Essay Question: Illustrate your answer with s

In this essay I hope to go through the strengths and weaknesses of the Neoliberal approach to development using examples of countries in which they have implemented Neoliberal influenced reforms in order to develop their country. I will then attempt to evaluate my findings to see whether or not the Neoliberal approach is successful or not or is it something which has its weaknesses and strengths and cannot be judged either way.
The term Neoliberalism can be defined as a ‘modernised or revised form of liberalism, one based on belief in free market capitalism and the rights of the individual. This is a definition given by the Oxford English Dictionary 1989.
In the 1970s Neoliberalism enjoyed increasing popularity and an aspect of the theory we should look at its influence on the Washington Consensus which was an extensive list of economic policies written by John Williamson in 1989. This was a package of standards created to aid countries in economic crisis.
Neoliberalism reduces the influence of state and trade unions on markets and reduces the public sector workforce. It also increases in the privatisation of formerly public owned institutions, decreases state interference and opens up markets of an economy to foreign companies.
A country which takes on Neoliberal approaches to its economy, in theory should favour strong individual private property rights, rule of law and the institution of freely functioning markets and free trade (Harvey, 2005).
There is a criticism to Neoliberalism states as it is described and said to be designed to reduce poverty and other inequalities however it is more tailored to meet the needs of capitalism and a global scale (Kothari, 2002).
I believe a term or a section we should look at when looking at Neoliberalism is ‘economic liberalism’ which is the belief in that the state