Introduction
Recent decades have experienced revolutionary changes in the most important spheres of social life. Globalization is the growing number of economic integrations around the world, including the movement of products, services, technologies, and information beyond the borders of a single country. Globalization, democracy, and economic development are considered to have advanced in tandem. Access to international markets provides many strategic advantages for states. Meanwhile, the process of globalization involves mainly democratic states and those trying to implement democratic governance (Welzel et al., 2018).
The nature and prospects of democratization are determined by the combination of socio-economic, cultural, and political features of a country, as well as the impact of the international environment. Examining the effects of globalization on democracy is one of the priority areas of contemporary political science (Welzel et al., 2018). Thus, it is essential to establish a connection between democratization and globalization.
Concepts and Understanding of Democratization and Globalization
It is crucial to emphasize that one of the types of political process is democratization, which is extremely widespread and relevant not only in academic circles but in society as a whole. In the most general sense, democratization is considered a transition from non-democratic to democratic forms of government. The broader use of this concept to characterize various types of social transformations associated with the democratic wave is not always justified (Welzel et al., 2018).
The reason is that the process of democratization does not always lead to the establishment of modern democracy. Some researchers suggest using a different concept of ‘democratic transit,’ which does not imply a mandatory transition to democracy but points to the fact that democratization is a process with uncertain outcomes (Welzel et al., 2018). Therefore, these scholars distinguish democratization itself as the emergence of democratic institutions and practices and consolidation of democracy as a possible outcome of democratization. Accordingly, this implies a transition to modern democracy based on consolidating democratic institutions, procedures, and values.
In addition, the objective global process of integration and unification, referred to as globalization, has a tremendous impact on all spheres of society today. Globalization is a historical process of convergence of nations and peoples, between which traditional boundaries are gradually being erased. The term ‘globalization’ was introduced into scientific vocabulary relatively recently, in 1983, and originally meant the phenomenon of merging markets for products manufactured by individual corporations (Beck, 2018). Nowadays, the term is widely used not only and not so much in the economic sense but to characterize the features of the modern stage of the world’s development in various fields. This definition includes a wide range of global processes: scientific, technical, economic, social, and political (Beck, 2018). Accordingly, it increasingly ties countries and regions into a single world community and national and regional economies into a single world economy.
The positions of scholars who argue about the effects of globalization can be divided into three groups. The proponents of globalization insist on the benefits that globalization brings with it. The spread of the principle of liberal economy and market relations due to globalization is consistent with human nature (Vlados, Chatzinikolaou and Iqbal, 2022). Globalization contributes to the narrowing of state prerogatives and the expansion of democratic human rights and freedoms. It leads to a dissolution of nations and states in more complex international structures, which contributes to overcoming authoritarianism in political relations and the elimination of totalitarian consciousness (Vlados, Chatzinikolaou and Iqbal, 2022). The main merit of globalization is that it contributes to the democratization of social progress in general and the orientation toward law as the only way to resolve conflicts.
On the contrary, individuals who do not support globalization believe that globalization not only does not promote a free market and fair competition on a global scale but also leads to a concentration of capital in the most developed countries. The gap between them and underdeveloped countries is not only not shrinking but is growing. This phenomenon is called the digital divide (Guzel, Arslan and Acaravci, 2021). That is when some countries already widely use digital technologies and develop new areas of technological processes, such as nanotechnology, while others are not able to solve their infrastructure and industrial problems. For instance, while new technologies are being developed in the United States and technological changes are constantly taking place, Brazil is their consumer (Guzel, Arslan and Acaravci, 2021). As a result, globalization only enhances the status of already developed countries and does not contribute to the development of others.
On the other hand, skeptics reject extreme positions in assessing the consequences of globalization. They question both the conclusions about its beneficial mission and the assessments of its devastating impact on human civilization. The main idea of skeptics is that the processes designated by the term ‘globalization’ are objective and inevitable (Collins, 2019). They indeed provide countries and peoples with new opportunities but also present them with new challenges, which inevitably require a strong and effective state. Only such a state is capable of resisting the ideology of rich countries’ globalism and of developing a strategy for conscious adaptation to the demands of the new era (Collins, 2019).
Hence, they assert that even the constant expansion of globalization processes cannot ensure the development of democracy. For example, China and India are widely integrated into global politics, but they are more critical in the process of democratization than Western countries (Collins, 2019). Accordingly, these three main ideas about the consequences of globalization are the main reasons for the connection between globalization and democratization.
Positive Impact of Globalization on Democracy
The process of economic globalization finds the reflection, first of all, in a comprehensive expansion of the sphere of action of the world market of capital, raw materials, and labor force, absorbing the markets regional and local. Another global process that is characteristic of the modern world is the growth of private and the reduction of state capital in all spheres of human activity. This process, which has gained momentum since the late 1970s, makes private-capitalist interests predominate in the modern world community rather than public-political ones (Williams and McDonald, 2018). Nowadays, private capital can transcend state boundaries without problems.
The integration of states now becomes secondary to the integration of the economic structures of the world community. As a result, individual states’ military and political expansion is now supplanted by the ubiquitous expansion of transnational corporations into which the capital of the most diverse national firms in the modern world is integrated. Consequently, even the economic integration of states in the framework of globalization contributes to the democratization of societies that want to be included in the distribution of international benefits (Williams and McDonald, 2018). Moreover, they are reluctant to engage in authoritarian wars and actions for the benefit of economic alliances and advantages.
The economic core of the modern world community is the world market, within which the modern countries of the world interact with each other more closely. This cooperation favors the widespread affirmation of the market socio-economic system and, with it, democracy or its initial forms (Williams and McDonald, 2018). In the process of globalization, democracy, which ensures freedom of enterprise, is defeating totalitarianism in most parts of the world. A growing number of countries are implementing modern constitutional, judicial, parliamentary, and multi-party systems (Williams and McDonald, 2018).
In any case, by the beginning of the 21st century, they had already become fully democratic in 30 countries, or in more than 10% of all countries of the modern world (Akinola, 2018, p. 35). These are predominantly the countries of North America and Western and Northern Europe. Many Latin American, Asia, and African countries are also introducing democratic principles (Akinola, 2018). Among the nations whose population least enjoys democratic rights, the following are leading: Afghanistan, Iran, most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, Cuba, Iraq, North Korea, China, and the post-Soviet states of Central Asia. Nevertheless, there has been a movement in the area of democratization in these countries.
Accordingly, through the process of economic globalization and the expansion of cooperation, the struggle for human rights and pluralism of opinion has gained prominence worldwide. This is necessary to create a prosperous society in an era of rapidly advancing scientific and technological revolution (Sachs, 2019). In October 1998, even communist China signed the International Declaration of Human and Civil Rights, including freedom of speech (Chu, 2021).
Since the beginning of the democratic process, the country has been flooded with foreign tourists, and Chinese citizens freely visit foreign countries. In Iran, in May 2000, the parliament began to function, and the majority of the deputies were supporters of democratic reforms in this country (Chu, 2021). Countries with transitional socio-economic systems are experiencing various intermediate stages of the democratization process. A comprehensive and ever-increasing exchange of political, economic, and technical information plays a significant role in this process (Chu, 2021). Humanity has always progressed through the international exchange of knowledge and experience; now, this process has become extremely intense.
The borders of most of the world’s countries are becoming transparent and readily crossable for economic, political, and cultural interaction between populations. This creates a powerful impetus for the further comprehensive development of science, technology, and culture (Haynes et al., 2017). Meanwhile, the process of globalization does not always proceed painlessly, causing protests from a number of social strata in many countries of the world. For instance, the authoritarian powers do not desire to implement the policy of globalization, not to change the form of power in the states (Haynes et al., 2017). Hence, globalization becomes an opportunity for the development of democratic approaches, even in countries that gravitate to the authoritarian style of governance.
The Negative Effects of Globalization on Democratization
In the theory of international relations, it is generally accepted that democracies do not fight each other. On the contrary, democracies have a strong stabilizing effect on global processes (Hough et al., 2020). From an economic point of view, this can be justified by the fact that war causes losses, destruction, and suffering, which are incompatible not only with universal values but also with the essential prerequisites for increasing social welfare. If politicians are truly concerned about the welfare of their constituents, they will try to avoid actions that will result in obvious losses (Hough et.al., 2020).
In contrast, autocracies are prone to violence due to a lack of respect for rights and an absence of political competition. Their tendency to focus resources on violence is because the ability to shift the burden of war to society is limited only by a strategic assessment of power reserves. The possibility of political upheaval is also higher in autocracies, which often does not guarantee less violence, especially when it comes to the struggle for raw material rents.
This political-economic approach has proven to be a strong archetype of international politics. The question of how globalization correlates with the spread of democracy has ceased to be a matter of abstract debate (Canterbury, 2019). The benefits of participation in globalization have shaped the international policy agenda of the last few decades. Moreover, many structural reforms in different parts of the world were initiated in the context of adapting to global competitive pressures (Canterbury, 2019). The same was related to the search for an optimal format for accepting the fact that countries with varying political regimes are involved in globalization.
However, there is an assumption that globalization has a positive impact on the spread of democracy, mainly through the channel of trade, which is accompanied by improved access to information, which in turn fuels the competition of ideas. However, more complex channels also exist; as welfare increases as a result of economic openness, the demand for rights protection increases. Changes in the nature of income distribution have a significant impact on changes in the distribution of political power (Cafruny and Fouskas, 2023). While openness creates new social configurations for those who benefit from globalization, they, in turn, provide pressure for social change toward democratization and reforms that establish the rule of law.
At the same time, there is evidence that globalization is not a sufficient condition for the spread of democracy. Instead, the relationship between globalization and democracy is a two-way street. Globalization creates incentives to demand the benefits of a democratic regime (Cafruny and Fouskas, 2023). Moreover, a democratic regime makes it possible to implement policies that mitigate the losses from globalization. That is, to distribute the benefits of globalization relatively evenly and to prevent political pressure from interest groups trying to shift the burden of global competition to others, thereby undermining the social base of those interested in openness.
It has emerged that in the presence of significant raw material rents, globalization has not only failed to strengthen the trend toward democratization. On the contrary, it generates additional sources and opportunities for preserving the autocratic regime (You, 2018). Global demand for raw materials, pushing prices, has created a powerful precondition for commodity autocracies to become more powerful than ever. The same can be applied to China, which has benefited from globalization the most, but which has also seen its democratization processes in Tiananmen Square (You, 2018). In recent years, the tightening of authoritarian control over society has only intensified. For instance, they suppressed the protests in Hong Kong, put pressure on prominent business people through selective regulatory actions on access to the stock market, and introduced a social rating system (You, 2018). It is possible that the active promotion of the digital yuan may reflect a trend toward the transformation of digital currency into an additional tool for controlling society.
In parallel with the process of strengthening autocracies through the benefits of participation in globalization, the phenomenon of hybrid interaction between openness and the political regime has also formed. Relatively weak democracies have proved to be extremely vulnerable to being easily corrupted by more aggressive autocracies with significant resources, turning them into raw material appendages to their metropolitan areas (Waltz, 2001).
Alternatively, they can be transformed into additional votes in international organizations on issues of interest. Contrary to expectations, the growing dissatisfaction with globalization has enhanced the dependence of democracies on autocracies. The former found it simpler to achieve electoral success through access to the new and growing markets of a number of dictatorships than by pursuing difficult reforms, the agreements on which have destroyed many a ruling coalition (Waltz, 2001). This has generated confidence in the autocracies that human values and the protection of rights are no longer imperatives in the policies of developed countries.
Access to their own market or price discrimination in the trade of raw materials has become a weapon of autocracies. They target developed democracies, and the export of corruption, political instability, and power projection have evolved an additional factor in the frustration of international institutions (Pan, 2022). The expansionism of autocracies, whose prosperity was spurred by globalization, has become a key factor in geopolitical instability, pushing aside ‘traditional’ problems of international politics, such as ethnic conflicts, religious fundamentalism, drug trafficking, and terrorism. This was especially evident during the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 (Pan, 2022). As a result, developed countries have found themselves in a weak position because they have become dependent on autocracies while strengthening globalization policies and democratic principles.
Now, developed countries need to rebuild their energy infrastructure to achieve autonomy. The reason for this is that the war in Ukraine has demonstrated that globalization is not a sufficient condition for the democratization of the world, and the asymmetry of benefits from globalization undermines global political stability (Figus and Petrillo, 2022). This occurs both by increasing the vulnerability of developed countries to populism and by redistributing global wealth in favor of regimes prone to violent actions. Therefore, globalization also has a negative impact on democratic processes and their strength.
Conclusion
Therefore, the processes of democracy development are closely intertwined with other global and civilizational processes, primarily globalization. However, globalization does not always contribute to the development of democratic institutions and consolidation of democracy, especially in countries with incomplete modernization and incomplete democratic transition. In general, globalization promotes close economic, technical, and social cooperation between states, which gradually influences the expansion of democracy as a form of government. Meanwhile, recently, the globalization process has included states that are trying to preserve their authoritarian regimes, and democratic states are cooperating with them for the sake of common demands. As a result, globalization not only tends to increase democratization but also to reduce its value on the world stage. As a result, globalization and democratization are closely related, but their impact on each other is not unambiguous.
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