Which developmental framework describes economic modernization as a five-stage process beginning with traditional society?

Which developmental framework describes economic modernization as a five-stage process beginning with traditional society?

• A. Dependency Theory
• B. World-Systems Theory
• C. Modernization Model
• D. Neoclassical Growth Model

Answer: (C)

Modernization is viewed as a staged path from a traditional, agrarian setup to a modern, diversified economy. Rostow’s Modernization Model lays out five phases: traditional society, preconditions for take-off, take-off, drive to maturity, and the age of high mass consumption. The idea is that investment, technology, and institutional change gradually push a country through these stages toward sustained growth. This exact five-stage sequence beginning with tradition is why this framework fits the description. Other theories describe development in different ways—external dependencies and global core-periphery dynamics, or growth driven by factors like capital and technology—without the same explicit five-stage progression starting from traditional society.

Modernization is viewed as a staged path from a traditional, agrarian setup to a modern, diversified economy. Rostow’s Modernization Model lays out five phases: traditional society, preconditions for take-off, take-off, drive to maturity, and the age of high mass consumption. The idea is that investment, technology, and institutional change gradually push a country through these stages toward sustained growth. This exact five-stage sequence beginning with tradition is why this framework fits the description. Other theories describe development in different ways—external dependencies and global core-periphery dynamics, or growth driven by factors like capital and technology—without the same explicit five-stage progression starting from traditional society.