Nowadays the phenomenon of globalization can be described as a dominating power behind major political, business, and sociological developments all around the world. From day to day global economy, politics and culture become more and more autocratic in every land. The process of globalization inevitably affects governance all over the world. In the following paper, the peculiarities of the process of affecting governance by globalization will be addressed in detail. Overall, after the evaluation of facts, it can be stated that under the influence of globalization, the transition of power from national governments to global formations takes place, the opportunities for non-governmental governance increase, and convergence in forms of control is observed.
First of all, speaking about the way globalization affects governance, it is important to note that it causes transition of power from national governments to global formations. Especially, within the period of the past few years the phenomenon of the ‘virtualization of states’ can be seen. Some prominent political analysts make their prognosis regarding the future of virtualization of governments by stating that in twenty years, most governments of the world will offer their major services online. Besides, these political analysts state that very soon power will become concentrated in the hands of leaders of global formations rather than local states. In this vein, the most remarkable point is that even today, much power already belongs to global organizations. For example, according to Kahler and Lake, “the state’s monopoly of familiar governance functions is ending, as governance migrates up to supranational organizations; down to newly empowered regions, provinces, and municipalities; and laterally to such private actors as multinational firms and transnational non-governmental organizations (NGOs)” (1). In these conditions, national governments face a twofold effect, when they both are pushed to guarantee a higher level of democracy to their citizens, and still, are limited in the opportunities for pursuing their local interests. The way this tendency affects lives of common citizens can be seen in the example of global trade unions such as WTO and IMF. In the 2010s, people in the most diversified territories of the world were already exposed to the undesirable consequences of globalizing economical markets. The main problems caused by it were unemployment and deregulation. However, it should be noted that deregulation is rather an ambiguous concept as many specialists strive to prove its positive impact on the Anglo-Saxon capitalism, and many economical critiques express their negative position regarding it using providing evidence to the fact that the economically weak states become harmed as a consequence of external and internal deregulation. In addition, the inhabitants of many countries collide with the raise of prices for certain goods, and their reduction for the other ones. As a result, local economies are weakened, but global corporations win unexampled profits. The other negative consequence of this phenomenon is in lowering the standard of living for citizens of states that have entered global trade and political alliances.
Next, globalization increases the opportunities for non-governmental governance. With industrialization and modernization, societies become more complex, which offers additional power to non-governmental institutions such as business corporations, social organizations, and environmental protection organizations. Market-based governance fosters the development of the global community by means of introducing a number of important policies such as promoting technological innovations, accelerating new sales strategies, establishing new taxation regulations, and providing more convenient conditions for global businesses. The increasing spread and legitimacy of market-based systems for exchange and distribution between the countries and inside them is the power that not only stands behind the speeding up of the process of globalization, but it is also the power that controls lives of millions of people in the world including their job opportunities and economic welfare. Social organizations pass from state level to a globalized one with the purpose of affecting global society by progressive democratic ideas. Environmental protection organizations strive to promote their values in every land all around the globe to prevent the harmful effects of global industrialization and modernization such as global warming, the change of climate, and environmental pollution. The increase of power accumulation by non-governmental organizations supports the idea that very soon the face of the world may considerably change as the transition of authority from states to global organizations of different levels and different spheres of influence will take place (Kahler and Lake 10).
Finally, under the influence of globalization, convergence in forms of control in different countries of the world takes place. This means that political institutions in different nations start adopting similar policies, regulating their work, and for that reason, they appear to be more or less the same in their working strategies and concepts in the most diversified cultures of the world. This tendency is seen as a threat to the well-being of national states in the world by numerous specialists. The following comment by Kahler and Lake explains the reasons why convergence is evaluated as a dangerous development in modern global politics:
Critics of globalization contend that competitive economic pressures will produce institutional and policy homogeneity over time in a direction favored by the most mobile factors of production—footloose capital. It is further assumed that these most mobile capitalists will prefer lax regulation and less government intervention. In this view, the welfare state is placed at risk, and governments are no longer free to adopt policies that respond to the needs of their societies (Kahler and Lake 12).
Thus, global convergence in forms of control is seen as a consequence of globalization that is capable of changing human society to the unexampled state.
In conclusion, it should be stated that as a result of the process of globalization, the shift in the common concept of authority distribution takes place. In this vein, the very idea of governance undergoes significant changes due to the transition of power from nation states to global organizations; the tendency to offer more authority to non-governmental institutions; and convergence in forms of control in different countries of the world. People in many lands come to believe in the model, which can be described by the motto “governing is better together”, which is explained by the fact that they observe the increase in the level of democracy in numerous countries and significant improvements in the financial situation in states with a weak economy. However, political and economical critiques are not so positive regarding the outcomes of globalization for governance in the world. They explain their position by stating that in case the situation with political convergence will continue to develop, human society will undergo unexampled changes, and the notion of state, as it has been perceived for centuries, will become a matter of the past.
Works Cited
Kahler, Miles and David Lake. Governance in a Global Economy, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2003. Print.