Globalization as a Challenge to Governance - Literature review Example

Which approach is more compelling: globalization as a challenge to governance or globalization as a challenge to power? Globalization as a challenge to governance - For democratic regimes, globalization is related to a series of transformations, especially in regard to the style of governance and the types of political decisions and priorities. - Globalization can result to the elimination of barriers in trade and communication; thus, transformations may be required to each country’s rules in regard to territory and citizenship; from this point of view, globalization can be a major challenge to governance. - Globalization can influence urban governance affecting the performance of cities worldwide. - Globalization is easier promoted in states where governments are not opposed to the principles of globalization - Inequalities in health services worldwide have led to the need for globalization in health governance so that these inequalities are eliminated, or, at least, controlled as possible. Globalization as a challenge to power - Globalization can be used for challenging existing market powers - Globalization can lead to severe social and economic inequalities - Globalization sets a series of social and environmental standards, which corporations worldwide need to respect, even if their power would be limited. The forms of globalization internationally are not standardized. In most cases, globalization seems to be either a challenge of governance or a challenge to power. The studies supporting these views are analyzed below. One of the key characteristics of globalization is its ability to influence the systems of governance internationally. Indeed, as noted in the study of Hoppenstedt, Wolfang and Rathkolb (2005) globalization has highly affected democratic regimes around the world. It is explained that the expansion of globalization may not resulted to the elimination of sovereignty of states; still, it is clear that the choices and the plans of governments within democratic regimes worldwide have been transformed in order to meet the standards and the requirements of globalization (Hoppenstedt, Wolfang and Rathkolb 117). As part of a political system, globalization is reflected in the adoption by countries internationally of similar political and economic strategies for addressing a series of economic or social problems. The relationship between globalization and governance is verified through the following fact: in the context of globalization people around the world are given a series of rights referring to the potential of establishing commercial or professional activities or of moving to other countries, for a short or a long period of time (Rosenau 133). Thus, globalization promotes the continuous movement of capital and the transformation of the terms of citizenship, as applied in each country. In this way, globalization is involved in the governance of states, setting rules ordering, directly or indirectly, the transformation of existing governmental practices and decisions (Rosenau 133). According to Rosenau, the influence of globalization on the political and social life of each country can be so strong so that ‘the perceptions of governors and citizens on territory and citizenship can be changed’ (Rosenau 133). Another fact for verifying the potentials of globalization to be a challenge for governance is the following one: an empirical research developed across cities in India (Leautier 2006) proved that globalization can highly affect the urban governance; at the next level, globalization influences the level of development of a particular city (Leautier 69). More specifically, in the research developed by Leautier (2006) it was revealed that cities which are highly aligned with the principles of globalization, are more likely to achieve a high performance compared to cities the urban governance of which is not based on the rules of globalization (Leautier 69). The ability of globalization to influence the governance of cities and their performance reveals the potential of globalization to influence also the governance of states. At this point, the following problem needs to be taken into consideration: the level at which globalization affects urban governance is not standardized. Cities, which do not have the necessary resources (infrastructure, skilled people or sufficient funds) for supporting schemes, which are aligned with the trends of globalization, are not expected to reach a high performance. However, there may be also cities that are not aligned with the trends of globalization due to cultural and historical issues; for example, Venice cannot adopt a style of urban planning used in cities worldwide due to its structure and geographical characteristics. This fact cannot lead to the assumption that the performance of the city will be kept at low levels. In this context, the actual relationship between globalization and urban governance is not standardized. At the same time, Vayrynen (1999) notes that ‘societies which emphasize more on economic development tend to accept easier communication globalization’ (Vayrynen 21); this fact further verifies the relationship between globalization and governance of states. Indeed, the system of governance of its state can highly influence the structure of the local market. Thus, when the governmental policies in a state allow the development of globalization, then, the local population is expected to respond positively to practices of communication and commerce that are aligned with the principles of globalization. Globalization can be characterized as a challenge to governance using another argument: health services provided in countries internationally are differentiated. In many cases, severe failures have been identified in regard to the health governance of certain states. Kennett (2008) notes that in the context of the international community, health governance, which ‘refers to the actions and means adopted by a society in regard to the promotion of health of its population’ (Kennett 154), is often characterized by significant failures. In the above case, globalization in health governance is often suggested for facing the challenges resulted by health inequalities around the world. This fact reveals that globalization is not related only to the political or economic sectors of countries worldwide. However, the effectiveness of globalization when involved in health governance should be further examined. Apart from its potential to challenge the governance, globalization can also be a challenge to power. According to Webster, Lambert and Beziudenhout (2011) the rules of globalization are often used in order to challenge the power of strong market competitors. Reference can be made, for example, to the employees of Orange, who tried ‘to build strong alliances with the employees of Electrolux in order to challenge the power of the corporation’ (Webster, Lambert and Beziudenhout 144). It is assumed that communication globalization, as a series of practices for developing communication between individuals worldwide, has been extensively involved in the above case. Political/ social globalization may also be involved, at the level that the rights of employees in the international market are promoted through several laws. From a different point of view, Mehlinger (2000) notes that globalization has led to the increase of power of rich people and the limitation of the rights of the poorest (Mehlinger 129). It is suggested that the scope of globalization is changed so that globalization addresses the needs of the high percentage of the population and not of the elites (Mehlinger 129). The specific view is not necessarily in opposition with the one of Webster, Lambert and Beziudenhout (2011), as presented above. Instead, it could be stated that globalization, in general, tends to promote the rights of richest; however, its principles could be also used for challenging the power of richest and promoting a balance in the social and economic power of people worldwide. In other words, globalization can be a means for increasing economic or social power but it can be also used for challenging this power, securing equality in societies worldwide. Another perspective of globalization as a challenge to power would be the following one: in the context of globalization, firms around the world need to align their practices with certain rules, as imposed by international organizations and committees. Harrington (2005) refers to the violation, by many organizations, of human rights, are related to the rights of employees, and of environmental standards. It is explained, that the power of multinational corporations to proceed to violations of human rights and to cause environmental damages, would be controlled only if efforts were made for checking the rules of globalization as applied in three different sectors: ‘the private sector, the non-governmental organizations and the international institutions’ (Harrington 285). The level at which globalization promotes social inequalities and allows the violation of rights and the development of environmental damages should be carefully checked; globalization offers power to certain individuals in order to act independently in the context of the global market, as explained earlier. However, limits should be set in regard to the above power, otherwise social and economic inequalities would be continuously increased. According to the issues discussed above, globalization has two different aspects: it can be either a challenge to governance or a challenge to power; the simultaneous existence of both these forms of globalization is a common phenomenon. The study of the elements of each of the above aspects leads to the following assumption: globalization as a challenge to governance is more likely to be enforced without the consent of the citizens of a state. This means that the specific approach, of using globalization, as a challenge to governance, is more compelling, compared to the other approach, i.e. of using globalization as a challenge to power. The former is related to significant social and economic interests, compared to the latter, which is usually related to the interests of specific groups of people; the above fact explains the increased power of globalization to be a challenge to governance. Bibliography Harrington, John. The challenge to power: money, investing, and democracy. White River Junction: Chelsea Green Publishing, 2005. Hoppenstedt, Wolfang, and Rathkolb, Oliver. Global Management. Wien: LIT Verlag Münster, 2005. Kennett, Patricia. Governance, Globalization and Public Policy. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2008 Leautier, Frannie. Cities in a globalizing world: governance, performance, and sustainability. Washington: World Bank Publications, 2006. Mehlinger, Howard. Globalization and the challenges of a new century: a reader. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2000. Rosenau, James. The Study of World Politics: Theoretical and methodological challenges. Oxon: Taylor & Francis, 2006. Väyrynen, Raimo. Globalization and global governance. Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield, 1999. Webster, Edward, Lambert, Rob, and Andries, Beziudenhout. Grounding Globalization: Labour in the Age of Insecurity. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2011. Read More