Impact on State Sovereignty Flashcards
why is the debate about sovereignty important?
sovereignty is the key concept in international relations, a person’s view on sovereignty will shape whether they see the impact of regional organisations on state sovereignty as positive or negative
if someone sees globalisation as negative, they are more likely to see regional organisations as a means by which globalisation is being furthered and enhanced
alternatively, regional organisations can be seen as a way for states to stand up to TNCs and limit the impact of globalisation
what types of sovereignty does regionalism impact?
regionalism impacts many different types of sovereignty…
LEGAL SOVEREIGNTY
POLITICAL SOVEREIGNTY
STATE/NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY
INTERNAL SOVEREIGNTY
ZERO SUM SOVEREIGNTY
POOLED SOVEREIGNTY
impact of regionalism on legal sovereignty
states can leave regional organisations when they see fit, as the UK is due to leave the EU
there is no compulsion in the international system so states are free to follow their own interests and cannot be forced to remain in any organisation
impact of regionalism on political sovereignty
states need to cooperate through regional organisations and therefore can be seen to be surrendering some sovereignty
although it can be argued that states actually increase their sovereignty by pooling it with other states
impact of regionalism on state/national sovereignty
sovereignty may be reduced as states need to compromise and give up some controls to achieve common goals
although again, some states feel that they have more sovereignty through pooling it
impact of regionalism on internal sovereignty
states are legally sovereign within their own territory, but by cooperating through regional organisations they may lose control of their own law-making powers
for example, EU law is higher than national law for EU member states
national legislation may be overruled and EU states cannot control immigration from other EU states
impact of regionalism on zero-sum sovereignty
in terms of zero-sum sovereignty, it is clear that states have less sovereignty
the more sovereignty a state gives away to an organisation or supranational authority, the less sovereignty that state has left
impact of regionalism on pooled sovereignty
by pooling sovereignty, states can increase their power, influence and therefore overall sovereignty in the world
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Regionalism particularly political regionalism but all types to some extent pools sovereignty between states
This means that they all give up some of their individual decision-making power in order to make decisions collectively
It also usually means that they must accept the result of the collective decision even if they themselves were against the decision
regionalism decreases sovereignty:
Regionalism means that states have to give up their ability to make a decision on their own in favour of making decisions together
This can effectively mean they have less control over themselves
regionalism decreases sovereignty:
Regional organisations rarely have any democratic element
The citizens of states are not often ask directly to vote on the decisions of regional organisations meaning that the views of citizens can be overlooked
There are even regional organisations which include both democracy is a non-democracies — The Arab league has Tunisia Which is a representative democracy and autocratic monarchies such as Saudi Arabia
regionalism decreases sovereignty:
States might no longer have sole control within their territory especially when states make regional security organisations
The pooling of security forces and intelligence can be viewed as resigning total control over force within borders
regionalism does not decrease sovereignty:
States have already had their sovereignty decreased by the process of globalisation
They are already unable to take decisions on their own because the decisions of other states can have such an impact on them, especially when it comes to economic policies
regionalism does not decrease sovereignty:
States can use the increased influence they get on the world stage through regional organisations to prevent their sovereignty from being further reduced by globalisation or TNCs
This is particularly true of the African union in which African states can unite to avoid remaining on unheard on the world stage and therefore having decisions made for them by other more powerful national groups
regionalism does not decrease sovereignty:
states are free to leave regional organisations if they feel they no longer contribute to their interests
Britain is leaving the EU in a high profile case of departure from the regional organisation
