Term Paper on "Legitimization and Effectiveness of Denationalization Processes"

Term Paper 13 pages (3695 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Legitimization and Effectiveness of Denationalization Processes

The work of Zangl and Zurn entitled: "The Effects of Denationalization on Security in the OECD World" published by the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies" states: "Denationalization can partly explain not only the outstanding and unprecedented success with which nation states in the OECD world are today able to provide external defense and ensure the rule of law, but also their growing inability to adequately secure their legitimate monopoly of force and to provide sufficient internal protection. This transformation in the provision of security by states within the OECD world has far-reaching consequences for international politics." (1998) the work of Perez (2006) entitled: "The Internationalization of Lawmaking Processes: Constraining or Empowering the Executive?" relates the suggestion that "globalization and the proliferation of international regimes have contributed to constrain the executive power, compromising state sovereignty."

I. DENATIONALIZATION

Denationalization or to 'denationalize' is defined as "...to divest of national character or rights" and "to remove from ownership or control by the national government" (Merriam-Webster, 2008) the work of Paul van Seters entitled "Communitarianism and Law" states "Political parties may have many prudent reasons to avoid Europeanization and denationalization of their rivalry in the public sphere. It involves the risk of party schism, the loss of political capital of older generations of leaders and activists, a struggle for power between politicians of large states and politicians of small states, an increase of transaction costs of politics and costs of campaigning, basic uncertainty about the relation between loss of old constituencies and gain of new ones, the danger of artificial divisiveness regarding European policies, and the familiar dark side of international public associations (lack of engagement, corruption, bureaucratization, irresponsibility in financial and economic matters, and hypocrisy in legal and moral matters)." (2005) According to van Setters the communitarian case for European integration."..seems weak. On the one hand, communitarian philosophers and social scientists argue that the European scale is too large to engender common values and norms in society and coherent laws and policies in politics. On the other hand, historians and experts in comparative studies argue that the European Union is neither a community nor a state but a joint venture of governments for control of state rule and national passion in an expanding region. Member states may represent real communities in the spirit of representative and participatory democracy. But they cannot create an overarching community of communities, neither by democratic means nor by authoritarian ones." (Van Seters, 2005)

II. FORMATION of NEW INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

Zurn writes in the work entitled: "Global Governance and Legitimacy Problems" that while the traditional institutional norms were previously viewed as "an international complement to a dominantly national paradigm, today's international institutions are an expression of political denationalization. The new international institutions are much more intrusive into national societies than the traditional ones." (2004) Stated as the reason is the containment of "supranational and transnational features" which are increasingly undermining the "consensus principle of international cooperation." (Zurn, 2004) When these changes are comprehended by society and political actors, they then "begin to reflect on the features of a legitimate and effective political order beyond national borders." (Zurn, 2004) the result is stated to be that denationalization "...becomes reflexive and thus politicized." (Zurn, 2004) Simultaneously, "the politicization of international politics harbors the potential for resistance to political denationalization, which increases the need...for the legitimation of such international institutions." (Zurn, 2004) Zurn relates that in normative terms there exists an agreement that is broad in nature and that holds that the "functioning of international institutions such as the WTO or the UN does not meet democratic standards." (2004)

III. DEMOCRATIC DEFICITS

Stated as 'democratic deficits' are:

1) the lack of identifiable decision-makers who are directly accountable for wrong decisions-making processes and thus the advantage the executive decision-makers have over others in terms of information;

2) the prime actors in international politics (multinational business and the superpowers) are at best only accountable to a fraction of the people affected by their activities;

3) Most deficits cannot easily be remedied because the democratic majority decisions depend 'in descriptive terms' and 'at least partially' on "a political community built on trust and solidarity." (Zurn, 2004)

In relation to the 'descriptive perspective' or in relation to 'societal acceptance' the democratic deficit of international institutions was viewed for an extended time as "a purely academic problem" however there has been a shift in focus accompanied by "massive protests, partly violent, at major meetings of international institutions" such as that in Seattle and Genoa and including at EU summit talks (Nice, Gothenburg) and as well that has been noted to be a rise in the "right-wing populist tirades against the EU and other international institutions." (Zurn, 2004) Zurn notes that in the United States, "objections by national parliaments...to international agreements..." (Zurn, 2004)

Zurn relates that taking activities of other states under consideration has been the only manner in which states have been able to achieve their political goals entirely since states "only actually became states by being acknowledged as such by other states, and the territorial integrity of a state was unquestionably influenced by the expansionary plans of neighboring states." (Zurn, 2004) From this view states interdependence is "a constitutive characteristics of the modern state system." (Zurn, 2004)

IV the SPREAD of INDUSTRIALIZATION

Zurn relates that as industrialization spread in the 19th century that the interdependence "extended into the economic and thus societal sphere" and that the international system of states was "for a long time...unable to cope with the interdependence of societies and the increase of transborder externalities." (Zurn, 2004) One example provided is that it has been demonstrated by economic historians that "the world economic crisis of 1929 was not a direct consequence of the so-called Black Friday, but in fact brought about by the reaction of the major trading nations to the sudden fall in stock-market prices." (2004) the reaction from states with economic importance was to increase their customs tariffs and devaluation of their currencies in order to protect their own economy from the crisis. The result was a breakdown in world trade in total and the Great Depression. (Zurn, 2004; paraphrased) Since the ending of World War II the western world has been stated to have been able to "turn economic interdependence to their advantage..." And that this success "can be attributed to the international institutions established after World War II under the leadership of the U.S.A., and of which the economic institutions were of particular significance." (Zurn, 2004) Zurn notes the international trade regime (GATT) as well as the regimes, which regulate currency and financial affairs and their creation of "an institutional framework without which the world-wide post-war economic boom would not have been possible." (2004) it is related that embedded liberalism was the facilitator of "relatively unrestrained economic trade among all industrial countries, but still left room for different national political and societal structures." (Zurn, 2004) According to Zurn the challenges that nation-states face in their attempt to accomplished their goals in governance "do not...directly translate into the 'fall' or 'retreat of the nation-state'." (2004) While the challenges are often serious in nature the outcome is for the greatest part determined "by political responses to them and not to the challenges themselves." (Zurn, 2004)

V. RESPONDING to GLOBALIZATION'S CHALLENGES

There are various ways that governments and other political organizations can provide response to globalization's challenges and Zurn states that the most frequent of all responses is "the establishment of international institutions." (2004) Therefore, it is held by Zurn that "embedded liberalism has a dynamic of its own: the growing numbers of international institutions since World War II has made national borders less significant for societal transactions (societal denationalization) and this in turn has led to an increase in the number and political scope of international institutions (political denationalization)." (Zurn, 2004) the economic policies were in the beginning under the guidance of the Bretton Woods institutions however, in the ongoing political denationalization these institutions have "become involved in a whole range of conceivable policy areas." (Zurn, 2004) the international institutions in the present delve deeply into the national systems while historically they granted a large degree of autonomy to the national political systems.

VI. INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONS & the 'NEW QUALITY'

There has been a growth in the numbers of international agreements between governments growing from 15,000 in 1960 to more than 55,000 in 1997 and Zurn states that "a similar growth rate is measured in the annual ratification of multilateral treaties." (2004) These growth rates falling just short of "central globalization indicators" and exceeding growth rates in national legislation are in the primary areas of international economic and international environmental policy however there has also been a great deal of growth in the areas of both security and human rights policy. Accompanying the "increase in international agreements" is "a growing intensity in transgovernmental relations through the building up of networks among various national state authorities such as regulatory bodies, courts, executive bodies… READ MORE

How to Reference "Legitimization and Effectiveness of Denationalization Processes" Term Paper in a Bibliography

Related Term Papers:

Process Designs and Supply Chains Essay

Operations Management

Improving a Process at Apple

In any organization there will be numerous small processes which are part of the larger operations of the firm, either forming part of… read more

Essay 3 pages (870 words) Sources: 3 Topic: Business / Corporations / E-commerce

---

Process Identification Essay

Toyota Process Improvements

Toyota Summary

Despite its many struggles, Toyota has become a global behemoth in the automobile, as well as other, industries around the world. Indeed, they have jostled… read more

Essay 4 pages (1449 words) Sources: 4 Topic: Business / Corporations / E-commerce

---

2011 Norway Attacks Effectiveness of the Response Essay

2011 Norway attacks

Effectiveness of the response of the Police response in conjunction with emergency services and other key stakeholders

Flawed communication system

Bureaucratic failings as a source of security… read more

Essay 13 pages (3954 words) Sources: 30 Topic: Terrorism / Extremism / Radicalization

---

Toyota-2 the Chief Process Improvement Essay

Toyota-2

The chief process improvement that Toyota needs to undertake involves restructuring its company objectives. Traditionally, Toyota was a company that built a solid reputation for safety and reliability while… read more

Essay 6 pages (1810 words) Sources: 6 Topic: Transportation / Mass Transit

---

View 100+ more related papers  >>