Is there any longer such a thing as the «third world»?

The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO (with the United States, Western European nations and their allies representing the First World), or the Communist Bloc (with the Soviet Union, the People's Republic of China, Cuba and their allies representing the Second World). This terminology provided a way of broadly categorizing the nations of the Earth into three groups based on social, political, and economic divisions. Due to many of the "Third World countries" being extremely poor, it became a stereotype such that people commonly refer to poor countries as "third world countries". Over the last few decades, the term Third World has been used interchangeably with the Global South and Developing Countries to describe poorer countries that have struggled to attain steady economic development. The term has given way to terms such as the "Emerging World", the "Global South" and "Developing countries".^[1]The Third World included many countries in Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Historically, some European countries were part of the non-aligned movement and a few were and are very prosperous, including Switzerland and Austria. In the so-called dependency theory of thinkers like Raul Prebisch, Theotonio dos Santos, and Andre Gunder Frank, the Third World has also been connected to the world economic division as "periphery" countries in the world system that is dominated by the "core" countries.^[1] Due to the complex history of evolving meanings and contexts, there is no clear or agreed upon definition of the Third World.^[1]

^11. To what extent have postcommunist regimes discarded their communist past? Post-communism is a term describing the period of political and economic transformation or "transition" in former communist states located in parts of Europe and Asia, in which new governments aimed to create free market-oriented capitalist economies. The policies of most communist parties in both Eastern and Western Europe had been governed by the example of the Soviet Union. In most of the countries in Eastern Europe, following the fall of communist-led governments in 1989, the communist parties split in two factions: a reformist Social Democratic party and a new, less reform-oriented Communist Party. The newly created Social Democratic parties were generally larger and more powerful than the remaining communist parties; only in Russia, Moldova, and the Czech Republic did the Communist Party remain a significant force.

The ex-communist social democrats gained increasing popularity when the transition to capitalism began to cause economic problems such as poverty and unemployment^{[ citation needed ]}. Nearly all of them won national elections in their respective countries at least once in the past 15 years.

In western Europe, many of the self-styled communist political parties reacted by changing their policies to a more moderate and less radical course. In countries such as Italy and Germany, post-communism is marked by the increased influence of their existing Social Democrats. The anti-Soviet communist parties in western Europe (e.g., the Trotskyist parties), who felt that the fall of the Soviet Union vindicated their views and predictions, did not particularly prosper from it—in fact, some became less radical as well.

12. Why have liberal-democratic structures proved to be so effective and successful? The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom, supporting constitutional and electoral reform,^[21] progressive taxation,^[22] environmentalism, human rights laws,^[23] banking reform^[24] and civil liberties.^[25] The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party. The two parties had formed the electoral SDP–Liberal Alliance for seven years prior. The Liberals had been in existence for 129 years and in power under leaders such as Gladstone, Asquith and Lloyd George. During these times in government, the Liberals are credited with the Liberal Reforms, which saw the creation of the welfare state. In the 1920s, the Labour Party replaced the Liberals as the largest opponent of the Conservative Party.

13. How democratic are western polyarchies?

The influential theorist Robert Dahl coined the term ‘polyarchy’ to describe modern western states which identify themselves as democracies, suggesting that ‘democracy’ itself is an unachievable utopian notion. In doing so he is not suggesting democracy is not something to strive for, but that polyarchy is the reality and democracy should be the goal, even if it is a goal we are forever striving to achieve. Democracy, in its true form, is an ideal. It is a goal and an aim. Democrats should always strive for it and campaign for it. Polyarchy is where we are, and there are some polyarchies that are better than others. The measure is how close it is to the democratic ideal. In this country we are a long way from the ideal – just one election every five years decides just one house in our bicameral parliament. That’s the extent to which the people have control over our politicians. The state is then geared up to grant unlimited power over the country to those we have elected. Our politicians, our officials, the other half of our parliament and our head of state are almost completely untouchable and unaccountable for most of the time.

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