Description
Globalization has grown much since 1980s. What political trends have been associated with this growth? Economic globalization, according to some economic theories, has adverse consequences for labor, especially less skilled labor, in the rich democracies. If these voters are the median, then we might expect political parties to respond to this by turning against globalization and the openness to flows of goods, services, people and capital that it brings. Some have hypothesized that social welfare spending can offset this negative impact of globalization. First, I ask if these pressures from globalization have been mitigated by social welfare policies or by strong left-labor coalitions, as earlier research claimed? Extending the research of Garrett {1998}, I inquire whether globalization has led to less room to maneuver in terms of welfare state policies. Second, given the negative impact of globalization on some groups, I examine whether (some) political parties have turned against economic openness? Expanding on the research of Burgoon {2009}, I ask whether political parties in the advanced industrial countries have adopted more anti-internationalist platforms as globalization has advanced. Finally, will these pressures domestically lead to worse relations with developing countries? I explore how the rise of populism in the West is affecting international politics and relations with developing countries. The evidence suggests that globalization is associated with more constraints on welfare states and with a political turn to anti-internationalism that could negatively affect relations with developing countries.
