Examine the View That Aid to the Third Wold Does Not Always Lead to Development.

Aid can be described in many ways, bilateral aid is where one country contributes to another, which are often linked to treaties usually economic and political. Multilateral aid are indirect contributions through international organisations such as World Bank or IMF, these are usually given as loans and not gifts. Lastly aid can be given by charities and also individual donations these are called Non-governmental aid which is normally given as relief for countries hit by disasters also known as relief aid as it is short term, whereas development aid is seen as long term aid which attempts to build infrastructure to bring about improvements to a country.

When examining whether aid to the third world doesn’t always lead to development we should look at the different theories. Modernisation theorists see aid as central to developmental process, as a mechanism for providing third world countries with the capital that they lack for an infrastructure and other projects. They believe that aid can act as a catalyst to development, because it overcomes barriers. One of these barriers are economic barriers because the aid provides capital for third world countries to break the cycle of poverty as they lead to surpluses which can be reinvested by the third world countries. This ultimately leads to independent economic growth where aid would no longer be needed. The modernisation view of giving aid to third world countries believes that it overcome cultural barriers, through investment in education to pass on values such as individualism, achievement, competition and entrepreneurial spirit. Modernisation theory believes that providing aid to third world countries will lead them to become self perpetuating. They also believe that it doesn’t always benefit the less economically developed countries but the developed countries who are giving the aid too, this is known as reciprocity.

However, modernisation theorists have seen that aid may be used for prestige schemes which tend...