Development — an ongoing process of making upward changes — in economic, social and other aspects is crucial for every country. Definitely, every country is developing in many aspects including economic and social aspects. In development, planned efforts, financial and human resources and decision-making are some vital aspects. But for making development plans and decisions, a unitarian and centralized approach is often used instead of a pluralistic approach, which indicates shared decision-making from the planning to the execution of development activities by reflecting differing views and the legitimate interests of everyone. Consequently, the prospect of development in economic, social and other terms is not realized desirably many times, not only at the national level but also at the local level.
Definitely, there is a lack of a pluralist approach, which facilitates the empowerment and the agency of everyone to make choices, for development in many countries at the national, regional and local levels. Moreover, the pluralistic approach is notably missing or scantly employed in political decisions, economic projects, development policy-making, institutional settings, social development efforts and many other development aspects in many countries. Centralized and unitarian decisions, the decisions that are paternalistically made and often reflect the collective interests of the members of a group or society, often dictate the development initiatives of many countries. Not only mega development projects but also small scale development projects have been taken in many countries that reflect the centralized and unitarian decisions of policy makers for decades.
Consequently, economic, social and other development efforts in many countries often reflect the views of those who are in power politically and organizationally and the collective interests of a group or society at the expanse of the legitimate interests of all including sub-groups. The views and concerns of those who are affected are ignored in centralized and unitarian decision-making. While the unitarian and centralized approaches help bring social development by realizing the collective interests of a group or society many times, the pluralistic approach is important for the development of all by reflecting the interests of all members of society. Thus, the adoption of the pluralistic approach, along with the unitarian approach, can bring the desirable outcomes of development efforts in many countries.
There are definitley social, political, cultural and other barriers to the employment of the pluralistic approach in development planning and the execution of development plans in many countries. Authoritative societies and emphasis on bureaucracy or the existence of rigid bureaucracy provide less attention to the pluralistic approach. A lack of well-established political and government institutions facilitates centralized and unitarian decision-making. Also, a cultural tradition of centralized decision-making play a vital role in development activities in many countries. Among other causes, the limited scope of the media, or weak civil society organizations, plays significant roles. Development decisions for the urban and rural areas of many societies including many military-ruled and other authoritative societies — where media has limited freedom —are mostly made centrally.
To ensure economic, social and other sorts of development as desired, the pluralistic approach, which results in forward planning, orderly and consistent procedures and a realistic approach to dealing with development challenges reflecting the concerns of all, needs to be considered more. But barriers to the pluralistic approach need to be addressed across the world. Definitely, centralized decision-making, though it is important in many aspects, needs to be reduced in development activities. In the formulation of development policies, not only stakeholder consultations but also the incorporation of their views is crucial. But a strong political commitment is imperative to employ the pluralistic approach and generate intended outcomes in economic, social and other aspects of development across the world.
Definitely, making significant changes in the practice of centralized and unitarian developmental decision-making processes and incorporating the pluralistic approach is not possible all of a sudden in many countries — even if many developing and less developed countries are growingly employing this approach to economic and other development projects/activities. But efforts must be there. Planned efforts may help to effectively promote and incorporate the pluralistic approach more in development activities even in many authoritative countries. But for the intended outcomes of development activities, non-governmental groups need to get the scope of exerting their influence in decision-making in many countries. The promotion of an attitude of acceptance and respect for one another’s views is imperative.
