Political globalization can refer to the increasing, shared, conviction that all people should be governed by their own consent and a rule of law. (Western liberal democracy). It may also refer to the increasing number of inter-governmental organizations (IGO’s) with global scope and the increasing numbers of countries that participate in those IGO’s. Or, again, to the growing uniformity of governmental organization and structure or even the growing diplomatic interdependence between countries – the number of embassies and consulates worldwide.
So. What do we think? How would we define or describe political globalization? And additionally, what are some of the causes for what we observe? What are the “mechanisms” (institutions, policies, laws, habits, practices, phenomena) that encourage this? And…what contemporary global issues does political globalization contribute to? Benefits? Problems?
Political globalization is becoming an important and necessary factor in our world today. As humans, we have learned that we must come together to achieve great goals on an international level. Political globalization can be defined as multiple countries come together to discuss about issues around the world and put the solution into action. This could improve global economy and possibly form bonds between countries. The problems to this, however, could lead to lesser power a single country possess and a more powerful country could coerce smaller countries into favoring policies in their favor. Political globalization had helped solving many problems throughout human history, but are the pros worth the cons is yet to be decided.
There are few benefits of political globalization. Political globalization can result in improving global economy. Also, it encourages government solving the problems that need international approach. For example, environmental problem, poverty, economics, these problems cannot solve by own country. In addition, individuals can get free choices; for example, living place, work place, tourism. Political globalization helps improving or fixing relationship between two countries. Therefore, it increases trade and tourism.
Johnny, Shin, Natsuki
There are some cons of political globalization. The biggest one is losing the authority and coordination of a small country. Political globalization leads International Government Organization such as EU and OECD. These organizations are established for political issues with international cooperation, but otherwise, we could say big countries can take advantage of these organization. Like Amy Chua stated in the article, the United States become dominant in terms of political, military, capital and also culture. Big countries; market-dominant minority can shape decisions in supranational organizations because big countries have more power, which cause state sovereignty is reduced. Coordination is difficult and expensive.
Brittney. Risa. Yoshino
Political globalization is governmental action taking place on a global level. The rise of Democratic governments in many countries is an example of political globalization. The use of a Democratic government or Western liberalism encourages political globalization because it is seen as the best, so far, govern system. As also, according to Fukuyama’s The End of History, Western liberalism provides a system in which it is hard to offer something better, for example: rule of law, separation of powers, and universal right to liberty. According to Huntington, the author of Democracy’s Third Wave, the push from institutions is one of big causes of being democratic countries. IGO’s that is also known as international governments, such as United Nations and World Bank, are one of big causes of political globalization. Political globalization provides international support. With this, international governments can learn from each other and are more willing to share values and ideas, which can create a sort of peace in the world. Even though governments will work together, it will only be the big countries making most decisions with programs like the World Bank because they have more power.
by Hannah Chretien, Alex Guidi, and Chris Payne
Political globalization is the act of a single political system being spread across the world and being adapted by many countries. Specifically, political globalization as of now refers to the spread of western democratic thinking across the world. According to Huntington, there have been three waves of democratization: one after the widening of US male suffrage, one after the victory of the allies in World War II, and one right now. These waves of democratization seem to all occur after the acceptance of a new human right: the first being increased male suffrage, and the second being the halt of Nazi Germany and their ideology by the Allies. A second cause of political globalization is geographical location. Countries that are surrounded by democratic governments tend to feel higher pressure to adopt to democracy than those who are not, like the Middle East. Also, it is easier for countries that have experienced a sort of democratic history to stay a democracy than those with no democratic background, as Huntington explains.
One of the mechanisms that have caused political globalization are global institutions. The IMF loans money to other countries, but only if they agree to adhere to certain policy changes. As one of the main contributors to the IMF is the United States, this exchange allows democratic ideals to be forced onto other countries if they want to receive the money. This same process happens with the World Bank as well.
One issue with political globalization is the hatred that comes along with it. When a country feels pressured to change in a way that will drastically change their own policies and ideals, rebellion sometimes insures. A current example of this is with ISIS. Being completely against democracy, this organization wishes to create a caliphate state throughout the Muslim world. However, political globalization is not completely negative. It allows for countries to establish trade on a mutual level, and allows people to travel around the world without having to worry heavily about drastically different policies.
Haleigh, Zeke, Aryne
Political Globalization can be describe as a unification of a specific political system. Currently the system that is sweeping the globe is Democracy. One of the main causes of political globalization is intergovernmental organizations, also other cultures wanting to update to a more modern and sophisticated type of political system.
IGOs are when two or more countries make a treaty in order to work together to communicate about a common issue. IGOs are helping cause the spread of certain political system, because it creates a unified group where they will share their ideas. The ideas they share will then be taken back to their own countries and put into play. It also helps countries who are working together, because if they have a common denominator they will be able to work in unison to complete the task at hand, such as: trade, economies, foreign policies, and times during war.
The United Nations Security Council has the responsibility of keeping peace and security within the international government organization. The security council calls upon all the parties to settle a dispute by recommended methods of settlement. The World Trade Organization is the only global organization that deals with rules of trade among various nations. Their main objective is to help producers and consumers achieve their main priority.
Human nature is to want to be like who ever is currently on top and most successful. The same applies to the political systems. Countries are going to want to be like the country who seems to be on top at the time. At the moment the countries who are most successful all have a democracy in place, so that is what countries are going to want to adopt for their own political system.
A prime example of a contemporary global issue that political globalization contributes to, is ISIS. Reason being, is ISIS is spreading and recruiting people around the world to conform to their belief system in a brutal way. ISIS is doing this because they are not happy with the current widespread political system in place.
by Grace, Jennings, Graham
So. What do we think? How would we define or describe political globalization? And additionally, what are some of the causes for what we observe? What are the “mechanisms” (institutions, policies, laws, habits, practices, phenomena) that encourage this? And…what contemporary global issues does political globalization contribute to? Benefits? Problems?
Defintion of Political Globalization: Huntington’s “The Third Wave” describes political globalization with five factors as list below:
-Authoritarian regimes increasingly need to integrate globalization-friendly policies to prove their economic legitimacy
-Urban middle class increasing with raised living standards and quality of life
-Transitions in the Catholic that are geared towards rejecting authoritarian regimens
-Changes in policies in Europe, US, Russia
-“Snowballing” of political uprisings, such as the “Arab Spring”
Causes: Fukuyama relates political globalization to the synthesis of political ideas such as universal right to freedom, consent of the governed, signing of the social contract, and unalienable rights. These Enlightenment concepts spread from the west, as Huntington described, and became imbued in cultures otherwise autocratic or unstable. Henceforth, political globalization was caused through integration of these common ideas and enforcement of their universality through trade policy, IGOs, embassies, and military presence.
Mechanisms: As stated above, IGOs, embassies, military, and religion are supported by Huntington as mechanisms for the gradual integration of political globalization around the world. Some IGOs include the United Nations, European Union, World Bank WTO, IMF WHO, G8, G77. These IGOs work under a pretext of international union, interdependence, and ease of economic and political interaction. As for embassies, we researched in class the presence of embassies in countries worldwide being higher than ever in history, demonstrating the spread of political globalization currently.
Benefits:
-Better foreign policies which will help with travel
-Better communication will help with better foreign policies
-Will help with making deals with other countries
-We will have more allies who will help us during wars and when we need help with other foreign debates
Problems:
-small countries, such as Luxembourg, will have a harder time keeping up with big countries like the U.S.
-If political globalization is very constant in a specific area, those nations that believe differently in that area could find conflict around certain policies
-in a sense, democratic political globalization could “gang up” on those of republic nature
Olivia, Joshua, Renee
Political globalization is, arguably, many countries moving toward the same form of government. Huntington argues that countries are moving toward democratic forms of government. There are many causes for this unification, but technology is one of the main contributors. Because of technology, it is easier to share ideas and suggestions, whether that be through a text, email, phone call or social media. Leaders are also able to learn from past mistakes through studying history—they are able to see what has not worked for them or other countries in the past, and decide what type of government they should transition to, which is usually a democratic government. The UN, IMF and the World Bank are all mechanisms that encourage political globalization; they bring countries together, thus they are able to learn from each other. Trade agreements, shared laws, like the Geneva Conventions, and embassies in other countries also encourage political globalization by bringing countries together. Technology is also a prominent mechanism in political globalization; global news stations, like BBC for example, allow countries to see the advantages and disadvantages of certain governments, and whether or not they are working. While there are many benefits to political globalization, it can also contribute to many global issues. For example, ISIS, which is a religious fundamentalist terrorist group, could be considered a product of political globalization. There is a major difference in their benefits compared to the United States’, which leads to violence and oppression. Thus, this can be considered one of the problems that come with political globalization: differing ideas and beliefs can lead to violence and wars. However, political globalization also has many benefits. Political globalization can lead to more international trade, which can strengthen the world’s economy. It can also lead to peaceful relations between countries, whether that be through the UN or other political institutions. Finally, because Huntington argues that many countries are transitioning to democratic governments, there many be less oppression and more economic stability in the world.
By Hunter McGinnis, Morganne Gibbs, Funa Yamagishi.
Political globalization could be defined as phenomenon in which a specific form of government becomes internationally prolific to the point where the majority of the world’s nations operate in similar ways and under similar ideologies. This can take effect in a number of ways.
An effect known as “snowballing” describes the tendency of nations to adopt similar political behaviors as their neighboring countries. This has happened with many countries with the rise of western liberal democracy. With the fall of competing forms of government such as communism and fascism, the door was opened for countries to become democratic, and as they did, their neighbors took notice and turned to democracy themselves. This was particularly noticeable in Eastern European bloc countries following the fall of the Soviet Union (this can also be attributed to the evident problems in authoritarian regimes).
Occupations by outside nations can also spread this and contribute to globalization, refer to the US presence in Iraq as an example. A competing outside force can take advantage of the instability caused by wartime to install a government that reflects its own values. In the example above, the U.S. has attempted to put a democratically elected official in charge of Iraq in the hopes that democracy will take hold. This comes with the added possibility for it to snowball into other areas. Ability to do this is limited however, to countries able to be influenced by economic and military power. Some countries have strong social and cultural barriers that resist democracy in particular. During the Arab Spring movement, citizens took advantage of technological global communication to oust their authoritarian regimes in favor of more liberalized governments. This is proving difficult due to regional instability preventing strong democratic roots to take hold. Globalization of Western democracy encounters one of its weakness here; internal factors of country need to be just right for democracy to be effective.
International participation in IGOs can be another form of globalization. These organizations can center around any number of things that influence how nations interact with each other. The World Trade Organization (WTO) for example, promotes democratic trade on a global scale. Even non democratic countries are a part of the WTO. IGOs like this and the UN are common threads that tie nations together under a singular influence. The widespread, voluntary authority given to these organizations shows at least a form of governance exists on an international scale, affecting multiple nations.
Other conditions such as rapid industrialization and economic growth can facilitate the spread of globalization by allowing prominent forms of government to take hold. To use western liberal democracy as an example, industrializing nations might turn to it as a way of providing secure trade relations with more powerful democracies. The nation’s citizens will have influence on how their country is run, and hopefully elect an official that represents them, further empowering the labor force and by extension, the industry. As the nation’s economy grows, so does its influence in an increasingly democratic world. As more nations adopt similar political workings and become more interconnected through trade, they start to become interdependent on each other to some degree, as we are starting to see today. Snowballing effects and global connection may be partially responsible for the adoption of democracy in measurable “waves”, as Huntington describes.
Sometimes though, countries have trouble transitioning to globally popular forms of government. Economic, political,and social instability, as well as widespread cultural beliefs can form roadblocks that make it difficult to change forms of government. Further, some countries who are still developing or who are wracked with turmoil may find it difficult to find a foothold in a global political community, particularly in comparison to more powerful countries. This is one of the difficulties facing young democracies and developing nations today.
Globalization also tends to come with benefits. Shared technological advances, improved quality of life for non-elite citizens, representation for marginalized groups, reduced political corruption, and the ability for citizens to participate in the running of their country are all benefits that come with the current globalization of liberal western democracy in particular.
By Rachel Manning, Mariah Franklin, Arik Stuvek
Put simply, political globalization is the normalization and increasing uniformity of certain political and governmental systems on a world scale. However, the term political globalization encompasses many ideas and possibilities; it contains within it the potential to both mediate conflict and foster it. Political globalization has proved controversial for a number of reasons, and debate continues as to whether the benefits of a globalized political system outweigh the potential disadvantages.
Underlying the rise of political globalization has been a push for uniformity in governance. This push has its roots in the era following the Second World War, when numerous intergovernmental organizations were established to foster cooperation among nations. Additionally, after the failure of earlier, post-World War One democracies, the Second World War’s impact on the West can be shown in an apparent desire to make democratic government the world’s default political setting. As an entity that advocates for a type of political uniformity that includes democracy, the United Nations stands out as a singularly important engine of political globalization. The earlier, failed League of Nations proved to be an embryonic version of the stronger post-World War II UN, which has seen much greater success in preventing wars and promoting democratic values. The UN plays an important role in international relations, and in the relationship of various governments to their populations, by helping to regulate what actions can be taken by public actors, either in war or in peace. While the UN and its bodies are among the most prominent of institutions that contribute to political globalization, the influence of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank cannot be underestimated. As they play a crucial role in deciding how to properly allocate funds to the states that apply to them, their determinations on whether a given country shows evidence of progress towards democracy have the effect of establishing a kind of standard of admission into the circle of modernized democratic countries.
Fostering a more uniform political system appears to have engendered positive change in various aspects of global politics. On a basic level, having a set of shared political values makes the possibility of enforcing violations of political norms into an achievable goal. Particularly with regard to humanitarian concerns, the effect of the Geneva Convention on Human Rights has had an appreciable impact on the relations of more authoritarian countries to its citizens. Criminal tribunals established by the UN Security Council for the investigation of crimes against humanity are uniquely capable of tackling issues of the guilt of high-ranking state officials who might otherwise avoid consequences for their actions. In addition to holding individual actors to account for their actions and supplying nations with an overarching authority, political interdependence among nations may decrease the risk of war by ensuring that the cost of a conflict would be higher than they could tolerate if they wish to preserve their standing within the world political system. Most abstractly, a common set of values allows for an ease of communication among nations that might otherwise prove elusive.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the idea of a set of globalized political institutions has been criticized for focusing overly on the institutions of the West. One of the more frequent criticisms of political globalization seems to be that it is a kind of cultural imperialism, with Western, and particularly American, institutions and ideas dominating those of countries with less power. While this is a valid criticism, there have been attempts within IGOs to aid countries in their retention of their individual cultures and to preserve existing identities while still striving towards a unified system. Other critics have pointed to the plain fact that, despite the increasing interconnectedness of our global system, conflict between and among nations has not stopped, nor has it abated. The responses by European nations to the Syrian refugee crisis has illustrated that the current world order is highly flawed and that even the seemingly inevitable growth of interconnectivity among nations is susceptible to setbacks, with the closing of many of Europe’s formerly open borders standing as a testament to the unfinished nature of political globalization. Political globalization’s positive facets are considerable; so too are its more negative aspects. The question of whether engines of political globalization are capable of adequately addressing criticism remains unanswered.
by Lee Browning, Nick Peterson, Kamilla Ibragimova, Ray Cleavenger
Political globalisation can be defined as countries across the world shifting toward using a similar government; at the current time, the government most countries use are democracy or a form of it.
A benefit of political globalisation is the opportunity to inspire change in oppressed groups by demonstrating knowledge of other governments available that are potentially better than what they have at the moment. As stated before, the government of choice is most likely democracy, where people have the chance to have their voices heard. With political globalisation, trade among countries is simpler and oftentimes cheaper.
However, there are problems with political globalisation. Smaller countries are not always able to keep up with others politically – they may not have the funding or capability to successfully run a government, much less a government that rich countries with a plethora of resources and knowledge. Additionally, many countries have to rely on what their neighbours are doing. For example, Lesotho, who is within South Africa, heavily depends on South Africa for almost everything; their best governing option would be to have the same government as South Africa, whether that’s what they truly want or not. Furthermore, instability and conflict within governments make any sort of political change difficult to impossible.
Bethany Hedrick, Danielle Taylor, Natasha Sadler, and Catherine Hatfield
The causes of political globalization, as laid out by Huntington, are the deep legitimacy problems of authoritarian regimes, the unprecedented global economic growth of the 1960s, a striking shift in the doctrine and activities of the Catholic Church, changes in the policies of external actors, most notably the European Community, the United States, and the Soviet Union, and the idea of “snowballing,” or the demonstration effect of transitions earlier in the third wave in stimulating and providing models for subsequent efforts at democratization.
Having an International Governmental Organization has several benefits if applied correctly. One benefit is the fact that IGOs can spend the time together focusing on issues that transcend multiple nations instead of government format issues. In addition, there will be no issues with procedure and legitimacy structure understanding, creating seamless communication. If all nations have the same political situation, there will be no room for several political war machines.
Some issues with political globalization are that individuals can feel as if their rights are being breached. These individuals could, depending on the type of government, feel as if their rights to practice traditions and culture are prohibited in favor of the universally accepted traditions and culture of the government. Political globalization can also cause rejectionism, when a country does not accept another’s culture or government system. Another problem would be the possibility of totalitarian governments emerging through this type of government and spreading to countries that would want a democracy.
Dj, Sidra, Hannah, Joshua
Western liberal democracy can be defined by the following: an absence of a central authoritarian source of power, the presence of fundamental rights that cannot be taken away by the government, and the people in power are elected not selected. The main causes of political globalization are; failed authoritarian regimes, the economic growth during the 1960’s, increased living standards and educational growth leading to human development, the rise of Protestantism which created a greater sense of purpose and vocation among the people, major policy changes in the European community/the Soviet Union, the concept of “snowballing” which is the outside world witnessing the positive effects of western democracy and wanting to change themselves and improved political awareness due to the improvement of communication. When numerous non-democratic countries make the change to a western style democracy, we are witnessing the effects of political globalization because we can see the spread of a political idea throughout the world. As a country becomes wealthier, they are more likely to shift the structure of their government to a western style democracy. Also, with a democratic government, the needs and welfare of the people are more taken care of.
Brandi Jeanis, Hadis Karatashi, Jacob Roberts, & Stacey Padilla
Causes of political globalization:
– The GATT (General Agreement on Trades and Tariffs)
– A shared desire to raise standards of living
– Increased cultural competency to decrease cross-national conflict
– The snowball effect: countries seeing effective democracy and embracing democracy for their own country
– Embassies and delegates who inform states about other nation-states
– Common laws, such as the Convention on Human Rights, The Law of the Sea, and the Kyoto Protocol
Mechanisms that encourage political globalization:
– Trade agreements (NAFTA, WTO)
– The United Nations
– Economic unions
– International Customary Laws
– The influence of global news outlets
A contemporary global issue that political globalization contributes to:
– Counter-terrorism activities, such as the PATRIOT Act in the USA and Indonesia’s military campaign against Islamic terrorism in 2002
– Unstable political structures
Benefits:
– Peace between nation-states that find political common ground, which may be facilitated by institutions such as the UN
– Fewer political barriers lead to cultures leaving their influence in other regions
– Reduction in barriers to international trade
Problems:
– New polarization of world political customs; e.g. many democratic nations consolidating
– Opposing political views must confront each other, which can cause major conflicts
– Reactionary elements: antagonistic, violent behavior or backlash to the spread of ideas
Political Globalization is the movement of ideas of governance throughout multiple nations around the world.
Huntington believes that we recently experienced a “wave” of democratic political globalization. One element that guides this is the desire for newer technologies. Countries want the latest technologies, and often times, adapting to new technologies is accompanied by political change. Furthermore, as different forms of government see failures in their economy and military, they seek better alternatives through democracy. Culturally, more nations are moving towards democratic standards due to Westernization.
The need for coalitions to stand against common enemies contributes to political globalization. This is present in Syria where multiple nations are forming a coalition to combat I.S.I.S.
There are also problems with political globalization, however. Certain longstanding cultural problems prevent political globalization from being able to work well everywhere. South Sudan is bordered by many nations who do not share their political or religious beliefs. This is a problem for political globalization in that it creates conflict among nations and further prevents a “wave” from forming since people want to avoid conflict as well as hold on to their own beliefs and cultures.
Political globalization does have the potential of setting back multiple nations if they go back towards a less suitable form of government. This is referred to as reverse snowballing.
Political globalization can take a huge amount of effort depending on the region but can offer greater unification for nations as well as our world. Huntington believes that our world is moving towards unification through democracy. We of course still have a long way to go.