POLS 374 Foundations of Global
Politics
Lecture Topic: Globalization and
Governance
November 2 and 7, 2006
Globalization and Governance

Main Chapter Points
 Contemporary large-scale and accelerated globalization has rendered the statist
mode of governance non-viable and encouraged the emergence of polycentric and
multi-sited and networked regulation
 States remain crucial nodes in this polycentric governance
 Globalization has opened considerable possibilities for substate (e.g., municipal
and provincial) authorities to engage directly with realms beyond their state
 Inadequacies of the state as a sole site for governance of global relations have
promoted a growth of suprastate (macro-regional and transworld) sites of
regulation
 Dominant neoliberalist policy frameworks in contemporary globalization have
encouraged a major expansion of private sites of governance
 Civil society activity has followed the trend from statism to polycentrism by
shifting its focus from the state to a multi-scalar diffuse governance apparatus
Globalization and Governance

Statism: The
“Old Model” did
not give high
regard to
international
organizations
or other nonstate actors
Globalization and Governance
Statism and Autonomy

What does it mean to be autonomous?
Globalization and Governance
What is (state) sovereignty?
 General definition: supreme power or authority
 Regarding world politics, sovereignty is based on the Treaty
of Westphalia.
 Westphalian sovereignty holds that each state has the right
to exercise supreme, comprehensive, unqualified, and
exclusive rule over its territorial jurisdiction.
 With supreme rule, the Westphalian state would answer to
no other authority; it always had the final say in respect of
its territorial realm and its cross border relations with other
countries
Signatories of the Treaty of Munster or Westphalia
Globalization and Governance
The end of statism
does not necessarily
mean the rise of
“corporatism” or
something similar.
Instead, the end of
statism, for now at
least, means the rise
of …
POLYCENTRISM
Globalization and Governance
The obsolescence of statism

Key point: Westphalian practices of sovereignty
depended on a territorialist geography where all
social, economic, political and other transactions
occur at or within a fixed location: either within
territorial jurisdictions or at designated points across
tightly patrolled territorial borders

With the end of territorialism, therefore,
statism has lost its foundation
Globalization and Governance
The obsolescence of statism

Consider some examples:

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State control over financial capital
State control over drug trafficking
The Chinese state’s effort to control the Internet
Human smuggling and trafficking
Online gambling through offshore centers
Globalization and Governance
The obsolescence of statism

Even the trade of tangible products is too much for
any government to thoroughly control
 Can the Singapore government inspect the
18.5 million containers that enter its
wharves every year?
 Consider container traffic at California’s
two busiest ports: Los Angeles and Long
Beach (click here for some statistics)
Globalization and Governance
The obsolescence of statism

Ideational challenges to sovereignty:
 Increasingly, people’s identities are becoming less
and less tied to a single state: globalization has
spurred the creation of transnational identities
based on gender, class, profession, race, religion,
sexual orientation and so on
Globalization and Governance
The obsolescence of statism

Ideational challenges to sovereignty:
 Globalization has also made possible the rise of
transnational social movements, such as the “antiglobalization movement,” the human rights movement, the
anti-landmine movement, the “free Tibet” movement, the
global environmental movement, and many others
Globalization and Governance
The obsolescence of statism

Despite the challenges to state sovereignty, it
is important to remember this:
The state is not dead.
Globalization and Governance
Globalization and the State: Four Basic
Changes
 Reorientation of states to serve global as
well as national constituencies
 Adjustments to state provisions of welfare
 Altered features of warfare
 Increased transstate connections in
regulatory processes
Globalization and Governance
Globalization and the State

Structural Violence: An Example

Lesley Stahl on U.S. sanctions against Iraq: We
have heard that a half million children have
died. I mean, that's more children than died in
Hiroshima. And, you know, is the price worth
it?

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright: I think
this is a very hard choice, but the price--we
think the price--is worth it.
--60 Minutes (5/12/96)
Globalization and Governance
Globalization and the State

Increased transstate connections
 One of many important developments is the “G-7 Process”
 What is the G-7/8?
 Click here for a basic explanation
Globalization and Governance
Ziggy Marley “G7” Lyrics
Seven richest countries in the world
Them have a little meeting
Them a plan to keep and oppress the poor
So them have a little meeting
But when them think then thing goes another way
Yes when them think then thing goes another way
Did you hear about these meetings
No you won't find poor countries there
Because of capitalist greed
Revolution seem to be the only way It may be an old
fashion way of thinking
But I believe in the people and these aims
'Cause when them think then things go the people way
One day dem deh deh dem no deh deh
When them think then things go the the people way
One day dem deh deh dem no deh deh
These countries want to stay on top
So they'll find any way
To them third world people life is but a small price to be
paid
They think they're great feeling no one can touch them
Well them have a next thing comin'
'Cause when them think then things go the people way
One day dem deh deh dem no deh deh
Oh when them think then thing goes another way
One day dem deh deh dem no deh deh
Seven richest things in the world
What do they do for the people
Look at America the so-called best
How many homeless
Where the money went
In the sky on weapons of death
Why don't they write the needy some more checks
'Cause when them think then thing goes another way
One day dem deh deh dem no deh deh
When them think then things go them the people way
One day dem deh deh dem no deh deh
Globalization and Governance
Globalization and the State

Multi-Scalar Public Governance

Scalar refers to magnitude or size: thus, multi-scalar
is multi-sized, big, small and everything in between

Global governance, in other words, is now taking
place at the “small” local level, the “bigger” national
level, the “bigger” international level, and the
“biggest” global level—not separately, but
simultaneously and often inter-connectedly
Globalization and Governance
Globalization and the State

Multi-Scalar Public Governance
 Micro-regional governance
• Example: ICLEI
 Macro-regional governance
• Click here for some examples
 Transworld governance
• Examples: the WTO, IMF, UN, BIS, OECD, WHO, ILO,
IMO, ICC
• Click here for a comprehensive list
Globalization and Governance
Globalization and the State
A Primer on the World Trade Organization (WTO)

What is the WTO?
 Simply put, the World Trade Organization (WTO) deals
with the rules of trade between nations at a global or
international level, but it’s also a number of other things …
•
•
•
•
it’s an organization for liberalizing trade
it’s a forum for governments to negotiate trade agreements
it’s a place to settle trade disputes
it operates a system of trade rules
For more information, click here
Globalization and Governance
Globalization and the State
A Primer on the International Monetary Fund

What is the IMF?
 The IMF is the central institution of the international monetary
system
 The IMF's original statutory purposes included promoting the
balanced expansion of world trade, the stability of exchange rates,
the avoidance of competitive currency devaluations, and the
orderly correction of a country's balance of payments problems
 Today, the IMF plays an active role in “advising” each member
state on how its policies in these areas may be improved to allow
the more effective pursuit of goals such as high employment, low
inflation, and sustainable economic growth.
For more information, click here
Globalization and Governance
Globalization and the State
A Primer on the International Monetary Fund

A view from the perspective of a poor country--scenes from
the film Life & Debt
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“The International Monetary Fund” (ch. 3)
“Independence” (ch. 4)
“Lending” (ch. 5)
“Life and Debt” (ch. 13)