PR 1450 Introduction to Globalization Lecture 9 Globalization and democracy Chris Rumford

Which country is the most democratic in the world? Answer: Sweden

Which country is the least democratic? Answer: North Korea Source: EIU’s index of democracy

This is according to the Economist Intelligence Unit Other highly democratic counties include: Iceland Iceland Netherlands Netherlands Norway Norway Denmark Denmark Countries are measured according to the following criteria: electoral process electoral process functioning of government functioning of government political participation political participation political culture political culture civil liberties civil liberties

Britain and the USA did not score as highly Britain was ranked 23 rd and the USA 17 th In both countries there was a marked decline in civil liberties, and a lack of political participation The ‘war on terror’ has been responsible for the curtailment of some freedoms

Democracy and globalization Is globalization a threat to democracy? On the one hand, globalization may mean that democratically elected governments no longer have total control over their own affairs On the other, globalization has seen the world-wide spread of the democratic nation-state Since the end of the communism democracy has become the universally acceptable form of government

Big questions The relationship between globalization and democracy provokes some important questions Under conditions of globalization is democracy tied to the nation-state? Or can democracy be trans- national or global?

Big issues Democracy now enjoys universal support – politicians, leaders and citizens in all parts of the world profess respect for democracy But globalization makes democracy difficult to realize: calling into question its ‘natural’ grounding in the nation-state can we imagine non-national sources of democracy?

Globalization as a threat Benjamin Barber (2001) says that we have globalized the marketplace but not democracy As a result we have a highly organized system of global capital but ‘an anarchic global political climate’ (p.301) As a result we have a highly organized system of global capital but ‘an anarchic global political climate’ (p.301) ‘We are destroying the national institutions, including the nation-state itself, which have been the seedbed for democratic institutions’ (P )

Internationalization of democracy The League of Nations (1919) wanted to protect minority rights within nation-states and saw sovereignty as less important than ‘new international norms as the basis for legitimate government’ (Hirst, 2001: 256) In the post-WWII period the United Nations has promoted the idea of human rights – that people have rights independently of those granted to them (or not) by their nation-state The UN’s ‘Universal Declaration of Human Rights’ dates from

David Held and ‘cosmopolitan democracy’ Democracy is not always threatened by globalization Held et al argue for trans-national governance to ensure that the democratic state will be the global norm It is a conception of democracy which recognises the continuing significance of the nation-state while arguing for a layer of governance to limit national sovereignty (Held, 1998)

The affairs of nation-states are interrelated and many contemporary issues require cooperative responses (pollution, diminishing resources, terrorist threats, migration) ‘Cosmopolitan democracy’ looks to the ‘creation of a democratic community which both involves and cuts across democratic states’ (Archibugi and Held, 1995)

Daniele Archibugi on ‘cosmopolitan democracy’ ‘cosmopolitan democracy aims at a parallel development of democracy both within and among states’ (Archibugi and Held, 1995) Read Daniele Archibugi’s article on ‘Cosmopolitan democracy’ at:

Read an interview with David Held ‘Globalization, cosmopolitanism and democracy’ democracy.asp democracy.asp

Global democracy Cosmopolitan democracy looks towards a global institutional framework which works with existing system of nation-states But reserves the right for cosmopolitan institutions to intervene in cases where: peoples are being oppressed peoples are being oppressed actions of states have transnational consequences (migration) actions of states have transnational consequences (migration) global initiatives are required (transnational crime, epidemics) global initiatives are required (transnational crime, epidemics)

The role of citizens Cosmopolitan democracy is possible because citizens have been empowered (by UN) and through INGOs Human rights give citizens rights independent of membership of nation-state ‘human rights have posited and sustained the duties of individuals to a legal order beyond that of nation-states’ (Goldblatt, 1997)

Is the world ready for cosmopolitan democracy? Archibugi (1998) says that two important things are lacking: existing forms of global governance lack sufficient legal competence existing forms of global governance lack sufficient legal competence agencies of existing global governance are not necessarily guided by principles of democracy agencies of existing global governance are not necessarily guided by principles of democracy However, there is one very good example of actually existing cosmopolitan democracy …

Real cosmopolitan democracy? ‘the first international organization which begins to resemble the cosmopolitan model is the European Union’ (Archibugi, 1998)

Iraq and cosmopolitan democracy The USA and Britain have tried to bring about democracy in post-Saddam Iraq, and the rudiments of parliamentary democracy now exist Archibugi (1998) is sceptical about the possibility of genuine democracy developing under these conditions Democracy will only take hold when society is willing and able to embrace democratic principles The development of democracy is endogenous not exogenous

Concluding comments It is not necessarily the case that globalization is a threat to democracy Globalization has also helped spread democracy round the world It is possible that in the future globalization will also provide the means and the incentive to create a truly democratic world order

References Archibugi, D. and Held, D. 1995: ‘Editors’ introduction’ in D. Archibugi and D. Held (eds) Cosmopolitan Democracy: An Agenda for a New World Order (Polity Press) Barber, B. 2001: ‘Challenges to democracy in an age of globalization’ in R. Axtmann (ed) Balancing Democracy (Continuum) Goldblatt, D. 1997: ‘At the limits of political possibility: the cosmopolitan democractic project’ New Left Review 225 Held, D. 1998: ‘Democracy and globalization’ in D. Archibugi, D. Held, and M. Kohler (eds) Re-Imagining Political Community (Polity Press) Hirst, P. 2001: ‘Between the local and the global: democracy in C21st’ in R. Axtmann (ed) Balancing Democracy (Continuum)