Congratulations!
All India UPSC Essay Competition
Anna Dominic
All India Rank: 17th
Prize: CL Course worth Rs. 10k.
- UPSC attempt given before- NO
- Pre-qualified - NO
- Main Qualified- No
- Final Selected - No
- Graduation: 12 th passed
- College:Holy Ghost Convent Girls Higher Secondary school Aluva , Ernakulam , Kerala.
Globalization & its impact on Democracy
Globalization is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. Globalization has grown due to advances in transportation and communication technology. With the increased global interactions comes the growth of international trade, ideas, and culture. Globalization is primarily an economic process of interaction and integration that's associated with social and cultural aspects. The effects of globalization on democracy have been mostly negative. The benefits of globalization have gone to multi-national corporations. As long as a corporation functions in one country, it works under the laws of that country. That is simple and straightforward. Any taxation done by the national government hits the corporation in the same way as citizens and companies there. On the other hand: a multinational corporation can move its manufacturing, storage, shipping, administration etc. to the place that is most beneficial for itself. Globalisation is a process of making the world inter dependent and inter connected. It is founded on the principle of liberalism/neo-liberalism. Liberalism promotes liberty or freedom which is also the most powerful pillar of democracy. Moreover, globalisation believes in consensus-based decision making or in other words, it demands participation of all nations in decision making. This is again one of the core values of democracy. This, globalisation creates a conducive environment to speed up the process of democratisation. Globalization has been going on since the beginning of the industrial revolution for over two hundred years now. Each new advance of technology makes the world just that much smaller and it's effects are the same today as at beginning. However, there is a recently created force in the world that is known as "corporate globalization" that started gaining momentum in the 80's until today. Prior to that, democracy did seem to be spreading around the world voluntarily after WWII and after the demise of colonialism. Then another spurt of democracy in eastern Europe after fall of Communist Russia. But since then all democracies are weakening in the face of "corporate globalization". This sudden world domination by multi-national corporations with power exceeding a majority of national governments around the world has challenged even the sovereignty of most countries to rule themselves. Also, corporate globalization is based on brutal capitalism in it's most cruel and cold hearted form and invades even the most powerful countries of the world. And being capitalist means being anti-democracy. It appears that all democracies will weaken and fade in the future and never be restored for the sake and benefit of corporate globalization. In fact the world political theorists and ideologists have little to focus on the quality of governance that the democracy offers or the alternate options that other political systems can offer. Then the UN’s insistence over the democracy overtime reduces the chances for an alternate economic/political system to rise to the success. So far globalization means globalization of the democracy and open economy under the umbrella of the UN. Once both drives suffer huge deficits and losses, then the world will call for a correction. It will slowly but surely bring about a near universal system of corporatocracy. "Where Globalisation means as it so often does, that the rich and powerful now have the new means to further enrich and empower themselves at the cost of the poorer and weaker,we have a responsibility to protest in the name of universal freedom" . - Nelson Mandela.