Ideology and state building in Germany : implications for Uganda

Abstract

This paper attempts to offer an accentuated understanding of ideology and how it influences state building. By drawing on the Germany ideology of Merkantilismus, the author has made efforts to establish the critical implications that can be leveraged to change the fortunes of Uganda as the country moves towards industrialization. The study relied on both primary and secondary data to provide a well-thought explanation on the state of affairs for mercantilism in the modern societies. Key informant interviews were conducted to inform primary data, while document reviews were undertaken to yield secondary data from security plans and policies. Thematic areas arising from document reviews and key informant interviews are developed and presented. Through systematic literature review, this paper established that Germany rose to be one of the prominent economic powerhouses in the world owing to the mercantilism ideology of state building. This paper argues that increased industrial and manufacturing capability of a country is a key enabler of economic growth. To achieve this end, however, there is need for progressive ideologies, such equity, to define what constitutes economic development in a nation-state. Analysis of responses from the interviewed respondents indicated that inadequate power supply affected progress because for industrialization to be effective, a country needs to generate enough electricity to power the industrial sectors; inadequate capital that are required for massive industrialization. Despite the centrality of mercantilism in the developmental discourse, this paper notes that mercantilism treats economic relations as a zero-sum game, that is, as a system in which the profits of one player are always associated with the losses of the other economic partner. The paper concludes that countries lagging in terms of development can travel in the same path as the developed west by building their industrial capabilities for value addition exports.