La mondialisation, l'Etat-nation et le déficit démocratique

Saskia Sassen soutient, dans un article rédigé pour le think-tank Open Democracy, que le changement administratif proposé par Gordon Brown, impliquant la Chambre des Communes dans toute une série d’affaires publiques normalement attribuées à l’exécutif et dans les négociations des accords internationaux, représente une nouvelle étape pour les Etats libéraux.

The paper addresses the issue of globalisation with regard to the democratic deficit and refers to recent political developments in the UK and the US. 

According to the author, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s proposals showed the right way to address the global trend of the democratic deficit in that they would lead to a redistribution of power between the executive and legislative branches.

The author refutes the popular assumption that globalisation causes a weakening of the whole state, a point that was highlighted by Gordon Brown in his political programme. She sees a more complex system in which some branches of the state gain power, while legislative power is weakened regarding the various policies promoting privatisation and liberalisation. 

This economic trend of liberalisation eliminates some  »oversight functions » and thus hollows the legislative branch of government, Sassen says. 

The US, UK and France reinforced their executive power and therefore generated a democratic deficit in the 1980s, regardless of the political parties, notes the author. Moreover, supranational regulators such as the WTO or IMF negotiated with the executive, which became more ‘international’.

The author therefore measures the historical significance of Gordon Brown’s proposal by referring to the political experience of the United States – where the implementation of deregulation and privatisation policies has had its own autonomous effect on the distribution of power. Certain parts of the government have become stronger due to globalisation, she argues.

Economic globalisation has its own effects – separate from questions of national security – in sharpening executive power and in undermining the legislature, concludes the paper.