Page 207 - Contemporary Political Sociology Globalization Politics and Power

Chapter 5

Globalization and Democracy

Political sociology is concerned, above all, with the study of the empirical
conditions within which power is exercised and constrained. It is a distinc-
tive enterprise in this respect, different from political theory and political
philosophy, which deal with conceptual analysis and normative justifi ca-
tions. Separation of the empirical, analytic, and normative dimensions of
the study of democracy cannot be made neatly, however; analyzing
democracy in practice necessarily involves normative questions. Democracy
is not just an ideal of political theory; in practice, it should live up to

at least some of the most significant elements of what we think it should
be. Otherwise, use of the term “ democracy ” is nothing more than
propaganda.
There are two main ways in which globalization calls existing forms
of representative democracy into question. The fi rst concerns state auton-
omy and sovereignty, which we explored in chapter 2 . To be sure, state
autonomy has always been compromised in relation to capitalism. It is
not just Marxists who have been concerned that where states are respon-
sible for economic management, business lobbyists have a built - in advan-
tage beyond that of money: what is good for business is, almost by

definition, what is good for the national economy and, therefore, for the

government. With increased flows of finance capital, investment by mul-

tinational corporations, and global markets, however, the picture becomes
even more complex: the very idea of states managing “ national ” econo-
mies starts to look outdated. What has to be managed is a global economy,
which has different consequences for those living in different national
territories, but which has its own dynamics beyond the control of any
single state.