Globalization and the Nation State PDF

# Globalization and the Nation State ## The Demise of the Nation State - Doomsayers have been predicting the end of the nation state for a considerable amount of time. - Globalization has been identified as a serious threat to the nation state. ### Key Questions - Is the nation state under threa...

# Globalization and the Nation State ## The Demise of the Nation State - Doomsayers have been predicting the end of the nation state for a considerable amount of time. - Globalization has been identified as a serious threat to the nation state. ### Key Questions - Is the nation state under threat? - What is threatening the position of the nation state? - Can we find evidence of a change in the position of the nation state? - Can we measure this phenomenon? ## Key Controversies (Ravenhill 2017) - The extent to which globalization may be diminishing the autonomy and sovereignty of the nation state. - Is globalization pushing global political convergence and homogenization? - Can we identify a globalization of political problems (issues that require a global response)? - The extent to which there has been a globalization of political solutions along with the emergence of dedicated global institutions. - The emergence of “best practice” solutions to problems in the form of a transfer of ideas between countries. - Globalization as a means of promoting a global polity. ## The Globalization of Politics and the Politics of Globalization - **Need to distinguish between the two:** - **The globalization of politics** refers to the displacement of national governments by IOs, etc. - **The politics of globalization** refers to the political forces which are driving globalization (neo-liberalism). ## Globalization and the Nation State - **The hyperglobalization thesis:** - State retrenchment is inevitable due to the increased mobility of capital. - Process pits economy against economy. - Direct competition for footloose capital. - Requires ongoing conditions to maintain the attraction of the country. - Hyperglobalists often predict a race to the bottom. - Policy implications are deregulation, and weakening state intervention. ### Assumptions of the Hyperglobalization Thesis - Capital invests where it can secure the greatest net return. It has perfect information to achieve this. - Markets for goods and services are fully integrated, therefore national economies must prove themselves internationally competitive if they are to sustain their economic growth. - Capital enjoys perfect mobility and the cost of exit is zero. - Capital will secure the greatest return on investment if labour costs are kept low. - The welfare state represents lost capital to mobile asset holders. It has no positive externality. ### The Hyperglobalization Thesis - Predicts a convergence among states. - One variety of capitalism will triumph. - A key question that has arisen in relation to globalization is whether there has been a displacement of political capacities and responsibilities from the national level to the global level through the development of international institutions such as the World Bank, and the IMF. - **Anglo-US model** ### Challenges to the Hyperglobalization Thesis - Hall and Soskice (2001) challenge the idea of convergence to a single model of capitalism. - States react in different ways to globalization. - Many authors point to the ongoing power of nation states. - What impact have the global financial crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic had on this debate? - **Make three points on this question.** ### Summary: State and Globalization - **Economic Forces** - The State and Economic Policy - The State-Firm Relationship - The Growth of International Organisations - **Social Factors** - Resurgent nationalism ### Bisley (2007: 63) State Decline - State autonomy has been undermined because global forces impose punishingly high costs on states that deviate from the basic neo-liberal model. - In key sectors the state no longer has the power and authority to alter outcomes. - The state lacks the resources and structures to resolve the kinds of security and social problems it had in the past. ### Assessing the Evidence – Neo-liberal opinion on hyperglobalization - Not a great deal of evidence to suggest that STATE retrenchment is occurring. - The hyperglobalization thesis lacks substantive evidence. - No evidence of systematic convergence. - Globalization could be going into reverse. ### Tragedy of the Commons - Moral tale which argues that there is a major disparity between the need for and the supply of institutions of global governance. - Easy to point to global problems, less straightforward to find co-ordinated global responses. - Not really evidence of the decline of the nation state. - It is true that many new problems have emerged which require a global response but these are new problems. The capacity of the nation state to deal with existing issue may not have diminished. - Globalization may in fact be exacerbating the whole problem by causing states to focus on the economic sphere. ### Globalization and the Nation State - **Is globalization imposing constraints on the capacity of the nation state?** - **Yes or No** - **Make four points to support your point of view.** - **In what areas might you be able to measure/identify the phenomenon of nation state retrenchment?** ### References - Bisley, N., (2007) *Rethinking Globalization*, UK: Palgrave Macmillan - Goodhart, M., (2001) ‘Democracy, Globalization, and the Problem of the State', Polity, Vol. 33, No. 4. - O'Keohane, R and Nye, J.S., (2000) ‘Globalization: What's New, What's Not (And So What)' Foreign Policy. - Ravenhill, J., (2005) *Global Political Economy*, Oxford: Oxford University Press - Rodrik, D., (1997) ‘Sense and Nonsense in the Globalization Debate', Foreign Policy. - Sachs, J., (1998) ‘International Economies: Unlocking the Mysteries of Globalization' Foreign Policy. - Waters, M., (2001) *Globalization*, London: Routledge. - Wolf, M., (2001) ‘Will the Nation State Survive Globalization', Foreign Affairs.