Discuss the relationship between globalisation and democracy (with reference to the asia pacific) - Essay Example

Discuss the relationship between globalisation and democracy (with reference to the Asia pacific) Instructions: Please include a brief definition for globalisation and also for democracy then discuss the relationship between the two using the Asia pacific with examples.Globalisation can be defined as the increasing interconnection of economic, social and political institutions and enterprises across the world. Globalisation is the movement of economic away from a national level to an international or global level.

1 Democracy is derived from Greek and means rule of the people, liberal democracy is when people elect their governments in free and fair elections.2 The following is a brief discussion of the relationship between globalisation and democracy. There have been assumptions in the past that countries that had capitalist economies and were part of the globalisation process were more likely to be liberal democracies although that has not always been the case. Globalisation is metaphorically making the world a smaller place as it is is now a lot faster to travel or communicate with any part of the world.

Globalisation has also led to the merging of some cultures and the quick transmission of ideas and information.3 The process of globalisation is supposed to offer economic benefits to all countries involved within it. For the developed countries of the West and Japan it brings cheaper goods and services whilst for developing countries in Asia pacific and other regions it brings employment and investment. Along with the investment, ideas are also exported to developing countries, ideas such as democracy.

4 Some have attributed the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe along with the brutally repressed student uprising in China with globalisation and an increasing desire for democracy. 5 China although it has retained its communist leadership has become increasingly involved with the globalisation since the death of Mao Zedong in 1976. The Chinese government adopted capitalist economic policies to drive forward economic development whilst retaining tight political control as they believed involvement in globalisation would possibly increase the demand for democracy.

6 Globalisation can and has played a role in promoting and bring about democracy in the Asia pacific region although it has not been an easy or straightforward relationship. Countries such as South Korea have had long periods of economic growth and have benefited from globalisation. South Korea was also helped by its closeness to Japan; it however was not a democracy as such until the 1990s. The United States supported South Korea because it was anti-Communist.7 During the cold war the United States was happy to support not only South Korea but other undemocratic countries such as Indonesia in the region provided that were willing to take part in the capitalist system and thus globalisation.

The United States was only willing to support changes in regime if the new regime stayed aligned to the American side. That is why the overthrow of the Marcos regime in the Philippines was supported whilst the Indonesians were not forced to leave East Timor after their invasion of the1970s.8 Since the end of the cold war pressure to embrace globalisation and democracy have not only occurred in Indonesia yet also in countries such as Vietnam whose Communist regimes were undermined by the demise of the Soviet Union.

9 A recent example of globalisation and democracy being closely related was East Timor gaining its independence from Indonesia following outbreaks of violence in 1998. Since independence multinational corporations have moved in to see how the country can be developed and take part in the global economy.10Brown (2002) Understanding International Relations 2nd edition, Palgrave, BasingstokeCastleden R (2005) The World’s Most Evil People, Time Warner Books, London and New York Crystal, D (2003) The Penguin Concise Encyclopedia, Penguin, LondonEvans G & Newnham J (1998) Dictionary of International Relations, Penguin, London and New York Nicholson M (1998) International Relations – A Concise Introduction, Macmillan Press, Basingstoke Hobsbawm, E (1994) Age of Extremes, the Short Twentieth Century 1914-1991, Michael Joseph, London