THEORIES OF POPULATION
CONTENT
- Malthusian Population Theory
- The Demographic Transition Theory
A. Malthusian Population Theory
This is a theory formulated by Thomas Robert Malthus in a book titled An Essay on the Principle of Population as it Affects the Future Improvement of Society which was published in 1798 in Britain.
Features of Malthusian Population Theory
1. That Population may increase in geometrical progression i.e. 2, 4, 8, and 16
2. That food production (means of subsistence) can only increase in an arithmetic progression, i.e. 1,2,3,4 etc.
3. That there might be starvation in the world as population may outgrow food production.
4. To check these problems he proffered the following solutions:
- Obvious and positive checks such as wars, pestilences, famine and disease
- Preventive checks which include birth control and moral restraint. By moral restraints, he meant late marriages, restraints by married couple and celibacy.
An Appraisal of the Malthusian Theory
Malthus and his population theory were severely criticized, and later was tagged “the gloomy doctrine.” However, we shall examine events that proved Malthusian theory wrong and events that proved his theory right.
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