sad I know 🙁 ] Thank you so much! This is a super stressful time and I have never done this but I honestly need to take care of myself and my family right now and I cannot focus on this essay.

Malaysia and Indonesia have both come a long way from their earliest days of independence. Both countries have seen a development in their social, economic, and political faculties. Indonesia boasts booming economic figures including experienced consistent economic growth ranging between five and six percent for the last decade.^[1] Additionally, Indonesia currently sits at an impressive eighth in the world ranking of GDP with a staggering figure of over $3.2 trillion.^[2] Malaysia has experienced similar growth rates of five to six percent GDP growth over the last decade, which is a very impressive figure.^[3] To add to this accomplishment, Malaysia’s Gini coefficient fell from 0.51 in 1970 to 0.428 in 2018. This is such an inspiring milestone because, for developing countries as a whole, average inequality has seen no dramatic shifts similar in nature, ultimately remaining stagnant at .^[4] For context, the Gini Index is a statistical dispersion which attempts to measure and represent the distribution of income and wealth and the expenditures for consumption for a nation’s individuals or households.  Nevertheless, both countries have had their fair share of problems with regard to systemic issues such as income inequality and economic immobility. In Malaysia, the income gap between the top twenty percent of the population and the remainder has almost doubled, preventing many from participating in the economic gains achieved over time.^[5] Within Indonesia, the four richest billionaires alone hold a gargantuan $25 billion compared to the poorest 40% of Indonesians, who comprise 100 million people and collectively own $24 billion.^[6] With the aforementioned figures in mind, it is clear that despite the tremendous strides made in economic development and societal progress, there are still many who are in need of economic assistance. Though Indonesia boasts prominent economic figures and poverty has definitely declined across many segments, as of 2018, 73.9 million individuals–then approximately 30 percent of Indonesia’s population of 270 million population–are already in a state of poverty or are at high risk of falling into poverty.^[7]

^[1] https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG?locations=ID

^[2] https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2001rank.html

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^[5] Did not finish these

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^[7] https://databank.worldbank.org/data/download/poverty/33EF03BB-9722-4AE2-ABC7-AA2972D68AFE/Global_POVEQ_MYS.pdf

The Chad Cameroon Pipeline interaction has a host of issues that cripples the country and its inhabitants. Through a lack of execution by the World Bank and rampant corruption by Chadian government officials, a pipeline meant to benefit the common people ultimately caused more harm than good. The World Bank was uniquely positioned to promote development and ensure that the economic development provided by the Cameroon Pipeline benefitted the entire country. Unfortunately, however, there was a naïve optimism that led to what we can call a failure in hindsight. There were small considerations to be made with considerable impact that failed to be considered or acknowledged. Annalisa M. Leibold explores these considerations in her work, “Aligning Incentives for Development: The World Bank and the Chad-Cameroon Oil Pipeline”. We see the corruption manifest as the minutiae of problems unfolded. If the World Bank proceeded with this project with a greater emphasis on the sociopolitical and socioeconomic circumstances of Chad, perhaps a better outcome could have occurred. Nonetheless, through a combination of factors such as lacking transparency with the people, acquiescing leverage to multinational corporations and the ill-equipped government, and having perverse incentives for development, the World Bank and its professional experts exposed the greatest flaws in their operations and consequentially failed.

It is important to understand the state of Chad to grasp how the Chad Cameroon Pipeline failed so disastrously. Chad is a French colony turned country that has been plagued by war, destruction, and economic failure. Much of this can be traced to the roots of the history where France took violent measures to protect their colonial interests:

…in order to maintain political stability, the French employed extremely violent tactics,’ which would prove difficult to eradicate from the fabric of Chadian society. Given Chad’s brutal colonial history and lack of political or social cohesion, it is unsurprising that the country’s postcolonial history was dominated by civil war and development failure. (189)

Many of the problems Chad faces today result from a history that molded its political structure. Even after they gained independence from French rule, politicians like Francois Tombalye, Hissène Habré, and the current president Idriss Déby, used their platform to consolidate political clout and financial control. This has caused many problems at the expense of the country’s overall development and the wellbeing of the people. The World Bank approached Déby with a solution to the Chad’s woes. They attempted solve the problem through the implementation of the Chad Cameroon Pipeline but, as we see in hindsight, the efforts did not play out as they expected them to.

The Chad Cameroon Pipeline provided the World Bank an opportunity to create positive economic change in Chad, yet they failed to remember the existence of the resources curse. A resource curse is the apparent correlation between the extraction of natural materials which leads to low economic growth rates. The World Bank sought to quickly initiate the process, however, this worked to their disadvantage. There were naturally worries that though this seemed like a good idea in theory, the clear lack of accountability by officials would lead the project to flop. The World Bank aptly responded to the criticism by instituting certain obligational clauses:

This novel scheme––considered the World Bank’s great “experiment” in combating corruption in oil-led development––included a revenue management law and a local and international monitoring component. (168)

While this seemed like a good idea at the time, and in theory it is, these regulations and laws disregarded the heaps of warnings from a variety of nongovernmental organizations (NGO). They warned about the corruption and the inevitable flow of the money to the wrong areas. Still, the World Bank continued on and created legislation which was ineffective because of foundational factors, the biggest of which was a consideration of which stakeholders are benefitting.

In the Chad Cameroon Pipeline, multinational corporations and certain Chadian officials such as Déby had a large stake in the oil operations, thus creating a vacuum of influence within the World Bank. ExxonMobil enlisted the help of the World Bank in order to alleviate the risks that come with such a grand project. They worked in tandem with the Chadian government as well. A major problem that stems from this is that the very people that this policy is meant to help get no say in the process. Even when there was an attempt to by common citizens and NGOs, they are simply ignored or pandered to for support of the project. Instead, a select few gain access: “… donor agencies conflate a country’s people with its ruling elite, assuming that the elites have the interest of the people in mind, when in fact they often have their own motivations” (188). The World Bank experts simply consulted a government that was never aligned with what they set out to accomplish. This leads to a failure to represent the people. There were government created factions such as the College and the International Advisory group, though these were crippled because of their inability to enforce their recommendations. Even international laws such as the Alien Torte Statute and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act are meant to curb this behavior, yet those are for the most extreme cases when it is often too late. Ultimately, the World Bank sought to create economic reform considering only economic factors. Yet, it is impossible to consider the economics of a country, while completely ignoring the sociopolitical landscape.

The experts at the World Bank had failures in the structure of their operations by repeating the same mistakes that have caused problems in the past, even after admitting to them. The Chad Cameroon Pipeline was not the first error the World Bank had made like this. In many past efforts the same problems of not having transparent information readily available, ignoring of local populations whose opinions are incredibly important, and aiming to bolster its own image, have resulted in a worsened economic situation. The World Bank had all of the tools available to assist, but there was no context in which to understand the problem; they were simply posed a problem. They had none of the compounding issues. nor did they consider that maybe this was not the only solution as they had believed. They threw money at an issue in an underdeveloped country with a population that was constantly taken advantage of: “If the World Bank had interacted more with affected communities, it could have ensured that compensation schemes were in line with long-term development goals” (200). The communities affected had no engagement and were ultimately let down by both the reputable World Bank and the not so reputable President Déby. Had the World Bank considered this quintessential element, Chad would potentially be better positioned than currently.

Ultimately, the World Bank’s failures cannot be excused. There were many pasts interactions that they could learn from to gauge better alternatives. They did not consider the other interests at play, even though they were given warnings. The failure to inform the people or include them in the process was also debilitating to their goal. Hopefully internal changes occur, however, the current structure at the World Bank hinders its own progress. Even though the MCNs and Chadian government played a major role in facilitating the serious problem, the World Bank’s failure to execute and mandate effectively lost them the leverage they didn’t appear to want in the first place.

As a country, France has a large emphasis on the acceptance of secularism and the acknowledgment of the liberty of belief for individuals. These appear to be two conflicting ideals to strive towards. One of the harder tasks is balancing both secularism and freedom of religious expression. France particularly faces this issue when regarding articles of clothing. Secularism is an important concept that has recently entrenched itself in French society as late as the 19^th century. This is contrary to the traditional presence of deeper connection to the Church. Separating the church from state and more pressingly, education, has created a difficult contest that compromises the balance between the two ideals. In both the past and still today, there are many disputes in France surrounding Muslim women and their right to wear a headscarf in different academic contexts. Much of the contentious issue has been documented in Claire Saas’ Muslim Headscarf and Secularism in France. In her document, Saas demonstrates some of the diplomatic and legislative tools used in order to mitigate the potential abuse of interpretation of religious symbols. It is important to note the difficulties faced in coming to a definitive conclusion around the issue. There are a variety of things that would be beneficial in solving such as noting intent of individuals, recanting any inequitable biases, and enacting strict limitations that serve the interest of both the educational systems and the individuals involved.

Though the ideals of secularism and liberty of belief compete in interests, they are not mutually exclusive of one another. Much of the problem that has arisen in France is a matter of the intent of the individuals. The girls attending the school are simply wearing a headscarf which is a tradition that is a part of the faith. While this may be the case, Islam as a religion is not cemented as the dominant religion in France and other European countries. This creates the potential to engage in certain biases as an administrator: “Many administrative jurisdictions had and still have to deal with that issue of headmasters refusing admission to Muslim girls wearing headscarves” (454). There are many administrators who insert their own beliefs about what the significance of a headscarf is, and this poses a detriment to any student’s liberty of belief. They face consequences for an action that meant no harm simply because of the delusion and misinterpretation from higher ups. The Conseil d’Etat, which can be likened to the United States Supreme Court, essentially had legislative discourse targeting this very issue at its root, but there were some underlying tensions that have not been fully addressed.

The Conseil d’Etat has built on its definitions and limitations over time, demonstrating the constant legislative evolution required to unblur the line between secular beliefs and liberties of belief. The council gave three ultimate points regarding the issue of administrators targeting Muslim women. The first being students are not allowed to refuse to take a class simply because it is not in agreement with their religious views. The second states the wearing of religious symbols, such as a cross or headscarf, “must not constitute acts of pressure, provocation, propaganda or proselytism” (454). Additionally, they cannot be ostentatious in nature. In theory, this would be a totally reasonable statute, however, it is hard to say what the intent of the individual is. Additionally, it is incredibly subjective what warrants ostentatious versus simply being visible to the naked eye. Lastly, the third states that any religious symbols cannot misguide or obstruct the mission of any public service or utility. This presents a problem once one of those missions is equality of the genders. Incorrect ascriptions of values make it so that wearing a headscarf is associated with some of the misogynistic expressions in Islam. This may be true in some anecdotal cases; however, the headscarves are ultimately religious and tradition-oriented in nature. This presumption denies individuals the right to their own values and must be overcome in order to overcome the contemporary stalemate.

The Conseil d’Etat ensured that there could be no confusion by confirming three statements that bolster and clarify the contention surrounding headscarves in France. Together, these confirmed motions set out to limit the foundational value of secularism, as it allowed too many opportunities to devalue liberty of belief:

“…the usual motivation regarding the compatibility between secularism and liberty of conviction has totally disappeared from the decisions. Not a single word on secularism can be found. The Conseil d’Etat has instead used as a ground the idea that the liberty of belief cannot be restricted on the basis of secularism, but for more prosaic reasons. This shift of reasoning shows a standardisation of the contentious matter. Furthermore, the Court put an end to the political discussion. (455)

In order to overcome the stalemate and enable the protections for these Muslim women, a decision had to be made to either uphold secularism or liberty of belief. By isolating liberty of belief as the ideal to strive for, the proverbial ball is now in the court of the individual as opposed to administrators. The standardization of procedure clearly outlines that one cannot simply discriminate or ostracize based off misinterpretation:

This position is very important in that it ended a certain trend in the thinking both of certain government advisers and headmasters that the mere wearing of a scarf was ostentatious and thus susceptible to prohibition, which was a possible interpretation of the Conseil d’Etat’s opinion of 1989. (455)

It is unfortunate that a trend developed because it demonstrates that, though individual biases were at play, one can argue they were ethically and legally sound in their admonishing of headscarves. By standardizing the system and eliminating the emphasis on secularism, a more objective stance could be taken and less blurred interpretation results.

The biggest construct necessary to solving the issue, especially with something as complex as religion, is creating a dialogue around protecting one’s liberties around belief as opposed to ascertaining how to target and define abstract problems. In the case of French schools, the decisions of the Conseil d’Etat changed considerably over time, The direction they took trended towards a focus on the individual over the ideal: “Instead of accepting a very subjective appreciation on what is an act of pressure or proselytism, the Court specifies more pragmatic limits to the liberty of conviction” (455). Earlier in the process, there was no clear status of what an obnoxious display was or if an individual was purposefully trying to influence others. By creating this change the Court created set standards that enabled that the balance of interests was met. Being a democratic country like France means making compromises but also ensuring that individuals are represented and safeguarded. The inhibition of the strictness of a secular society greatly assisted in enabling the current context: “Secularism is no longer a principle that forbids any religious manifestation but a principle that tolerates every religious manifestation” (455). Although the principle of secularism is still upheld, what the principle characterizes has flipped sides. There is now a respect of individual and more perspectives and identities are now included in this refinement.

There are still many problematic areas and not all problems surrounding headscarves in French schools has been solved. Nonetheless, the development of the battle between secularism and liberty of belief has manifested in a much more inclusive definition of how religious symbols can be utilized and interpreted. Over time there will unquestionably be improvements in how people of different beliefs can operate with one another. France has showed that it is possible to satisfy multiple interests and ensure that every citizen’s rights are secured.