Political Science - Globalization and Democracy Critical Review - Essay Example

However, different approaches are used in each article in order to highlight the potential involvement of globalisation in the governance of countries in the international community: in the article of Cerny (1999) globalisation is considered as influencing mostly the democratic regimes. More specifically, in the above article it is made clear that the increase of the power of globalisation in terms of the governance of states has been achieved through the erosion of democracy, as a key political concept.

At the same time, the current and the future role of democracy – as a political concept valuable in nation-states worldwide – are clearly explained. On the other hand, in the article of Hirst and Thompson (2002), globalisation is presented as a set of rules which can lead to the establishment of a global governance and a global economic system without necessarily use as a vehicle an existing political or economic framework; i.e. in the above article, no direct link is established between globalisation and existing political systems.

The strengths and the weaknesses of the above articles are presented and evaluated below using appropriate literature. Analysis of the strength and weaknesses of the literature Both articles are based on studies related to the issues under discussion; the literature employed in each article should be critically evaluated aiming to identify the relevant strengths and the weaknesses of these articles. Reference should be made primarily to the role of literature review and the tools used for its incorporation within a particular study – as the above issues are highlighted in studies published in the particular field.

In accordance with Hall (2008) the literature can have different aims, including ‘the reference to the views and initiatives of others on specific issues and the identification of the key issues in a specific field’ (Hall 2008, p.34); moreover, the above researcher noted that the traditional literature review is often inadequate to cover the issues discussed in a particular study – in such cases, it is proposed that meta-analysis should be used, exclusively or in combination with the literature review (Hall 2008, p.35) aiming to increase the credibility of a particular study.

On the other hand, Fink (2009) notes that the literature review needs to be based on explicit research questions and search strategies (Fink 2009, p.3) – referring probably to the criteria on which the literature review will be based; otherwise, as Fink (2009) explains, the findings of the literature review could lack of credibility or accuracy. From the same point of view, Birley et al. (1998) explain that the word ‘review’ – as part of the term ‘literature review’ – incorporates certain capabilities, such as ‘exploration, analysis, discussion and summary’ (Birley et al. 1998, p.84).

Moreover, Henn et al. (2009) note that the use of a study in the literature part of a paper needs to be fully justified (p.319) – i.e. the relevance and the necessity of this study as part of the literature used in a paper have to be clearly explained by the researcher. In accordance with Hart (2006) it would be important for a researcher to be aware of the elements and the role of positivism and phenomenology –