Comparing Factors that Lead to Underdevelopment and select two Less Developed Countries (LDCs) and assess if there are any factors that are common to both as far as their development is concerned. Your two countries must come from the following list: Burundi Benin Cameroon Nigeria Nicaragua Guatemala Central African Republic North Korea Angola Ghana Chad Yemen Eritrea Cuba Congo Thailand Egypt Iran Equatorial Guinea Zimbabwe Zambia Oman Ethiopia Philippines Congo Liberia Gabon Bahrain Tanzania India Guyana Mexico El Salvador Lebanon Honduras Pakistan Syria Guinea Kenya Sri Lanka Algeria Gambia Mozambique Senegal Malawi Indonesia Namibia Vietnam Morocco Myanmar Rwanda Haiti Sudan Bolivia Somalia Kuwait Mauritania Mali South Africa Iraq Botswana Bangladesh Tunisia Niger Libya Malaysia Uganda Panama Source: United Nations, 2014 It may help you to be familiar with the concept of poor governance, because this often plays a significant part in why a country is underdeveloped. According to the World Bank, governance is defined as how power is exercised in the management of a country's economic and social resources for development. Therefore, if good governance is synonymous with sound development management, then poor governance means a government has failed to deliver desirable outcomes for its people. This could mean that officials are corrupt, not transparent with their decisions, unqualified to make decisions in the first place, or prone to make decisions based on racism, tribalism or ethnicity — all of which are very common practices in LCDs. The most common factor used to decide whether countries are underdeveloped nations is through the Human Development Index. Countries that are underdeveloped in nature offer poor health care, few educational opportunities, a low average life expectancy, a low number of job opportunities, few recreational facilities, poor economic growth, a low standard of living and a poverty-stricken life.

Instructions:

1. Identify the two LDCs (from the list above), which you will compare and assess. Explain why you chose these two countries. .

2. Analyze the features that the LDCs have in common using at least five of the following nine factors (clearly label the five factors using headings):

a. geography.

b.extractive institutions .

c.governmental corruption .

d.internal or external conflicts .

e.shaky financial systems .

f.unfair judicial systems .

g.ethnic, racial or tribal disparities .

h.lack or misuse of natural resources