Political Outcomes Flashcards
definition of sovereignty
Sovereignty is understood in jurisprudence as the full right and power of a governing body to govern itself without any interference from outside sources or bodies. In political theory, sovereignty is a substantive term designating supreme authority over some polity.
argument of this unit
Nations are far less important than they once were.
The flow of people, capital, goods and ideas across international boundaries leads to loss of sovereignty and the demise of the nation state. The same time, the growth of trading blocs and TNCs heralds a new world order in which individual countries are less important than before.
definition of trading blocs
An arrangement among a group of nations to allow free trade between member countries but impose tariffs (charges) on other countries that may wish to trade with them.
pros and cons of TNCs for host countries
Advantages of TNCs for the host countries
- The development of energy resources
- FDI and aid
- Provision of capital equipment
- Development of resources and manufacturing
- Improvement in educational and technical skills
Disadvantages of TNCs for the host countries
- Local labours are exploited
- Local resources are exported
- The cost of manufactured products is beyond the range of local people
- Few skilled workers are employed
- Increased imports, notably oil, lead to increased national debt
- unaccountability
The power of TNCs
- Up to one-third of all trade is made up of internal transfers of TNCs. These transfers produce money for governments via taxes and levies.
- Economic power comes from the ownership of assets.
- Over 80 million people are employed in TNCs.
- Although many governments in developing countries own their own resources, TNCs still control the marking and transport of goods.
TNCs main strategies during world crisis
Reduced demands and increased competition create unfavourable economic conditions.
In order to survive and prosper, TNCs have used three main strategies:
- rationalisation — slimming down the workforce, which involves replacing people with machines
- reorganisation — including improvements in production, administration and marketing, such as an increase in the subcontracting of production
- diversification — developing new products
regulatory bodies
A regulatory body is an organization or agency responsible for exercising authority or control over some area of human activity in a regulatory or supervisory capacity.
Regulatory bodies may be set up to enforce standards and safety, to oversee use of public goods, and regulate commerce.
They include national governments, trading blocs and international organisations such as the IMF or WTO.
However, there is widespread criticism that many regulatory bodies have limited power, and that when faced with a powerful MEDC or TNC they capitulate to their wishes (YES!).
definiton of a State vs. a state
A State is a political unit that occupies a precisely defined, permanently populated territory (a country). It has full control over its internal and foreign affairs.
A state with a lower capital “s” is a lower-order political unit.
definition of a nation
a reasonably large group of people with a common culture that occupy a particular territory (e.g. Ireland and UK).
extended definition: a common community of people whose member are bound together together by the sense of solidarity rooted in an history attachment to a homeland and a common culture, and by a consciousness of being different from other nations.
As a result, nations share one or more important cultural traits such as religion, language, history, values and political institutions.
definition of a nation state
same as nation
Such an arrangement minimises conflicts and makes for strong states. On the other hand, there are strong states with sizeable minorities.
definition of nationalism
a political movement or believe that a holds that the nation has the right to an independent political development based on a shared history and common destiny
how was the concept of nation state spread
this western concept was spread through colonisation
Crucial to the development was the creation of a national identity that cut across class.
challenges to the concept of nations
nation states are rarely culturally unified
Most of them are the results of invasions, settlements and migrations, and contain within their borders people of different cultural and ethnic origins.
Moreover, the impacts of international migration in the process of globalisation challenged even further the idea of the nation state and sovereingnty.
globalisation vs. nationalism in the EU
In 1957 six European countries founded the European Economic Community (EEC) because:
- they desired closer union and greater economic and social progress
- trade had grown enormously since 1945
- to reduce the future prospect of war.
In 1986 the Single European Act introduced a rule of majority decisions, which greatly increased the powers of the Council of Ministers and the Parliament. It also introduced the goal of removing all barriers to trade by 1992. The Maastricht Treaty (1991) confirmed the agenda for the removal of trade barriers, a single currency (the “euro”) and a range of social regulations, and established the European Union.
The growth of the European Union would appear to be a strong symbol of globalisation. Member nations have given up some of their sovereignty and political power to a multinational government. The EU has moved beyond mere economic integration and has achieved some political, social and cultural integration. European integration since 1945 has partly been an attempt to prevent a world war from over occurring again. (Part of the desire to include Turkey in the European Union is to integrate a large Islamic state into the ED and reduce the possibility of war between Islam and the West.)
However, there has been reaction against the growth of the EU and its imposition of economic, political and social regulations. The UK and Denmark, for example, opted out of the single currency, deciding to retain their own. In Spain, Catalonia and Galicia have achieved significant autonomy.
As the EU has expanded it has become more diverse. Economically, socially and culturally it is more varied and divided than ever before. This diversity means that integration is likely to be less complete than when there were fewer member countries. Being large may help economic prospects (a larger market, for example) and political ones (less chance of war), but national identity and regional cooperations are likely to become more important over time.
Globalisation versus regionalism
While Globalisation of economic activity certainly occurred, and there is evidence of a new international division of labour, political and cultural values have often created new feelings of regional identity. Within major trading blocs such as the EU there are very strong nationalist tendencies, scubas within Spain or UK (true!).
anti-globalism
- Developed in the late 20th century
- Seeks to protect the world’s population and ecosystem from what they believe to be the damaging effects of globalisation, though the issue is more complicated than that, globalisation sometimes actually helps ecosystems, etc.
- It includes diverse and sometimes opposing understandings of the globalisation process, and incorporates alternatives visions, strategies and tactics. This, in the view of critics, creates chaos and is simply a very unorganised movement.
- They occur in both the developed and developing world, though the developed is louder. It is fueled by anger over threat of outsourcing, rising unemployment, loss of culture and smaller wages in the developed world. In the developing, it is seen as a threat to their economy, culture, social values and political independence.
Why?
- Multinational corporations are seen as having privileges (ruling elites) that most human persons do not have, as they have, for example, capital
- Those firms can freely cross borders, utilising natural & human resources as they please.
- Exploration of poverty (cheap labour, child labour: in countries that do not have regulatory bodies to protect resources)
- Environmental degradation
- Global sharing of environmental resources is virtually non-existent
- Easier spread of disease (shrinking world)
- Tax havens (to attract large TNCs and the consequential FDI for the host country)
- Concentration of wealth (rich are getting richer way faster than the poor are lifted from poverty)
- Social inequality (gender and ethnic group oppression, indigenous peoples’ fight for survival)
- Militarisation, migration and discrimination
