Introduction

The problem of socioeconomic development and the concomitant improvements of levels of living or the quality of life is certainly one of the outstanding issues confronting mankind. The causes of the status of development in the underdeveloped regions are also a subject of great controversy. Political systems also exhibit a great range within the Third World. There are relatively open multiparty democracies, semidemocracies or partly free societies, and authoritarian and totalitarian regimes. The collapse of the Second World also accelerated the demise, perhaps only temporarily, of alternative paths to development. In many cases, tough economic measures imposed by international and national lending agencies created hardship as Third World countries attempted to shift their economies. The great attention to economic restructuring and stability and the push for economic development have resulted in perhaps an even greater neglect in social investments.