The politics of glocalization in the European Union

Problems and Issues

Statement of the problem

“Glocalization” has changed the economic premises upon which the postwar social democratic model was based, altered the distribution of power amongst major economic and social players, and diminished the effectiveness and scope of traditional electoral politics and instruments of democratic representation and accountability. Moreover, it has significantly altered the nature of political power and put into question the efficiency of traditional democratic instruments of representation.

Global issues such as economic and financial stability, trade and migration affect the daily lives of citizens within national confines and alter the manner in which national, international, regional and municipal political agendas are defined. Moreover, decisions affecting social and economic life are often beyond the scope of civil society and state governance. “Glocalization” has enlarged the realm of politics and altered the nature of governance, but not the instruments and modalities of exercizing citizenship.

Political parties in particular have had difficulty in developing proposals or innovative solutions to address the changed democratic process, reconcile efficiency with equity, or deal with the gap of representation between global issues and local life, including conditions upon which the social democratic model can prosper.

The complexity of macro-economic management, the demise of political ideologies and the mismatch between political demands and governance structures have given a technocratic orientation to political life. Lower voter turnout, unclear electoral majorities, voters swaying between left and right extremes all show a decline in confidence in national politics. They also underscore the chasm between the mechanisms of representation, electoral politics and what citizens perceive as effective choice. The consequence is to increase political appeal of strong and often populist leadership.

An emerging global civil society with its own transnational political culture sets new standards for political life by imposing changes to national and corporate political agendas, and fostering a new conscience regarding “global public spaces”. But the emergence of a global civil society has not diminished the shortcomings of political institutions in addressing new problems and representing new social actors. It has not closed the gap between electoral politics and the governance of globalization.

The constitutional crisis of the European Union is evidence of these facts. Notwithstanding a carefully built architecture of governance, the achievements of the common currency and the success of incorporating new members, the politics of European Union remain fraught with governance difficulties and controversies between perceived national interests and common goals.

Issues to be Highlighted

• To what extent are the challenges of globalization driving or otherwise influencing the European constitutional and integration debates? Is the integration model of the EU by-passed by the challenges of globalization? Are there alternative institutional models of political and economic integration, and what are their governance prerequisites and shortcomings?
• In the light of the EU experience, is reliance on national parliaments alone a sufficient response to the challenge of creating a transnational democracy in the era of global governance?
• Is the discussion on the European social model relevant to the challenges of globalization? How does this model deal with the key issues regarding the global mobility of firms, capital and people inside the Union? How does it position Europe in the context of a search for differentiated political alternatives to problems of globalisation?
• How does the Governance debate positions the EU on such global governance targets as: reform of the international financing system, trade and migration? What bearing does the policy outcome of the EU debate has to the role of Europe in leading issues regarding global governance?
• How have new global security challenges affected the evolution of EU’s common foreign, security and defence policy?
• To what extent does the European Union provide a benchmark for other transnational associations of global regiones in Asia, Latin America and elsewhere, and to what extent do such developments indicate alternative routes for the EU?
• What initiatives can we expect from the European Union in building a new architecture for global governance?
• What lessons can be drawn for the debate on alternative forms of governance from attempts to develop a transnational democracy within the European Union?