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3 Setting the Stage Foundations Globalization Objectives This chapter explains the foundations of the global economic, political, and cultural systems. It will help you analyze the diffusion of the nation-state from the understand the emergence of global culture related...

3 Setting the Stage Foundations Globalization Objectives This chapter explains the foundations of the global economic, political, and cultural systems. It will help you analyze the diffusion of the nation-state from the understand the emergence of global culture related Treaty of Westphalia to the wave of contemporary to sovereignty, nationhood, human rights, constitu- nation-state building; tionalism, liberalism, and rationality; evaluate constitutions in relation to their confor- analyze the course of economic globalization from mity to global ideals of state structure, function, and simple patterns of trade to early interdependence in the rights of citizens; production and markets; assess the role of colonialism in shaping a evaluate the relationship between political and eco- global political and economic hierarchy of nomic liberalization; societies; identify the influence of convergence on specific evaluate the long-term impacts of colonialism state forms and values in constitution; and and the Cold War on economic and political assess early attempts of global governance related development; to the global system of states. G lobalization is the integration and interdepen- dence among people across societies. In early stages of contact among societies, resources, prod- influence of political and economic liberalization, establishment of colonies, homogenization of consti- tutions, and rationalization of institutional structures ucts, and ideas were exchanged through trade and created conditions that facilitated interdependence travel, but this did not constitute globalization. For and integration across societies, setting the stage for example, cultural diffusion occurred regularly along globalization. Even though the global system of the Silk Road as societies adopted material items and states is one system among many systems, it is the religious beliefs of other societies. This in itself is not foundation of globalization. It was based on the globalization because the internal systems of one simple ideas of nation and sovereignty. As the system society were not dependent on the other, even though of nation-states came to blanket the world, the struc- they were related. In contrast, the decline of religious tural homogeneity of states, democratic ideals and authority and assertions of national sovereignty, the various rights reflected in their constitutions, the 60  CHAPTER 3: Setting the Stage——61 necessity and capacity of capitalism for expansion, for all of humankind faded; nationalism—the and the diffusion of ideas of liberalization, rational- right of a group with a common heritage to gov- ization, and human rights integrated the world more ern itself—ascended. and more tightly. The modern state and system of global gover- Although theorists of globalization differ on nance arose from the rubble of these wars. By 1648, when globalization as a distinct process began, as most European princes and kings were bankrupt by discussed in the first and second chapters in detail, the expense of war. Many had already signed trea- the foundations of economic and political global- ties with one another. They met in the Westphalia ization as presented in this chapter are important in region of Germany to broker a peace. As a conse- understanding all of the dimensions and how the quence of the Treaty (or Treaties) of Westphalia, variety of theories apply to understanding the cur- secular political power was stripped from religious rent state of the globe. authorities. The Hapsburg and Roman Empires were diminished, and power was decentralized to ruling or newly elected monarchs. Rather than the Waves of Nationhood empire dictating the official religion of a territory, monarchies gained control over religion within The Germinal Phase: The Treaty of their borders. France and Sweden gained disputed Westphalia and the Principle of territories. Religious membership became voluntary for most individuals, but state membership became Sovereignty mandatory. Trade and commercial activities usurped A community is a group of people who have power from religious authority and to some extent something in common. Traditionally, that has been also from the crown. Religious and political free- a land that they share, from which they derive sus- doms from empire were established, not for indi- tenance and a common set of values and rules that viduals, but for nations. In short, nations gained arose as they figured out how they would share the sovereignty. There was no longer any higher power land and its resources to ensure their survival. As on earth. the interactions among small communities increased, The Treaty of Westphalia gave shape to an their interdependence did as well. This enlarged association of states, each of which claimed sover- their sense of community and from this grew the eignty within its political boundaries and legiti- concept of a nation. Community remains the basis macy based on the nation within. Sovereignty of a nation, a people who feel they share a common over a politically defined territory and the citizens identity and belong together (Weber 1921/1978, within remains the defining characteristic of the 395–398). The idea of nation developed gradually modern nation-state (Mann 2003, 137). The as the way of identifying an “us.” Westphalia system of states established the fol- In some respects, nations and states grew out lowing principles, the foundation of global gover- of warfare. Europe experienced near continual nance of the time. warfare, from the Hundred Years War between France and Britain in the 14th century to the States were all free and equal. Thirty Years War that engulfed all of Europe in There was no temporal authority higher than the the 17th. These were a series of religious and state. political wars that devastated Europe for centu- States had ultimate authority over the conduct of ries. Weakened by its own corruption, the Holy their internal and external affairs. Roman Empire disintegrated as the patchwork The capacity to exercise rule over a territory of princely dominions in Europe fought against bestowed the right to rule—might makes right. Whoever gained or seized power had authority to the empire and one another for sovereignty, ter- act as the head of state and enter into agreements on ritory, and freedom. Through these wars, the behalf of the people, regardless of their constitu- nation became the protector of its people against tional standing. the Empire and other nations. National identity How a state maintained its power did not reflect became a locus of individual identity. As the on the state’s legitimacy in the view of the world wars raged, the idea of empire—one rule or ruler community. 62——Globalization The activity of a state outside of its own boundaries number of cases the Japanese, occupied or colonized and the treatment of individuals who were not citi- nearly every bit of land on the globe. Whether colonial- zens were not expected to conform to the same ism was primarily economically motivated to secure standards as a state’s activity within its borders or resources, markets, and labor, or politically motivated the treatment of its own citizens. to secure territory, subjects, and prestige, is an inter- Groups and other non-state actors had no right to esting debate. But regardless of which it was, colo- contest territorial borders (Held 2000, 162–163). nialism served both purposes well. After the treaty of Westphalia, the state model Although peace in Europe was not lasting, the was transposed onto colonized lands. European Treaty of Westphalia established the principle of states claimed land on other continents, drawing state sovereignty and the basis of global governance boundaries to mark their territory and exercise for centuries to come. Monarchs granted themselves dominion. During the first wave of colonization (the and one another the authority to speak for, make Age of Exploration) French, English, Spanish, and commitments for, and sign treaties on behalf of the Portuguese settlers migrated in large numbers, pri- people they claimed to represent. In return, they marily to the Americas. In the Americas, the British obligated themselves to care for the common good, treated North American indigenous populations as protecting people’s security, economy, and other other sovereign states. Treaties were used to justify interests. States granted themselves a monopoly on and legitimize land grabs from Native Americans. the use of violence within their borders, and the England negotiated treaties with Native Americans, right to use violence in protection of their people. although the treaties never granted equal benefits. Without the power to compel people to act, states The North American colonies and settlers pros- could not make promises on the international stage. pered, setting up a plantation system based on slave To facilitate international relations and guarantee labor in the South of North America and small sovereignty, whoever controlled power within a farms and industries in the North. territory—regardless of how it was acquired—was South and Central America, colonized primarily by recognized as the head of state. The state assumed Spain, were also settler colonies, used primarily for an anthropomorphic character, as the primary actor their mineral and agricultural wealth. Rather than on domestic and inter­national fronts, providing con- being isolated on reservations, indigenous populations straints and opportunities for other, sub-state actors, were vital, although disempowered, actors in the new and one another. economies and polities. The Latin American colonies Nations invented state sovereignty to bring peace and southern colonies of North America were similar to Europe. Ironically, the treaty presented the first in critical ways. As in the Southern plantation system, challenge to sovereignty as well. Recognition as a rich landowners and landlords, usually colonists, sovereign depends on recognition by other sover- maintained large landholdings using slave labor and eigns. This always comes with conditions that limit poor tenant farmers. Also like the Southern United sovereignty at the same time that it grants it. Minimally, States, much of the agricultural product was for “states are required to control their territory and be export and benefitted a small segment of the popula- willing to participate in a system of international tion. After independence, this pattern of colonialism law” (Donnelley 2007, 250). This is the foundation on both continents gave way to landed aristocracy of global governance and culture. and the extreme inequality that persists today. The distance between Europe and the Americas Expanding the System of States limited the degree to which the Americas were suit- able as colonies. Separated from Europe by oceans, System to the Americas American colonists developed a life of their own and Colonialism is the economic, political, and social eventual independence in the late 18th and early to domination of the people within a territory by mid-19th centuries. This was the second wave of another country. The mechanical revolution in Europe nation-state building. Independence for the colonists gave European states a competitive advantage to in the United States led to a democratic republic, a reach out and conquer people on other continents. At system of checks and balances among branches of one time or another, Europeans, and in a more limited government, and federal and state governments  CHAPTER 3: Setting the Stage——63 based on a constitution that has proved remark- Ethiopia, one of the world’s oldest nations, was ably resilient for well over two hundred years. In never colonized. Iran, Japan, and parts of China South and Central America, autocracy and oligarchy are the only other countries outside of Europe who replaced colonial governments. In most Latin can make that claim. Liberia, colonized by free American countries, democracy did not stabilize— black Americans in 1822, was established as a often hampered by external interference—until rela- republic in 1847. Ethiopia and Liberia were the tively recently, in the 1980s and 1990s. only independent nations in Africa at the turn of Colonization of Asia also began during this the 19th century. period, first with Russian incursions in the 16th With few exceptions, such as Liberia and century and Portuguese incursions in the 17th, South Africa, the African and Asian colonies were followed by the Dutch, British, and French. The not settler colonies. Relatively small contingents early colonization was very limited. Unlike their of administrators from the colonizing country efforts in the Americas, European posts in Asia were ran government and commercial enterprises, means of facilitating and controlling trade, and were often with the help of one faction of the indige- concentrated along the coasts. The Dutch East India nous population. As in South America, indige- Company, British East India Company, and French nous populations went to work for the benefit of East India Company competed for control of the the colonial powers. Only small contingents lucrative trade in Asian exotics, such as spices, silks, received educations and experience in business tea, porcelain, gems, and ivory. They were effectively and government. Critical infrastructure for a the colonizers and administrators of their countries’ developing society, such as transportation, com- colonies. The situation was similar, but more das- munication, education, and sanitation was built tardly, in Africa. Europeans interest was primarily in to support the transfer of raw materials out of establishing trading posts and routes; unfortunately, Africa, not to maintain a functioning society. it was primarily for slave trade. Even India, which had a relatively large British Aside from a few colonies in Africa in the 17th and administration,1 could not be considered a settler 18th centuries, most notably the Dutch and then colony, as most of the administrative and military British in Cape Town and the Portuguese in Angola, support rotated through India, few settling and the real colonization of Africa was not until the 1870s, building a new life there. coinciding with the colonial push inland into Asian This was strategic for the colonial powers and countries. As the North and South American colonies dysfunctional for indigenous peoples. Often, one gained independence and industrialization created a cultural group, a numerical minority, was chosen pressing need for resources and markets, competition for the higher status positions not filled by colo- among Europeans for territory in Africa and Asia— nists. They served in the bureaucracy and reaped continents of diverse cultures, but few modern state small share of the profits of colonialism, which borders—was fierce. The French, English, Portuguese, represented considerable wealth in comparison to and Spanish were joined by Italian, Belgian, and other groups. This was the situation in Rwanda. Dutch powers, staking out territories and drawing Hutu and Tutsi were stripped of their traditional political borders across the continents, ignoring the livelihoods. The Tutsi, the smaller group numeri- ethnic and religious identities and geographic bound- cally, administered the interests of the Belgians; aries that provided the basis for nationhood through- they prospered and controlled most of the coun- out Europe. (The USSR did the same as it moved try’s wealth. This bred resentment among other through Central Asia and Eastern Europe in the 20th indigenous groups. Violence began even before century.) Most of the colonies enclosed diverse cul- the Belgians left Rwanda in 1962, but intensified tures within the same arbitrarily drawn borders. after independence and the Hutu rise to power. Borders united disparate groups, binding them into a The intransigent inequality and deep divide led common political territory and bisected cultural ultimately to decades of violence, thousands of groups, separating them into different political units. deaths, and the genocide of 1994, when over Border disputes remain today, pitting those who want three quarters of a million people were killed in a return to older, ethnically based areas against those just over three months. Similar playing of one who favor the colonial borders. ethnic group against another, giving one privilege 64——Globalization BOX 3.1 A Closer Look: Ethnic Map of West Africa The abundant ethic mix of Africa stands out in this map. Examine the borders of Nigeria, Ghana, and Cameroon, and you can see how ethnic borders were fractured. While the abundant diversity may prohibit mono-ethnic states, could borders have been drawn differently? This, in combination with unequal treatment of groups, resulted in conflict-ridden and tense political dynamics. Source: Library of Congress. over another, was common and left a legacy of adopted the Declaration on the Granting of ethnic divide and strife throughout Africa. Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples. In 1945, over 750 million people were living in This declares that “the subjection of peoples to alien colonial or occupied territories. This was about one subjugation, domination and exploitation constitutes third of the world’s population. Following WWII, a denial of fundamental human rights, is contrary to colonization in Africa and South East Asia was not the United Nations Charter, and is an impediment to sustainable. Europe’s and Japan’s energies were occu- the promotion of world peace and cooperation” (UN pied with rebuilding their countries. Furthermore, 1960). In 1962, the UN established the Special colonization violated the normative standards of the Committee on Decolonization, and the rate of decol- Universal Declaration of Human Rights. However, onization accelerated. independence did not follow immediately on the Independence movements, some peaceful and heels of the war. In 1960, the UN General Assembly many others violent, secured the independence of  CHAPTER 3: Setting the Stage——65 most of the colonies through the mid-1960s into Ethnic and religious uprisings among the coun- the 1970s. Left with environments ravaged by tries of the empire, which had been gradually colonialism, the education of most populations disengaging, led to their independence. The neglected, severe ethnic and religious tensions, an Balkan Wars and Russian and European incur- infrastructure based on the export of a variety of sions into the empire brought territorial losses agricultural crops and minerals, and weak or no and further loss of central control. Following democratic institutions, most colonies were WWI, the remainder of the Ottoman Empire col- unprepared for statehood or economic prosperity. lapsed and was divided as the spoils of war by Who could or would run the government and the Britain, France, and Russia. This exacerbated a industries? Who could lead the countries into the nationalistic fervor in Turkey that diffused to the 21st century? Unfortunately, these questions were Middle Eastern countries. answered by continuing patterns of domination Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, inspired by ideals of determined by the resource and strategic needs of sovereignty and democracy, led the Turkish war richer countries. for independence from 1919 to 1923. Although Colonization created a politico-economic sys- Turkey was, and is, Islamic, Ataturk modeled tem that encircled the globe but was based on Turkey after the secular European state, encour- forceful domination. It was a system founded aging Western-style education, dress, and other neither on normative grounds nor on anarchy ways of life. In other parts of the former empire, among equal and sovereign nation-states. It estab- such as Egypt and Iran, nationalistic fervor was lished a legacy that forms the basis of the global accelerated by foreign domination. Most other economy by positioning some countries as sources Middle Eastern countries remained under of resources, cheap labor, and markets. It left a European rule until mid-century. political legacy of weak governments run by oli- Diffusion of the nation-state form from West to garchies, monarchies, or dictators eager for the East stopped at the Chinese border. Although China rewards that resource wealth and strategic alli- nominally adopted the nation-state form in the ances can bring. early 20th century and a capitalist economy in the latter part of the 20th, the tradition of empire con- tinues. The Chinese state acts much like an emperor. Spreading the Nation-State East The government has a very active role in directing Nationalism spread from Europe to the economic life, controlling political life, and to a Ottoman Empire. Corruption of the sultanate somewhat lesser extent, it also controls religious and economic stagnation fueled nationalistic life. Japan did not adopt a state form until after movements. Monarchies with bureaucratic struc- World War II. Following its defeat, Japanese devel- tures, similar to those that had developed in opment was controlled by the West. Then, Japan Europe, evolved within the Ottoman areas of adopted the state form with a constitution that was Eastern and Central Europe. Greece declared largely a work of Western design and a Western independence in 1821, but in most of the empire, economic system. nationalism did not assert itself until the latter part of the19th and early 20th centuries, marking the beginning of a third wave of nation-state Early Waves of Economic building. The empire attempted to stave off rebel- Globalization lion by modernizing institutions, improving edu- cation, and introducing constitutional reforms to The Silk Road Into the Middle Ages grant more autonomy and rights to various popu- lations—modeling Western forms—but they were Economic systems produce and distribute the not enough to hold the empire together. Corrupt, goods and services people need for survival and incompetent, and ineffective rule had damaged to improve the quality of their lives. This has the authority of the sultanate beyond repair. always involved exchange among people within 66——Globalization and among societies. Trade can be important for only about two thirds of the population (Frank survival. If one person experiences drought and a 1998, 171, 126–127). neighbor experiences plenty, exchange may mean In the Middle Ages, trade expanded rapidly, the difference between life and death, providing and nations signed treaties of commerce to make the person in need has something to trade, money trade more secure. Military exploits expanded to buy what is needed, credit, or the ability to feudal territories and enriched aristocracies, but appeal to the other’s humanitarian impulses. the feudal economic system itself did not encour- Trade over national borders can improve the age or require globalization because feudal sys- quality of life by making goods available that are tems are self-sustaining economically. Serfs not produced domestically or are available at a worked the lands owned by the nobility and grew lower cost/higher quality. produce for their lords and for their own families. Trade among societies is ancient. The Silk Road Aristocrats increased their wealth by expanding encompassed nearly all the world known to those their territories and raising taxes on serfs and who traveled it. For close to 2,000 years, from townspeople. It was the unraveling of the feudal ancient times into the 16th century, it connected system and growth of capitalism that propelled Asia, the Middle East, and Europe first by land and economic globalization. Ever-increasing taxation later by land and sea. Trade was extensive, extend- of serfs, merchants, and artisans ultimately led ing into Africa as well. Some theorists date global- each to rebellion. Many serfs left the countryside ization to that era. Societies that traded along the for cities where they became wage laborers. Silk Road were not highly interdependent economi- Others bought or rented land to farm. At the same cally, but cultural diffusion was high. time, towns had grown in influence as merchants During this period, goods flowed primarily gained wealth, artisans organized into guilds, and from East to West. Asia—China and India in par- both protested the taxations imposed by aristoc- ticular—had developed export economies pro- racies. In some cases, new towns sprung up, inde- ducing large quantities of artisan goods. Textiles, pendent of any nobility and others aligned with ceramics, glass, mechanical clocks, paper, gun- the monarchy directly, eliminating the nobility as powder, compasses, and much more were eagerly a middle layer. Contractual labor began to replace sought by Europeans. Asia’s agricultural surplus obligatory, forced labor. Farm workers, now was also valuable to Europe. By some accounts, working for themselves rather than the aristoc- Asia was producing upward of three quarters of racy, brought excess produce to market. Money, the world’s gross national product (GNP), with rather than land, became the source of wealth. BOX 3.2 A Closer Look: Oil and Coffee The modern economy runs on oil. It is the most traded commodity. Many a modern person runs on coffee. “Wake- up products,” chocolate, coffee, and tea, became increasingly popular during industrialization. Coffee is now the sec- ond most traded commodity. The story of coffee on the world market is as intriguing as oil’s. It demonstrates how global forces create micro effects. In this case, how you can enjoy a cheap cup of coffee, but at the expense of an agricultural worker. In 2000, coffee prices fell, pushing hundreds of thousands of small farmers and agricultural workers in Latin America out of business. The entry of Vietnam into the coffee market is at the crux of the downfall. Although its coffee production had been increasing slowly though out the 1990s, Vietnamese coffee production tripled from 1995 to 2000. This flood of coffee dramatically lowered prices of coffee for the 50 countries whose economies depend on coffee exports. Thousands of agricultural workers in other coffee-growing countries were displaced, fill- ing refugee camps.  CHAPTER 3: Setting the Stage——67 Although the World Bank has been accused of causing the drop in prices by offering loans for coffee produc- tion in Vietnam, there were other forces at work. State loans for coffee preceded the World Bank’s. International financial markets determined coffee prices rather than allowing them to be regulated by the Association of Coffee Producing Countries (ACPC). Competition by multinational corporations to get cheap coffee to market resulted in expansion of low-grade coffee cultivation. Farmers overproduced and oversold to pay off their debt. The Vietnamese government endorsed the expansion of deregulation and commercialization in the industry (Greenfield 2004). Expansion of Mercantile Capitalism processes. New ways of generating profit by reducing costs became possible. There are many strategies and Although many ancient and medieval traders got techniques to reduce production costs: acquire very rich, the advent of capitalism changed the resources as cheaply as possible, find cheap labor, and nature of trade and the nature of globalization. In a locate where taxes are low and laws lax. The search capitalist system, it is the obligation of a corporation for greater profits sent corporations all over the world. to make a profit for shareholders. Striving to maxi- As they expanded, the global capitalist system mize profit is more than an objective; it is an ethic. expanded with them. It expanded over more territory Profit accumulation is the goal of every phase of a and more phases of the economic system—acquiring capitalist enterprise. The first multinational corpora- resources, buying labor, constructing factories, trans- tions were the Dutch and British East India porting goods, trade, and securing investment capital. Companies. In 1600, the British East India Company The expansion and integration of economies into a formed from a coalition of smaller British spice trad- global capitalist economy took centuries, occurring in ers. Their intent was to establish a monopoly and waves, sometimes increasing in intensity of interaction drive the Dutch—who had fought the Portuguese and integration and decreasing at other times. for the spice trade—out of business. The Dutch responded by forming the Dutch East India Company two years later. It was the first company to issue The Colonial Wave: Planting the Seed of stock. Its charter gave it a monopoly and the capac- ity to coin money, establish colonies, and generally the Global Economy, 1500s to 1860s do what was needed to maximize profit, including Until the 18th century, every country was pretty wage war. Trade routes became militarized. The much the same: poor and agrarian (Blinder 2006). British East India Company followed suit, acquiring Cultural and economic factors coalesced to make the same powers and a very privileged position in the colonial period a turning point. With respect to the British economy. The Dutch and British East the economy, the capitalist economy began its India Companies are examples of merchant capital- global expansion in this era. With respect to culture, ism. The capitalist dimension of their enterprises, the era spread both Enlightenment ideals and ratio- aside from a few factories, was limited to trade. The nal thought. Societies that developed rationalized Atlantic, the Mediterranean, and the Indian Ocean social structures, including fleets of ships (helped connected in a complex web of commodity trading along with compass technology of the Chinese), and currency flows financed by merchants and strong militaries (helped along by the gunpowder bankers and under the protection of their states. invented by the Chinese), and state bureaucracies to The quest for new forms of profit was critical to the support them were more able to explore and con- expansion of capitalism. With extensive colonization, quer territories throughout large swaths of the industrialization, and urbanization, the quest for globe. They found new and fertile lands to settle, profit could be applied more extensively in economic plentiful resources, cheap labor, and new markets. 68——Globalization The legacy of colonial systems has been long market” (Wells 1920/1956, 804). Brazil expanded lived, influencing economic development and the trade, becoming Britain’s third largest trading part- position of societies in the global economy to this ner and the largest in the Americas. Its vast resources day. European immigrants with varying motivations were undoubtedly a factor, but more important was rushed to populate and settle the colonies in the the strength of the Brazilian state, which invested Americas, some to escape their nation and some in heavily in building rail transport and attracting for- the name of it. The sparse population, richness of eign investment (Topik 2005, 15). Brazil dominated resources, and clemency of weather made these two of the hottest commodities of the era, supplying lands amenable as settler colonies. Patterns of settle- 90% of rubber and half of the world’s coffee (24). ments varied. South America and the Caribbean This was the golden age of Latin America. were suitable for large-scale production of cash Unfortunately, some Latin American societies crops. Plantation systems developed using African became little more than indirect colonies, too reliant slaves. This established land inequality well above on European trade. the world norms and is reflected in high levels Despite successes, the legacy of colonial oligar- inequality today. Similar dynamics, stemming from chy and slavery in Brazil is at least in part respon- the plantation system, slavery, and historic inequali- sible for the prolonged impoverishment of parts of ties, have persisted in the southern states of the the population and the persistence of great inequal- United States. The northern states, with conditions ity. The colonial legacy of land inequality and sub- not as favorable to producing large cash crops via jugation of African and indigenous populations cheap indigenous or slave labor, adopted an agricul- impeded the progress of other Latin American soci- tural system of small landowners and relied on more eties, as well as the U.S. South. Sixteen of the 20 favorable distributions of land to attract more immi- most unequal land distributions are Latin American gration. It remains more equal today. countries. These early and extraordinary amounts Maintaining the Americas as colonies was diffi- of land inequalities have had a lasting legacy in the cult. Distance was one problem; another arose distribution of non-land assets as well. Public because they were primarily settler colonies, and investment in education, for example, runs counter settlers—particularly in the British colonies of to the interests of land-owning elites. It was in their North America—were infused with ideas of the interest to oppose, not facilitate expansion of public rights of man. The American colonies achieved education (Frankema 2006, 8, 15–18). This main- political independence in the late 18th century and tains power but impedes further development. This first decades of the 19th. By then, the Industrial also is similar to the U.S. Southern plantation states. Revolution was well underway. As industrialization Independence in the Americas and the need for increased, European populations grew, rivalry materials and markets sent Europeans on land grabs among European nations intensified, and the in Africa and Asia. One quarter of the land on earth demand for food and greater variety of raw materi- was distributed or redistributed among the European als reached unprecedented levels very quickly (Wells powers between 1876 and 1915. In Africa, as in 1920/1956, 804). Demand, along with improve- North America, a variety of patterns of colonization ments in transportation and the emergence of inter­ emerged. Eastern and southern African countries— national finance capital, doubled international trade Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, from 1870 and 1890, despite adoption of protec- and South Africa—were suitable for cash crops and tionist policies by many European nations (Topik plantations. They developed high levels of land 2005, 3–4). inequality. They remain very unequal. Central and Europe turned to the Americas to feed its demand. West Africa, Uganda, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Togo, The Americas helped by supplying agricultural and and Burkina Faso had lower than average land other exports. Europe’s need made the plantations inequality. This region remains relatively equal particularly valuable and further solidified the (Frankema 2010, 427). Most of Northern Africa power of familial and multinational oligarchies. measured high in land inequality during colonialism “The republics of South America, particularly the and remains unequal (Frankema 2006, 9). Argentine Republic began to feel in their cattle trade However, much of Africa, in contrast to North and and coffee growing, the nearness of the European South America, did not present conditions attractive  CHAPTER 3: Setting the Stage——69 for settlers, large plantations, and cash crops. But development. First among them to develop were the there was still money to be made in these colonies. former Japanese colonies of South Korea and Taiwan, and the former British colonies of Hong In these areas colonists did not intervene directly Kong and Singapore. These Asian societies are now into the production process but concentrated their among the most equal societies, known for having rent seeking [seeking money through exploitation distributed the benefits of growth among classes. or manipulation rather than by adding any value by What explains their success? Family structure your own work] efforts on collecting taxes, engag- (extended), work values (hard), and sense of purpose ing in the trade and exploitation of natural resource. (persistence) were critical. But so was their colonial (Frankema 2006, 17) experience with Japan. In cases such as Taiwan, land redistribution under Japanese rule dismantled the The elite class did not develop in the agricultural power of landed elites. As a whole, the Asian sector with large powerful landowners. It developed regions—East, South, and Southeast—have land in the urban institutional bureaucracy, through seiz- inequality averages well below American and African ing political power to tax and control trade in averages. The maximum degree of land inequality in resources. The urban class grew wealthy at the East Asia is well below the minimum of those expense of the rural. regions. While Japanese colonialism was extraordi- In these cases, the bureaucratic apparatus of admin- narily cruel, it brought benefits of modernization, istration generated inequality. Small groups were paid such as schools, railroads, and ports, to its colonies well to manage enterprises and maintain a military along with the tyranny (Landes 1999, 437, see foot- presence for the colonizing country. They became an note 23 also). The British also built infrastructure, extremely wealthy and powerful elite class. Often, eth- and those colonies were in better position, through nic, religious, or tribal lines were exploited by coloniz- education and administrative training, to expand ers to divide indigenous populations, one group being and maintain the infrastructure, rather than wear it chosen to manage the colony and the other(s) to work to ruin (434, 438). Economic reforms instituted after it. This also explains the somewhat better fate of colo- WWII, and the geopolitical position of Asian societ- nies that were plantations than those that were rent- ies during the Cold War bore significantly on their seeking bureaucracies. Where elites depended on growth. These are discussed later in the chapter. control of the bureaucracy for wealth and power, they Interestingly, colonialism accomplished a reversal have been less willing to give up control and are willing of fortunes among lands colonized by Europeans. to bear the costs of violent oppression and armed con- Many of the wealthier territories that were colonized flict to maintain their power. Their income derives are among the poorest today, whereas those that were exclusively from coercive political power (Frankema poorer at the time of colonization are now wealthier. 2006, 16). We are witness to this legacy in the extreme Indonesia, Brazil, Mexico, and India were all wealthier oppression and violent ethnic conflict in Africa today. than the United States in 1700. By 1820, the United In Asian colonies, Europeans were joined in States had surpassed them in wealth (Acemoglu, imperialism by Russia, Japan, and the United States. Johnson, and Robinson 2002, 1256). The reversal of However, on independence, some achieved dra- fortune thesis is related to the theory of land distribu- matic success in little time. The Asian Tigers sur- tion. A country’s current prosperity reflects the types passed colonies of Latin America and Africa in of institutions established during colonization. BOX 3.3 Check It Out Yourself: Colonization, Independence, and GNP For a quick idea of how colonization played a role in establishing a baseline for a country’s economic health, analyze the relationship between colonization and GNP. Graph the countries of Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin and South America by date of their independence and their GNP. What does your graph look like? The correlation will not be perfect, but does it appear that more recent dates of independence are associated with lower GNP? What about the outliers? Discovering the ways that outliers have achieved growth may shed light on reducing poverty in the poorest countries. 70——Globalization Societies that were wealthier and more densely A second chance for enrichment emerged follow- populated had large populations that supplied ing WWII, as industrialization moved from developed labor for agriculture and mining. They could also to developing societies. A third opportunity arose be taxed. These societies developed sophisticated following the Cold War for those countries able to institutions that concentrated power and wealth. attract and develop service industries. The Asian European settlers, rather than disturb the system, appropriated it and used it to enrich themselves. Tigers, along with a few other South and East Asian This left a legacy in which only a small elite had societies such as Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia, property rights. This is similar to the legacy of the were able to seize service opportunities as well. plantation system and mining in South America Land distribution and institutional policies are and Africa. only part of the story. The factors that lead to suc- Where societies were less densely populated, many cess for former colonies are complex and involve colonizers settled. In these cases, property rights economic, cultural, and political dynamics, along were spread through the society. Institutions that with population growth and density, international protected the property rights of individuals encour- relations, protectionism, international aid, geo- aged entrepreneurship and investment. Policies that granted few rights for most of the population dis- graphic location, access to trade, and human and couraged them. They are both essential for indus- natural resources. Analyzing the combinations that trialization; the first significant opportunity for result in prosperity is critical in determining the societies to enrich themselves. (Acemoglu et al. most promising paths for globalization. We’ll 2002, 1235–1236, 1279) explore some of those in the chapters that follow. BOX 3.4 A Closer Look: Kennedy at the Berlin Wall On June 26, 1963, President John F. Kennedy delivered a speech that electrified an adoring crowd gathered in the shadow of the Berlin Wall. As he paid tribute to the spirit of Berliners and to their quest for freedom, the crowd roared with approval on hearing the president’s dramatic pronouncement, “Ich bin ein Berliner” (I am a Berliner). The Berlin Wall came down on November 9, 1989, a fitting marker for the end of the Cold War. Neo-Colonialism and Cold War were able to maintain their wealth and position by building powerful militaries. In return for promise Strategic Advantage of alliance, governments received loans with which they build strong militaries to maintain their oligar- As colonization was winding down, the Cold War chy and lavish lifestyles, exacerbating poverty and was heating up. Competition between the United inequality within many countries, such as Pakistan, States, the USSR, and their allies shaped global geo- Indonesia, South Africa, Zaire (now Democratic politics and economics through the making and Republic of the Congo), Chile, Argentina, and so on. breaking of strategic alliances. Decolonization pitted The benefits for the Soviet Union and United the United States against the USSR in a contest for States ranged from locations for military bases and the hearts, minds, and allegiance of the newly inde- warheads, to access to valuable raw materials and pendent nations. In Latin America and in countries markets for manufactured goods, and allegiance of a that had avoided becoming colonies, such as China, capitalist or socialist economy. Among the most Iran, Ethiopia, and Afghanistan, the Cold War polar- traded goods were arms. The global powers made ized efforts at political, economic, and social change money by selling dictators arms with which they built (Painter 2007, 3). In exchange for an alliance with strong militaries to protect themselves from rebellion. one of the superpowers, the leaders of a nation For decades, the main suppliers of arms to the devel- could expect to reap economic and political benefit. oping countries have included the permanent mem- For the leaders of states, the benefits included bers of the UN Security Council, Russia (USSR #1), financial favor and military support. Many dictators the United States (#2), the United Kingdom (#3), grew wealthy at the expense of their countries and France (#4), and China (#7) (SIPRI 2010).  CHAPTER 3: Setting the Stage——71 Economies throughout South America, Southeast go to countries where significant international capi- Asia, Latin America, and Africa grew skewed to the talist interest was at stake or that were nudging export of primary resources and low value-added toward political alliance with the United States manufacturing and the import of many foods and (Thacker 1999, 46–47). Through these means, the higher cost manufactured goods. International Cold War was responsible for much of the onerous financial activity, including direct loans from the debt accumulated by developing nations (Stiglitz Soviet Union, Cuba, the United States, other devel- 2006). Third World debt grew to enormous propor- oped nations, and international financial organiza- tions paying for ill-conceived and poorly executed tions, facilitated this. Although the World Bank and programs and enterprises, arms purchases, and out- IMF are declared politically neutral, loans tended to right cronyism. BOX 3.5 A Closer Look: Revolutionary Hero Augusto Cesar Sandino was a revolutionary who tried to throw the United States out of Nicaragua in the 1920s. His name and legacy was claimed 40 years later in 1961 by the Sandinista who fought the dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza DeBayle, a Cold War ally of the United States. Their revolution succeeded in 1979. Images of Sandino, such as this urban art, are plenti- ful in Nicaragua. Although called the “Cold” War, real wars were world enjoyed. The USSR used similar strategies to fought by proxy throughout the world. In countries their advantage. such as Nicaragua and El Salvador, the United States Occasionally, democratic leaders were deposed or and USSR supported revolutionary movements of the assassinated, elections overturned or rigged. Britain left (socialist or communist) as they tried to overturn and the United States, for example, toppled or assisted dictators of the right (capitalist) and counter-revolu- in toppling democratically elected governments such tionary movements of the right fought to overturn as those in Iran and Chile, in favor of dictators more dictators of the left. Western powers justified their friendly to the West. There are still some scholars who support of dictators by arguing that the stability sup- maintain that Pinochet of Chile, one of the cruelest plied by a dictator facilitated economic development dictators, paved the way toward progress. However, and that democratic institutions could be encouraged the atrocities through which it was accomplished and and built gradually. More important, however, was the the complicity of the superpowers and their allies strategic argument. The United States needed a coun- implicates high-income countries in his crimes against try to be anti-communist. Communism threatened the humanity, and others perpetrated against the people of power and access to cheap resources that the Western many low-income countries. 72——Globalization In cases such as Korea and Vietnam, competition one of the wealthiest by the 1970s. South Vietnam between the Soviet Union and the United States lost its war with North Vietnam and was brought took the form of civil war, north against south. under communist rule. Although still poor, Vietnam South Korea is now democratic and a separate instituted economic reforms in the 1990s, diversify- country from communist North Korea. South ing and liberalizing its economy with a flood of Korea, home of Hyundai, Samsung, and Daewoo, foreign investment. It is considered a “baby tiger,” was one of the original Asian Tigers, rising from one among a larger group of newly industrializing being one of the poorest countries after WWII to Southeast Asian nations. BOX 3.6 A Closer Look: Cold War Map NATO Other allies of the United States Warsaw Pact Socialist Countries aligned with the Soviet Union Other allies of the Soviet Union Non-aligned nations Communist guerillas Anti-communist guerillas Although many countries switched allegiance through the course of the Cold War, this map is a snapshot of the scope of the allies of the United States and USSR, the major domestic guerilla movements fighting against them, and the non-aligned movement. Source: Aivazovsky (2008). During the Cold War, many of the newly inde- the status of the super-power blocs or formed a sig- pendent states were held together, as in the colonial nificant counterweight to them. The attempts of the period, by military might and foreign support non-aligned movement to strengthen states from the rather than shared identity based on ideals or heri- 1960s through the end of the Cold War were, how- tage. The epidemic of failed and failing states and ever, early globalization effects. The original goal of the proliferation of new states since the end of the the non-aligned movement, to achieve universal Cold War highlight their fragility. human rights through sovereign states (despite some Recognizing the vulnerability of the new states of these being multi-ethnic, such as Yugoslavia and to the power plays of the Cold War, India, Egypt, India), has become mainstream, as Kofi Annan and Yugoslavia led a movement of non-aligned emphasized in a speech celebrating their partnering nations. While membership in the non-aligned with the UN (UNIS 2006). movement grew during the Cold War, many of the A 1985 CATO Institute publication called the member states were engaged in conflict with one U.S. government to task for its Cold War strategy by another, and others did align with one of the power invoking American’s self-image as a model of democ- blocs. The non-aligned movement never achieved racy for the world. While the Truman doctrine of  CHAPTER 3: Setting the Stage——73 1947 promised to protect and defend free people In each phase, the state system blanketed more fighting subjugation by communism—even against of humanity, and the world moved closer to inte- armed insurrection—the United States eventually gration as a global system of societies. Blanketing protected any non-communist regime, in Latin the globe with nation-state forms was arguably the America, Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Middle first achievement of political globalization. The East, regardless of how morally repugnant they were. number of states continues to expand in the 21st Ultimately, this policy worked against U.S. security century as some nations within states demarcate interests and seriously damaged U.S. influence. boundaries, claiming sovereignty and autonomy. This brief review of colonialism and the Cold Nation building is an important globalization pro- War highlights the development of the global eco- cess, putting nations on a more equal footing as nomic and political systems leading into the con- they acquire the recognition and capability to temporary period of globalization. The Westphalian interact with autonomy on the global scene. The ideal of equality of states and of non-interference global emphasis on human rights—rights owed to was far removed from the political realities of hege- everyone on the globe because they are part of mony and forceful domination. The stability (not humanity—conditions people to demand greater peaceful) of international governance was disrupted autonomy and self-determination—a state for by the end of the Cold War and increasing demands every nation. for democracy, sovereignty, and human rights. Globalization processes make national identity However, the conditions for instability of the global and self-rule taken-for-granted rights. The ideal system of states were firmly in place: the emergence typical nation-state guarantees sovereignty for a of weak states with weak economies and deep eth- people who share a common identity and live in a nic divides, along with food insecurity; environmen- bounded territory. The revival of nationalist fervor tal destruction; population overload; inadequate within ethno-national groups is also a globalization educational, medical, or democratic infrastructure; effect. Nationalist movements arise in response to and other risks to human security. The Cold War the challenges that global economic, corporate, cul- made decolonization more difficult and forestalled tural, and possibly even civil society and other development in many countries. Consequentially, global systems pose to their autonomy and sover- the United States damaged its reputation by sacri- eignty. Nationalism in these cases is an attempt to ficing the principles of democracy in its Third reestablish boundaries to protect identity and pro- World activities (Stiglitz 2002, 25). tect or gain self determination. A new, fifth wave of nation building began follow- In 1990, there were over 800 ethno-nationalist ing the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, movements (Scholte 2000, 167). Some operate and Warsaw Pact in the 1990s. within one state’s boundaries. Others, such as the Table 3.1   The Contemporary Period of Nation Building Waves of Nation Building Dates Event First 1648 Treaty of Westphalia Second Late 18th–19th century Independence of American colonies Third Late 19th–20th century Fall of Russian and Ottoman empires Fourth Post-WWII Independence of African and Asian colonies Fifth 1990–present Dissolution of USSR and dissolution of Warsaw Pact; separatist movements worldwide 74——Globalization Kurds or Roma, exist across boundaries of several Some of these groups have been successful. Status states. Many ethno-nationalist movements are as a state still depends on recognition by other states. demanding and fighting for a “state” and a home- This is granted individually by each state—and not land of their own; others may be fighting for more every self-declared state is recognized by every other autonomy within existing states, or just equal state. Membership in the UN acknowledges the rights within the state. In most cases, these groups legitimacy of the nation-state form, as well as grant- are indigenous people living as oppressed minori- ing the closest thing there is to a seal of approval on ties within their native lands. the legitimacy of a new nation-states. BOX 3.7 A Closer Look: Two Faces of Nationalism There are two types of nationalism: nationalism based on ideas and ideals and nationalism based on labels (Kaldor 2003). When cast in terms of human rights or democratic values, nationalism is liberating. Human rights are the arbiter of legitimate and non-legitimate states and governments. All states are strengthened by assertions that sovereignty is a fundamental human right. In cases such as Timor-Leste, whose decades-long demand for indepen- dence cost from 100,000 to 250,000 lives out of a population of just over 1 million, the support and approval received from the global community with respect to their right to self-rule and their recognition as a state by the UN in 2002 institutionalizes global norms concerning sovereignty. When nationalism is merely a form of labeling “us” and “them,” it is destructive and intolerant. Confrontation with universalizing perceptions regarding humanity has unfortunately exacerbated “tribalism.” In the last decades, the world has persisted in an intense and bloody era of nation building. One of the tragedies of our time has been the oppression and violence practiced by nationalist movements who “make claims to political power based on an ethnic label which excludes and is indeed hostile toward others with different label” (Kaldor 2003, 97). Their only concern is political power. Genocides in Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda, and the Sudan, and violence against ethnic minorities throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas, are the result of the latter, labeling, form of nationalism. Membership in the UN swelled from just 51 when also been difficult to achieve. Inequality within soci- it was founded following WWII to 192 in 2006 when eties based on race, ethnicity, sect, remnants of caste, Montenegro was admitted (UN 2006). Nations were and other distinctions of assigned identity often added in waves as colonies gained independence in the prevent a common identity from developing. Many 1960s and 1970s and with the breakup of the Soviet state boundaries, formerly colonial boundaries, con- Union, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia in the 1990s. tinue to defy the idea of nation by dividing national Others wrested independence through decades of vio- groups across state boundaries and combining oth- lent conflict. Regardless of these differences, each of ers into unequal power relations within states. these states confronts similar problems of identity and governance in combining nation and state. Even though the nation-state form has diffused Shaping the Modern State globally, political equality on the global stage, a centerpiece of the Westphalia system, has never Expectations for the internal shape and dynamics of been achieved. As discussed earlier, Cold War strat- the modern state developed from the Treaty of egizing of the super powers and collusion between Westphalia. It ended the religious and nationalistic local elites and global capital effectively controlled wars of Europe and established boundaries through many states. Intergovernmental organizations, such Europe defining the territorial limits of monarchs’ as the UN Security Council, the IMF, and World powers. Bank, can maintain the patterns of inequality. The need for states to act and interact on the A sense of common interest and of belonging to international stage influenced the development of a common people within a bounded territory has similar state structures. States assumed similar  CHAPTER 3: Setting the Stage——75 institutional matrices, becoming increasingly ratio- states, structures of government, and legitimate nalized and formalized (Weber 1921/1978, 905) as forms of governance. In the 17th century, at about they evolved. With increasing size and complexity, the same time that states were emerging from the and as knowledge of specialized functions devel- aftermath of the Thirty and Eighty Years Wars, John oped, state affairs became increasingly bureaucra- Locke, a British philosopher, was expounding on tized and administered by “professionals.” Power natural rights. His rhetoric, along with that of other was rationalized and divided among administra- social and political philosophers, began to define tive, legislative, and judicial offices, which became the expectations of the role of a state. Locke argued functionally specialized. Ministers of foreign affairs that human rights are natural rights, rights that and secretaries of state became necessary posts for people have as God’s creation regardless of their the conduct the business of the state in the global station in life, the country in which they live, the arena. Treasuries, judiciaries, parliaments, and con- creed they profess, or any other social factor. People gresses were institutionalized as state forms. Armies have the natural right to anything that God gave became professionalized, requiring a broader base them—life, which requires liberty, health, and any of taxation to arm, and soldiers were no longer property derived from and necessary for one’s labor. expected to carry their own muskets and ride their No one may take any of those away. People thus own horses into battle. States and sub-state institu- acquire the obligation to respect the natural rights tions developed in tandem, adapting and conform- of others. The duty of government follows from ing to the proper model of “actorhood” (Meyer this: to protect and enforce natural rights. 2000, 45). Locke’s philosophy provided the basis for rights Following WWII, recognition by the UN became as they came to be understood during the period of the seal of approval of statehood. Becoming a state the revolutions of the 18th century. The recognition requires conforming to a set of structural norms: A of human rights unfolded in phases influenced by constitution, a head of state, various secretaries or local culture and events of the times. In the United ministers of administrative departments, a parlia- States’ Declaration of Independence and France’s ment or congress, and a judiciary remain the vehi- Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, uni- cles of statehood. Adopting these structures of versal human rights are said to be inalienable and government conforms to global norms for external adhere to every person, by virtue of their humanity. legitimacy and creates parallel channels for societies However, at the time of the American and French to conduct international relations. Foreign secretar- revolutions, rights were largely associated with ies or secretaries of state deal with one another. protecting property and voting. Rights for “all” Secretaries of the treasury, defense, commerce, and referred in many states, as well as states within the so on meet with their counterparts from other United States, to property owners. It was well into countries, facilitating dialog among states. the 19th century before slavery was abolished and The regulatory powers of the states—essential to universal male suffrage was achieved. It was into the conduct of interstate relations—were strength- the 20th before women got the right to vote in ened over the course of the centuries following most countries.2 Westphalia. As ideas related to sovereignty gained The first generation of rights established the pro- normative power, states had to legitimize their tections of the individual from power of the state— right to govern through their relationship to their such as protection from abuse, oppression, cruel people. In the case of authoritarian regimes, the and unusual punishment—and freedoms for indi- state claims to embody the people. In the case of viduals—such as freedom of the press, assembly, liberal democracies, the state represents the people and religion. The second-generation rights assure (Mann 2003, 137). protections to particular groups such as women, minorities, and the elderly. Second-generation rights provide for things such as the right to health care, States and Human Rights Concerns social security, and education. During the post- Among the global expectations of a state are the WWII period and following the 1968 cultural and link between nation and state, the state’s responsi- political upheavals of the global civil rights move- bilities to its people, the rights due people within ments, many of these rights were institutionalized 76——Globalization (Smith 2008, 1820–1821). Still, they remain elusive democracies, constitutions themselves offer a degree in many countries for many people. of liberation from the potentially unlimited nature of traditional authority. Legitimacy as a state now depends on having a constitution or set of The Evolution of Constitutions laws that rationalize the authority to exercise power Constitutions institutionalized the powers and and stipulates the people—or God and the people— responsibilities of states and of citizens. Toward the as source of the state’s authority. Even autocrats and end of the 18th century, ideas of sovereignty, liber- dictators justify their exercise of power on constitu- alization, the power of reason, and the rights of tional authority entrusted to them on behalf of the humankind combined to form the constitutional people. “What the international community accepts state in Europe. The potentially unbridled powers as a state is a state.... And that is closely connected of monarchies seen in light of these ideas ignited with its having a constitution” (van Maarserveen democratic aspirations. Constitutions were the way and van der Tang 1978, 234). to institutionalize these ideals. Movements demand- A constitution, whether a single document or a ing rule of law, a constitution, and perhaps even number of documents, specifies a society’s “funda- democracy, arose. These afforded opportunity to mental laws, distinguishable by their historical sig- wrest authority from the aristocracy. nificance, the reverence and esteem in which they are While democracy as a governmental form was held” (van Maarserveen and van der Tang 1978, 39). poorly defined at that time, people understood A constitution is a body of “meta-norms, higher what a “democrat” was: it was an anti-aristocrat order legal rules and principles that specify how all (Markoff 1999, 664). A constitution was the tool a other legal norms are to be produced, applied, democrat could use to rein in the unbounded enforced and interpreted” (Sweet 2008, 219). authority exercised by monarchs.3 The constitu- Constitutions reiterate a country’s civil religion, tional state became the counterweight to the power embodying the values and ideals people hold sacred. of monarchy. Constitutions replace traditional There is no higher authority than a state’s constitu- authority with legal-rational authority. Traditional tion. It has traditional authority emanating from the monarchies give way to constitutional monarchies, tacit agreement among states and its acceptance by presidents, and prime ministers. Rulers, their pow- the people of a state. Constitutions hold such sacred ers defined by law, became office holders, not sim- status that to question their values and beliefs is seen ply power wielders. in most nations as heresy, and debates concerning the The U.S. Constitution was the first to be enacted. meaning of constitutional clauses are conducted with Poland quickly followed, each country building on religious fervor. Other symbols of a country such as its own tradition and heritage. The U.S. Constitution its flag, national anthem, and rituals such as a pledge reflected the U.S. tradition of local democracy. In of allegiance also acquire near sacred status, repre- Poland, where monarchs were elected, the legisla- senting as they do “the people.” ture negotiated the powers of government with Not only has the need for a constitution been each ruler. France and its satellite states followed. globalized; the contents of constitutions converge in In 1805, Haiti became the second American state many fundamental respects. They stipulate the con- to write a constitution after declaring its indepen- stitution itself as the source of authority, its place in dence from France. Haiti’s constitution became an the government, and how it may be amended. important model for Latin American nations, as Constitutions all provide for central executive and they subsequently wrought independence from legislative bodies, and most also provide for judi- Spain. The Germanic states were next (Markoff ciary, elections, and representation in government. 1999, 666–668). In addition to laying out the structure and function Constitutions and democracy developed in tan- of government, nearly all constitutions delineate a dem. Constitutions derive their authority, as in the series of civil, political, and democratic rights for U.S. Constitution, from “We, the people,” or as in individuals. Constitutional homogeneity is a signifi- cases such as Poland, from the people and some cant globalization effect. divine source (Markoff 1999, 666). Although not Constitutions are tools for and reflections of all nations that developed constitutions became major political formation and reform (Gavison  CHAPTER 3: Setting the Stage——77 2003, 54). Freedom of conscience or religion, asso- However, comparing the values embedded in the ciation, expression, and defendant’s rights in the UN Declaration with national constitutions written judicial system appear as standard content in nearly afterward, the influence of the UN is clear. every constitution. Mentioned frequently, but not as Nineteen statements of value embedded in the often, are rights to property, equality, and privacy. Declaration, ranging from general statements about Constitutions as early as the 18th and 19th centu- the “dignity” of humankind to judicial indepen- ries provide for these basic rights (van Maarseveen dence, were found in only 39.7% of constitutions and van der Tang 1978). written before the Declaration, but are present in Since 1948, the UN Declaration of Human 56.1% of constitutions written from 1949 to 1975. Rights, along with its subsequent protocols and As the period from 1948 to 1975 progressed, the conventions, has proposed universal norms that rate of incorporation increased, as did the pressures function as a template for a number of constitu- of globalization. From 1967 to 1975, the rate of tions and international treaties. Building from the incorporation of the values was 64.1% (van elements of national constitutions that preceded Maarseveen and van der Tang 1978, 192). it, the Declaration stipulates an international nor- Of the 19 personal and political rights specified in mative model for states in terms of its values and the UN Declaration, the period 1967–1975 stands out its obligations to citizens. The Declaration serves as the period with the greatest percentage of adoption as an external source of legitimacy. It has the in states’ constitutions. During the period 1949–1957, advantage in some quarters of having been con- the average rate at which constitutions adopted the ceived by an international body, not by Western rights specified in the Declaration was 63.1%. The governments. period 1958–1966, a period of lull in globalization, India was very active in the formation of the had an average adoption rate of 55.4%, and in 1967– UN and the drafting of the UN Declaration of 1975, the beginning of the contemporary period of Human Rights. Nehru and other political leaders globalization, the average rate of adoption was 64.1% promoted both and were able to invoke them to (van Maarseveen and van der Tang, 1978, 197). secure India’s position in the world (Bhavagan, Social rights, in contrast, show their greatest rate 2010). India, trying to extract itself from British of adoption in the period immediately following the rule and declare itself non-aligned during the Cold UN Declaration. The eight social rights specified in War, was well served by the UN Declaration. More the UN Declaration had an average incorporation recently, other Eastern and Middle Eastern govern- rate of 30.8% in the constitutions written before ments have objected to the claim of universality, the Declaration. Their average rate of adoption was citing the Declaration's reflection of Western 57.5% right after the Declaration was adopted, and understandings and sympathies—particularly with only 38.1% and 44%, respectively, in the two respect to individualism. decades after the Declaration. Social rights did not Table 3.2  Diffusion of Value and Rights Statements in National Constitutions As nations developed constitutions and similar values, personal, political, and, to a lesser extent, social values were incorporated. The UN Declaration of Human Rights served as a template. Period Pre-1948 1948–1957 1958–1966 1967–1975 Value Statements 39.7% Not specified 64.1% Personal and Not specified 63.1% 55.4% 64.1 Political Rights Social Rights 30.8% 57.5% 38.1% 44% Source: Van Maarseveen and van der Tang (1978, 192–193, 197, 200). 78——Globalization diffuse to the extent that values and political and received scant attention in the first generation of personal rights did. None of the former reached constitutions (see Table 3.3). above a 70.1% adoption rate in any period (van Democratic innovations from competitive elec- Maarseveen and van der Tang 1978, 200). toral parties, secret balloting, and representative There is a remarkable degree of convergence on institutions to universal men’s and women’s suffrage the most frequently mentioned values, political also followed a pattern of increasing diffusion as rights, and to a lesser extent social rights, which globalization forces increased (Markoff 1999). Table 3.3   Convergence in Constitutions Number Number (Percentage) (Percentage) of of Period Pre-1948 Constitutions 1948–1975 Constitutions Top Five Value Human rights and fundamental 23 (82.1%) Human rights and 102 (92.7%) References freedoms fundamental freedoms (of 19) Equal rights of man 22 (78.6%) Democratic society 94 (85.4%) General welfare 18 (64.3%) Equal rights of man 92 (83.6%) Protection from discrimination, 13 (46.4%) Judicial independence 90 (81.8%) family, will of people, universal suffrage, free or secret voting Protection against 89 (80.9%) discrimination Top Five Freedom of religion, expression 25 (89.3%) No arbitrary arrest/fair and 10 (90.9%) Political Rights public hearing/presumed References innocence, etc. (of 19) Freedom of religion 97 (88.2%) Freedom of assembly, protection 24 (85.7) Freedom of expression 96 (87.3%) of private life Freedom of association 95 (86.4%) Equality before law/equal 22, (78.6%) Equality before law/equal 92 (83.6%) protection, no arbitrary arrest/ protection fair and public hearing/presumed innocence, etc. Top Five Social Right to work 12 (42.8%) Right to form and join trade 74 (67.3%) Rights unions References (of Eight) Right to social security, free 10 (35.7%) Right to work 63 (57.3%) choice of employment, education Right to education 60 (54.5%) Right to social security 50 (45.4%) Right to form and join trade 9 (32.2%) Right to rest and leisure 39 (35.4%) unions Source: Van Maarseveen and van der Tang (1978, 193, 197, 200).  CHAPTER 3: Setting the Stage——79 Early Globalization of Liberalism as a measure of wealth and power began to erode. New institutions that could support these new The links between liberalizing state structures and forms of growth were necessary. The newly wealthy economic growth as they evolved in the Western urban classes pressured for more liberal political European nation-states are important in under- institutions, such as secure property rights, to sup- standing the development of states. The opening of port sustained growth (Acemoglu et al. 2005, 550). Atlantic trade routes in the late 15th century fac- International economic activity drove political tored significantly in the liberalization of gover- effects within states, forcing transitions toward lib- nance from 1600 to 1850. Most theories of eral and democratic political forms. Normative European development and governance stress fac- pressures toward liberalization were a function of tors of national heritage such as culture and religion internal pressure occasioned by the transition of the to explain this. In contrast, economistic theories basis of wealth and power. Trade acted as an impor- consider only trade. Some others examine the influ- tant conditioning factor in liberalizing the polity. ence of multiple external global factors in combina- Landed wealth gave aristocracy power. As it eroded, tion with colonialism and slavery on liberalization so did the power of the aristocracy. This allowed a (Acemoglu et al. 2005, 549–550). new class structure to emerge. A more compelling explanation demonstrates Where trade was not as lucrative the effect was that global economic factors such as trade inter- different. Venice, Genoa, and other states with rela- acted with states’ political institutional factors tively non-absolutist regimes did not liberalize. (Acemoglu et al. 2005) to liberalize state govern- Without access to the Atlantic, growth was depen- ment. This explanation accounts for differences in dent on Mediterranean trade, which brought much the liberalization of states within the regional less prosperity (Acemoglu et al. 2005, 550). The neighborhood of Western Europe. The two most commercial classes were not able accumulate the critical factors turn out to be the nature of trade— levels of wealth and power possible in the Atlantic the global factor—and the degree of absolutism trading states. As global interaction accelerated exercised by the monarch—the internal political over the centuries, practical and normative con- factor. Weighing the effect of these factors demon- straints compelled changes in the governance of strates that neither trade nor type of monarchy is other states. This is a different sort of globalization significant enough as single factors to explain devel- effect. States adjusted their internal governance in opment in European countries. Together, however, relation to one another and to their citizens; liberal- they provide a persuasive account. ization diffused, increasing homogeneity. These Trade had a definitive impact on growth. economic and political neighborhood effects oper- Countries with access to Atlantic trade had ate in the contemporary phase of globalization, economies that grew more rapidly and became pushing toward greater liberalization globally. more stable than countries without Atlantic trade. Mediterranean trade produced growth but did not result in a comparable level of growth to the Establishing International Law and Atlantic trade states. That much is simple enough. Organization But this does not explain liberalization because some countries with Atlantic trade and rapid eco- The League of Nations and the United nomic growth liberalized while others did not. Political factors round out the explanation. In Nations Britain and the Netherlands, the monarchy was less The foundation of global governance was set absolutist than in other Atlantic trading states. The with the system of sovereign states. The former monarchy did not exert significant control over League of Nations and the UN are organizations of overseas trade. This enabled the merchant classes to these presumptively equal and sovereign states accumulate wealth and subsequently power. Urban intended to facilitate global governance through areas became centers of wealth. The rate of urban- treaties, resolutions, the activity of its agencies, and ization accelerated increasing development and the Court of International Justice, which hears dis- further increasing urbanization. The value of land putes between willing nations. 80——Globalization The victorious allies of WWI formed the League conflict resolutions.4 It established sanctions as a of Nations to settle conflicts, maintain peace, and mechanism to enforce compliance, although sanc- promote their collective security. The League failed tions were not wielded effectively at the time. The to capture the imagination or enlist the enthusiasm League inaugurated the use of sanctions to pre- of the global community. Despite the League being serve the sovereignty (territorial integrity and an invention of Woodrow Wilson, the United States independence) of countries when they failed to refused to join. Germany was not eligible for admis- live up to their international obligations. Article sion because it started WWI, and Russia was not 16 of the League Covenant required that when a eligible for membership because of its communist treaty violation occurred, member countries government. With Europe weakened by the war and immediately sever all trade, financial, and per- three powerful nations on the sidelines, the League sonal relations with the offending country. The was generally ineffective, but its few successes laid flurry of treaties facilitated by the League and the groundwork for cooperative global governance. backed by the force of sanctions of Article 16 The League of Nations advanced international established a global, self-monitoring system of law through a series of multilateral treaties and nation-states (Giddens 1987, 256). BOX 3.8 Check It Out: International Law There are international treaties and agencies governing nearly every aspect of international life. In addition to trea- ties, there are conventions, declarations, resolutions, and other instruments that have moral, if not legal, force. International agreements are so extensive that they influence nearly every occupation. What is your area of career interest? Are you considering international business or medicine? Trade? The ocean? Human rights? Environmental and human rights treaties alone influence business, medicine, agriculture, and manufacturing. It is hard to imagine any area of human activity that will not eventually come under some form of global regulation, if it does not already. The UN keeps a database of treaties where you can research laws that may govern your activities someday. See what you can discover about your anticipated career. http://treaties.un.org/pages/UNTSOnline.aspx?id=2 You’ll see that you can search by the title of a treaty as well as by country. The World Treaty Index is another good resource. It is a project of Center for the Study of Complex Systems and Political Science Department at the University of Michigan. http://worldtreatyindex.com/help.html Following WWII, the UN became successor to the was designed with a broad mandate, which gives it League. They share some similarities. The UN is flexibility to evolve and respond to changing global more limited in authority than might be imagined. It conditions. Its objectives include promoting national is not a world power, a super-state, or a world gov- and international development, human rights, and ernment. It does not act independently on the global the global environment (631–632). This agenda scene as do states. Everything that the UN accom- invites the UN to develop global norms and work plishes is through the actions of states. It deliberately with and within nations to achieve them. stipulates “collective measures” and the “principle of The UN structure contains a General Assembly, the sovereign equality of all its Members” (UN 2010, Security Council, Economic and Social Council, a Charter Articles 1 and 2). The UN is very different Trusteeship Council, the International Court of from the League in having more expansive functions. Justice, and a Secretariat—a rather standard gov- The League limited its role to that of an international ernmental structure (UN Charter Article 7). The security organization. It avoided any action that General Assembly is limited to making recommen- would be construed as interference in the affairs of a dations (Chapter IV). The Security Council decides sovereign nation (Meyer et al. 1997, 631). The UN on actions taken for the resolution of conflict,  CHAPTER 3: Setting the Stage——81 including the decision to use force (Chapters V– water poor or threatened by water shortages. VII). The Economic and Social Council operates the Aquifers, a source of groundwater, may cross the variety of programs and agencies of the UN that boundaries of several countries. If one country draws promote economic development, education, health too heavily from the aquifer, it deprives the other care, and the other requisites of human develop- countries. Many aquifers are running low on water. ment (Chapter IX). The International Court of When the UN called for a global regime, it prompted Justice hears cases of disputes among states but countries to try to develop their own agreements only if they agree to be bound by the decisions of concerning their specific cases. This has given rise to the court.