Intro to Political Science / Option #2: Fragile State Analysis

Option #2: Fragile State Analysis
For your Portfolio Project, you will evaluate a fragile (formerly called failed) state and develop a plan to help it recover and get back on the right track. This will involve a survey of the country's history, the source of its problems, information about its people, economy, and culture, and its potential to succeed if given a chance.
The Global Policy Forum (Links to an external site.) website provides information on fragile/failed states in general, as well as specific states.
ForeignPolicy.com (Links to an external site.) provides the 2016 list of most fragile/failed states. You may choose your country for this study from the countries in dark red on the map at the bottom of the opening page.
General Information:
• Population of the country (see 1 below for more information.)
• Important ethnic or racial groups and divisions
• Per capita gross domestic product (see 2 below for more information.)
• UN Human Development Index rankings (see 2 below for more information.)
• Freedom House scores for political rights and civil liberties (see 3 below for more information.)
• The economic position of your country compared to other countries (wealthy, poor, or middle income)
History:
• Provide an overview of the country's history, focusing on when and why it began to have problems leading to its fragile/failed status.
Classification and Structure of Government:
• Although fragile/failed states lack an effective government, this does not mean that no one is trying to run the country, or parts of the country. Who is trying to govern your chosen country? How are they attempting to do this?
• Are there attempts to hold elections? If so, how are these elections conducted, and what is voter turnout? (See 4 below for more information.) When was the most recent election held, and what were the results?
Competition, Stability, and Civil Society:
• Do political parties exist? If so, what are they, and what role do they play in the country's problems and/or efforts to provide structure?
• Are there any recent political changes?
• Major social movements?
• Are their divisions or conflicts based on race, religion, or culture, for example? Has genocide taken place?
• Who provides basic services such as utilities, education, and medical care, for example?
• What is daily life like for the people?
Economic Environment:
• Major industries
• Natural resources
• Other sources of revenue
• Reliance on foreign aid
Other Questions:
• What are the most important political, economic, environmental, and human rights issues facing your country?
• Is your country in conflict with its neighbors or other countries?
• What are its relations with major global powers—the US, Europe, and China, for example?
Conclude the paper with your assessment of the country's future. What could be done to help the country become stable and develop an effective government? Include what the people can do to help themselves, as well as the role that other countries and humanitarian aid groups could play.
Required Resources:
1. Data can be accessed through the World Bank (Links to an external site.) website.
2. Data can be found on the website of the UN Human Development Report (Links to an external site.).
3. Data is available at Freedomhouse.org (Links to an external site.).
4. Data on election turnout is available on the website of the Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (Links to an external site.).
Additional Requirements:
• Write a formal essay 8-10 pages in length, complete with citations from at least 10 credible academic sources other than required course readings to support your findings. The CSU-Global Library is an excellent place to search for scholarly sources.
• In addition, provide a reference list, in alphabetical order by last name of author, in APA format, and include a title page at the beginning.
• Always follow the CSU-Global Guide to Writing and APA (Links to an external site.) style and review the library material concerning APA style before turning in this assignment.
For my portfolio, I have chosen Nigeria. Nigeria is also very poor and seventh most underdeveloped state. It has the large desert and infertile area unsuitable for agriculture. Many areas of the country have no rain for many years. About thirty percent of the Nigerians are illiterate and the half of population living below the poverty line.
John Locke is referred to as the “Father of Liberalism,” because of his development of the principles of humanism and individual freedom, founded primarily by #1. It is said that liberalism proper, the belief in equal rights under the law, begins with Locke. He penned the phrase “government with the consent of the governed.” His three “natural rights,” that is, rights innate to all human beings, were and remain “life, liberty, and estate.”
https://www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=KUMngRmSgyQ
(Olisa Agbakoba reveals why Nigeria is a failed state, 2017).
Former president of Nigeria Bar Association Dr. Olisa Agbakoba speaks on why Nigeria is a failed state. This video describes the Liberal democracy, or lack thereof, in Nigeria. He pointed out that the rotation of political power will not resolve the issue of diversity, but power devolution.
A failed state is a state where certain institutions of government are no longer functioning, and one of the most critical is when the government is unable to secure lives and property. The security architecture of Nigeria is very strongly challenged, and so they need to ask, why is this happening? It is happening because they have timid and redundant security apparatus, not trained, no equipment, and the results they get are exactly the same. Kidnapping and killings everywhere because they don’t have the ability or modern capacity to deal with these serious security challenges. That goes back to show how the president wants to see himself remembered. It is a clear invitation to him to understand that the national security situation is not just about buying arms, guns and ships. If you have a situation in which Nigeria with a population of say 200 million is poorer than India with a population of 1.2 billion, and is poorer than China with a population of 1.4 billion, something is seriously wrong (Olisa Agbakoba reveals why Nigeria is a failed state, 2017).
References
Olisa Agbakoba reveals why Nigeria is a failed state. (2017, November 14). Retrieved from YouTube: https://www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=KUMngRmSgyQ