Politics and Economics in the Context of Globalization
by Dr. Aurel Piturca, University of Craiova, Romania
One of the most complex and contradictory problems the humanity is confronted with nowadays is undoubtedly the globalization.
The humanity has never been confronted with such a process, on which its existence and its present and especially its future evolution depend. Countries, nations, big or small societies, either rich or poor, democratic or not, are fully affected, depending on it. Our present world lives in an era in which it isn't about the individual's existence, but about the globalization in which the difference between cultures, different types of living and thinking, economies and governments and even national borders begins to fade. International trading is mostly drived by the globalization phenomenon.
Individuals, social groups, including nations and peoples have different and contradictory views regarding the globalization. Some of them are suspicious, hostile and even fearful, blaming the globalization for all the social, economic and political flaws and unfulfillments. The increase of the economic gaps and economic inequalities between the states, the depreciation of life quality and standards, the loosing of cultural, political identity, the unemployment explosion, and the agresitivity in international relations, have all their determination in globalization.
Others are regarding the globalization as a process with positive influences and causes, as the only way to assure the increase of social life standards, to narrow the economic levels of development between countries and peoples, to bring democracy in political and international life, to rehabilitate the environment.
Disregarding the pro and cons, the globalization is a reality that can not be ignored, avoided or rejected, because its effects are already present. Economy is having a more profound international feature, becoming more integrated and interdependent. It has included all the components of the economic life, the capital, the market, the production, the organization, the sale.
The capital globalization leads to the extension of multinational and transnational societies. Even the international trade is confronted with the same globalization phenomenon.
The globalization is also present in the production process, determining new ways of reaction of the producers. The national borders disappear, the capital owners including the most efficient markets for placing it where the hand working is very cheap and there are sale possibilities. Nowadays at the realization of a final product a whole network of institutions and productive elements from different places are participating.
"A global motor car is built of components parts derived from at least 16 countries."
The production globalization has its determination in the technological development, in the foreign capital investments and obviously in profit.
The phenomenon of production globalization has also determined the trade globalization. The international trade, as an aspect of global integration is the result of the decreasing of the customs taxes at which the specialized United Nations institutions had an important contribution, such as the National Organization of Trading, (the former G.A.T.T.), strategies imposed by some international financial institutions, by the development of transports and communications. A consequence of trade globalization is its diversity and especially the imposing of the trade as services, these increasing faster than the one with industrial goods that constituted its base in old times.
The globalization imposes new trends and directions in the social life evolution. At the international economy level the cooperation and regional integration of production, sale, capital placing is growing. The economic, cultural and political interdependence between the states is increasing. Nobody can evolve alone or isolated from the international community, and the cooperation became the only reliable solution of existence and evolution. Nowadays it is speaking more and more about a "new economy" or about the third industrial revolution. In the specialization fields also new international economy models developed. Two of such types of international models are proposed by the researchers Paul Hirst and Grahame Thompson in their work The globalization under question mark; a first type is that of a global economy, in which the national economies are subsystems of the international economy. The basis of such a type of economy is given by transnational companies, the foreign capital, the international management, places that have nothing in common with the national pattern, but with the location where big and sure profits are obtained. Such a type of economy regarded as an ideal one has nothing in common with the national politics.
The second pattern is the inter-national economy, formed of open national economies. In this type of economy "the main actors are national economies. The trade and the institutions contribute to the intensification of the relations among different national economies. Such a process involves the integration of a bigger and bigger number of nations and economic factors in international relations based on the market."
The international economy is characterized by the distinction, the separation between internal and international politics, the preservation of the national character of multinational companies and their obedience to the origin country's laws.
The politics has also been included in globalization. The politics allow us to explain the international processes and phenomena, including the economic ones. It is true that the politics, especially its power, acquired a very powerful preponderance nowadays regarding the other factors of the social life.
Its action is present both on a national as well as on an international plan, being an impelling element of the social progress or contrariwise a braking factor, of delaying the changes, the social transformations and innovations.
The political decisions establish, orientate, and manage the national and international politics, engraving it a certain goal and finality. The globalization phenomenon is dependent on politics, power and its decisions.
The political dimension of the globalization is related with the problem of the national state and the national sovereignty.
The globalization of the economy brought prejudices to the politics, the national politics and the national state. The last one is submitted to a permanent process of desintegration, the transnational societies being the main factor of desintegration. They are more powerful, more influent even than some powerful national states. The capital free movement generated by globalization determined that this can no longer be related with the national element, its location being where the economic advantage is created. In such conditions the state-nation adapts itself the political and economical attitude dependind on its capital, its promoting politics. Its political and economical influence decreases, it is no longer an effective economic manager, and as Zygmunt Bauman says" all three feet of the sovereignty were convulsed. Obviously the braking of the economic foot was decisive"
The transnational companies and international capital markets have released the economic from politics restraints.
Many authors keep considering that the state-nation became a local authority of the global system, because they no longer decisively influence the economical politics. In many situations it is limited to assure the infrastructure, the communication system, and the public constitutions, necessary to social-economic activities.
The modern system of communications, the Internet also undermined the state authority especially in the informational field. The authority deficit in the political plan of the state-nation is also displayed in the democracy field. These are fading as the state is less capable of maintaining and promoting the classical values, because the government must often be based on "capital voice" instead of the people's voice.
In their turn, the international institutions system also deepens the democracy and sovereignty deficit.
The national parliaments' actions are limited by the international politics. These are included in the political-juridical super national systems, which makes the national parliaments loose their importance and authority.
In these conditions more and more political phenomena and processes especially economical processes are separated from the state's authority "Politics becomes more and more polycentric, the states representing a single level from a complex system of overlaps and often of concurrence among government agents" .
Nowadays, it is more and more questioned which is going to be the role of the national state, which are going to be its prerogatives, is it going to be capable of accomplishing its role of protecting the citizens.
In the globalization conditions the economics will be the one that will dictate the society's rules and not vice versa. Nowadays two factors are really important: the capital and transnational societies, none of them being able to be submitted to a public government, because these may migrate anywhere and its force can undermine the state. In this situation, the state-nation acquires a secondary role because no government is capable of opposing the force of the international capital.
An important factor that undermines the national state authority is the international financial institutions. Thus the most adequate example is The International Monetary Found that provides founds only in the situation in which the state adopts politics restricted by the reduction of the budgetary deficit, the adjustment of taxes, and the growth of the interests' rate, which seriously affects the states' sovereignty, their general politics, their capacity to conduct the economy and the social life.
Even if the state is no longer in control like in the classical time, it is still a fundamental institution in the society, the one that elaborates and carries into effect the general politics, continues to make all the decisions regarding the wallfare of its nation.
And even so, the globalization must not be regarded only from the perspective of its negative effects and mostly they must not be exaggerated. The globalization invites the states to collaborate, to cooperate. The most important example is The European Union, where the states have voluntarily accepted to waive a part of their sovereignty and to cooperate on an economical and political plan. The disappearance of the national borders from the Schengen space, the imposal of the EURO unique coin, the commercial agreements; their own political institutions are examples of political and economical regional globalization.
The economic prosperity, the increase of democracy, both within the member states and at the communitarian level, are the most powerful argument of regional globalization of which The European Union represents and obviously an example to be followed.
Biography:
- Ion Bari, The Globalization and the Global Problems, Economical Editor, Bucuresti, 2001, p.25
- Paul Hirst, Grahame Thomson, The Globalization under question, Three Editor, 2002, p.25
- Bauman Zygmunt, , The Globalization and its social effects, Antet Editor, p.62
- Paul Hirst, Graham Thompson, Op. cit., p.317
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