Global-Local Politics Midterm Study Guide
Part I: Markets, Global Linkages, Hierarchy, and Democratic Culture
Class Propositions
1. Market Size Division of Labor Wealth
As the “extent of the market” grows, it permits a more advanced division of labor, the prime
moving force generating the wealth of nations
o This is basically the argument set forward by Adam Smith in the reading
o This is the historically dominant economic proposition
But as Smith specified, limits are imposed by tariffs, government regulations, and the
technology of the time that limit the communication and delivery possibilities for many
market goods, especially those involving perishables or personal contacts
But recent decades have seen major changes: drops in tariffs since the end of the Cold War
and better transportation and communication (air travel, fax, internet, etc.)
1A) Lower Tariffs and Government Restrictions Larger Markets
1B) Higher Technology for Transportation and Communication Larger Markets and Shared Media
Access, i.e. Potential Globalization
2. Openness of Market or Linkage of Domestic Economy with global economy, generating international
or global linkage
Global linkages substitutes for size of national markets and allows persons in nearly any one
country to participate in a global advanced division of labor
For example, persons in India or Bangladesh can do telecommunications or software work for
American companies
This is the argument set forward in the T. Friedman reading
2A) Global Market Openness (Linkage) Substitute for national market size Wealth
2B) Global Linkage More potentially Shared Cultural Comm. More Globally Shared Views
Clearly 2A and 2B are qualified by local and national tastes, values and traditions, which vary
in the extent to which they encourage or resist global “commodification” in entertainment
(Hollywood/Sony), consumption (McDonalds food), and deeper values (politics and religion)
Each is partially distinct and differentially embraced by different social strata, leading to a
corollary proposition, 2C
2C) Persons more educated in strong nationalist, hierarchical, or anti-market cultures are more likely
to resist the processes of global exchange
3. Linkage between economic changes and political culture?
Global linkages diffuse global cultural elements throughout the world, including the ideals of
democracy, freedom and equality (Northwest European or New Political Culture)
Why and how do cultural changes occur?
o Some economic and technical determinists see culture as derivative (Friedman)
o Others specific economic, political, and social factors generating cultural change
(Clark & Hoffman-Martinot, 37)
o Others see cultural institutions as having their own internal dynamics
In all three instances, integration into larger global frameworks often brings greater
integration into a shared global political discourse and culture, broadly democratic,
egalitarian, and individualistic
See the J. Friedman and T. Friedman readings
4. With globalization, two sorts of challenges potentially undermine older forms of economic and social
hierarchies
First is competition in price, quality, and efficiency
,Global-Local Politics Midterm Study Guide
o Overseas competition and new firms challenge older, less adaptable companies,
such as General Motors and IBM
Second, egalitarian ideals and collegial models of work and personal relations undermine the
legitimacy of traditional hierarchies in families, work places, and civic/religious institutions,
especially weakening the allegiance of persons lower in status
o Global cultural impacts thus spread egalitarian ideals among women, minorities,
and younger persons, especially students and intellectuals, encouraging them to
challenge social hierarchies
4A) Market Openness/Linkage Efficiency via Innovation, Competition Economic Development
Undermine Traditional Economic Hierarchies
4B) Egalitarian Ideals New Political Culture Undermine Traditional political, social Hierarchies
5. Marxists argue that capitalist expansion (or economic development0 is the prime force of history (or
independent variable), which destroys traditional hierarchies. What replaces them?
Neo-Marxists argue that under “late capitalism” global forces generate monopolies that are
world-wide in scope
But later under socialism, previously private functions are taken over by state agencies (basic
economic functions, planning, production of many goods and services, plus expanding
welfare-state services)
o See J. Friedman readings for neo-Marxist argumentation
5A) Global Capitalism Larger Markets More Monopolistic Companies
5B) State Socialism State Control of Economy
6. Non-Marxist observers suggest that globalization increases demand for talented professionals and
managers who can adapt to new technologies and have a global conceptual framework
They are correspondingly reward more, compared to less skilled workers, especially those in
sectors declining through global competition, whose salaries thus fall
Overall, this generates more inequality in income although ideally it would be measured by
status level of the occupation and the sector, with each classified by degree of global
interdependence
o Sassen attempts this for the financial sector in New York, but traditional census
data do not permit precise breakdowns
The impacts of such private sector dynamics on net income depends, however, on
government policies, which often explicitly counter potential inequalities through taxes,
welfare-state programs, and public goods available to all citizens
o Classical socialist governments as well as corporatist and the “Asian economic
model” sharply contrast with the free market model in mediating global forces
See Sassen and Robert Reich
6A) Global Interdependence More Demand for Talent Shifts in Income
6B) Income Inequalities and income job changes by sector Political pressures to respond to new
violations of equality norms Public goods policies and/or redistribution of income directly and via
tariffs, subsidies, etc.
Proposition 6B qualifies 6A, which operates largely in the private sector
The amount and success of these political processes depends fundamentally on the following:
o The global spread of egalitarian ideals and practices, such as social movement
protests, linkages to international organizations (esp. NGOs) with similar concerns
o The amount of political pressure that dissatisfied constituents mobilize
Clearly these two shift with impacts from globalization
,Global-Local Politics Midterm Study Guide
In more strong-state contexts, pressures toward income redistribution are more likely, while
in weak-state, and strong civic contexts, the NGOs (civic associations) are more key actors on
specific issues
If individuals accept the inequalities as “fair,” political action may be unpopular
A compromise by political leaders is to use public goods (broadly shared actions to counter
the undesirable globalization processes, e.g. better schools, infrastructure investment more
R&D) rather than private goods of income redistribution
Class Readings:
Week 2—Globalization: Economics, Technology, and Hierarchy
Overview
In the global economy, persons in previously small-market regions can participate in more advanced,
persons in previously small-market regions can participate in more advanced division of labor.
Critics argue capitalist expansion creates new, monopolistic economic hierarchies and inequalities.
Globalization in this section is largely economic and fiscal
Thomas Friedman, The World is Flat
Syllabus Comments
o Great anecdotes, but look for internal contradictions
o Overstresses technical and economic forces—metaphors like Golden Straitjacket on politics
o Cities barely appear in this account. Why not?
The Triple Convergence
o What are the components of the triple convergence? The short answer is this: First, right
around the year 2000, all ten of the flatteners discussed earlier started to converge and work
together in ways that created a new, flatter, global playing field.
As this new playing field became established, both businesses and individuals began
to adopt new habits, skills, and processes to get the most out of it.
They moved from largely vertical means of creating value to horizontal ones
As this was happening, a whole new group of people, several billion, in fact, walked
out onto the playing field from China, India, and the former Soviet Empire.
Thanks to the new flat world, and its new tools, some of them were quickly
able to collaborate and compete directly with everyone else.
o Convergence I
It is my contention that the opening of the Berlin Wall, Netscape, work flow,
outscoring, offshoring, open-sourcing, insourcing, supply-chaining, in-forming, and
the steroids amplifying them all reinforced one another, like complementary goods.
They just needed time to converge and start to work together in a complementary,
mutually enhancing fashion. That tipping point arrived sometime around 2000
The net result of this converge was the creation of a global, Web-enabled playing
field that allows for multiple forms of collaboration without regard to geography.
It is open today to more people in more places on more days in more ways than
anything like it ever before in the history of the world.
This is what I mean when I say the world has been flattened. It is the complementary
convergence of the ten flatteners creating this new global playing field for multiple
forms of collaboration
o Converge II
Introducing new technology alone is never enough. The big spurts in productivity
come when a new technology is combined with new ways of doing business
We needed the emergence of a large cadre of managers, innovators, business
consultants, business schools, IT specialists, CEOs, and workers to get comfortable
, Global-Local Politics Midterm Study Guide
with, and develop, the sorts of horizontal collaboration and value-creation processes
and habits that could take advantage of this new, flatter playing field
And then the two began to mutually reinforce each other
This new globalization allowed for a horizontal chain of command for value creation
It will take time for this new playing field and the new business practices to be fully
aligned. But it is happening much faster than you think, and it is happening globally
o Convergence III
3 billion people who had been frozen out of the field suddenly found themselves
liberated to plug and play with everybody else
These three billion people had never been allowed to compete and
collaborate before, because they lived in largely closed economies with very
vertical, hierarchical political and economic structures.
I am talking about the people of China, India, Russia, Eastern Europe, Latin America
Their economies and political systems all opened up during the 1990s, so that
their people were increasingly free to join the free-market game
As a result of the collapse of communism in the Soviet Empire, India’s turn
from autarky, China’s shift to market capitalism, and population growth all
over, the global economic world expanded to encompass 6 billion people
Thanks to the flattening of the world, many of these new entrants didn’t even have to
leave home to participate
o It is this triple convergence—of new players, on a new playing field, developing new
processes and habits for horizontal collaboration—that I believe is the most important force
shaping global economies and politics in the early twenty-first century
o This is not a slow-motion triple convergence.
They are jogging even springing there. The winners will be those who learn the
habits, processes, and skills most quickly
These new players are stepping onto the playing field legacy free, meaning that many
of them were so far behind they can leap right into the new technologies without
having to worry about the sunken costs of old systems
Many Chinese skipped over the landline phase
o In the future globalization is going to be increasingly driven by the individuals who
understand the flat world, adapt themselves quickly to its processes and technologies
There has been a spontaneous explosion of energy from the zippies
Zippies are the huge cohort of Indian youth who are the first to come of age since
India shifted away from socialism and dived headfirst into global trade and the
information revolution by turning itself into the world’s service center
While many Indians want to come to America to work and study, due to triple
convergence many can now compete at the highest levels, and be decently paid, by
staying at home. In a flat world, you can innovate without having to emigrate.
India right now has a great advantage in having a pool of educated, low-wage English
speakers with a strong service etiquette in their DNA and an enterprising spirit…so it
makes sense they are leading the so-called wave of service outsourcing
o Now that the world has gone flat, many people can plug and play anywhere, natural talent has
started to trump geography (which had not been the case earlier)
Another example, Boeing outsourcing airplane design work to Moscow
o The Other Triple Convergence
Three separate things came together to create a smoke screen
The first was the dot-com bust
Part I: Markets, Global Linkages, Hierarchy, and Democratic Culture
Class Propositions
1. Market Size Division of Labor Wealth
As the “extent of the market” grows, it permits a more advanced division of labor, the prime
moving force generating the wealth of nations
o This is basically the argument set forward by Adam Smith in the reading
o This is the historically dominant economic proposition
But as Smith specified, limits are imposed by tariffs, government regulations, and the
technology of the time that limit the communication and delivery possibilities for many
market goods, especially those involving perishables or personal contacts
But recent decades have seen major changes: drops in tariffs since the end of the Cold War
and better transportation and communication (air travel, fax, internet, etc.)
1A) Lower Tariffs and Government Restrictions Larger Markets
1B) Higher Technology for Transportation and Communication Larger Markets and Shared Media
Access, i.e. Potential Globalization
2. Openness of Market or Linkage of Domestic Economy with global economy, generating international
or global linkage
Global linkages substitutes for size of national markets and allows persons in nearly any one
country to participate in a global advanced division of labor
For example, persons in India or Bangladesh can do telecommunications or software work for
American companies
This is the argument set forward in the T. Friedman reading
2A) Global Market Openness (Linkage) Substitute for national market size Wealth
2B) Global Linkage More potentially Shared Cultural Comm. More Globally Shared Views
Clearly 2A and 2B are qualified by local and national tastes, values and traditions, which vary
in the extent to which they encourage or resist global “commodification” in entertainment
(Hollywood/Sony), consumption (McDonalds food), and deeper values (politics and religion)
Each is partially distinct and differentially embraced by different social strata, leading to a
corollary proposition, 2C
2C) Persons more educated in strong nationalist, hierarchical, or anti-market cultures are more likely
to resist the processes of global exchange
3. Linkage between economic changes and political culture?
Global linkages diffuse global cultural elements throughout the world, including the ideals of
democracy, freedom and equality (Northwest European or New Political Culture)
Why and how do cultural changes occur?
o Some economic and technical determinists see culture as derivative (Friedman)
o Others specific economic, political, and social factors generating cultural change
(Clark & Hoffman-Martinot, 37)
o Others see cultural institutions as having their own internal dynamics
In all three instances, integration into larger global frameworks often brings greater
integration into a shared global political discourse and culture, broadly democratic,
egalitarian, and individualistic
See the J. Friedman and T. Friedman readings
4. With globalization, two sorts of challenges potentially undermine older forms of economic and social
hierarchies
First is competition in price, quality, and efficiency
,Global-Local Politics Midterm Study Guide
o Overseas competition and new firms challenge older, less adaptable companies,
such as General Motors and IBM
Second, egalitarian ideals and collegial models of work and personal relations undermine the
legitimacy of traditional hierarchies in families, work places, and civic/religious institutions,
especially weakening the allegiance of persons lower in status
o Global cultural impacts thus spread egalitarian ideals among women, minorities,
and younger persons, especially students and intellectuals, encouraging them to
challenge social hierarchies
4A) Market Openness/Linkage Efficiency via Innovation, Competition Economic Development
Undermine Traditional Economic Hierarchies
4B) Egalitarian Ideals New Political Culture Undermine Traditional political, social Hierarchies
5. Marxists argue that capitalist expansion (or economic development0 is the prime force of history (or
independent variable), which destroys traditional hierarchies. What replaces them?
Neo-Marxists argue that under “late capitalism” global forces generate monopolies that are
world-wide in scope
But later under socialism, previously private functions are taken over by state agencies (basic
economic functions, planning, production of many goods and services, plus expanding
welfare-state services)
o See J. Friedman readings for neo-Marxist argumentation
5A) Global Capitalism Larger Markets More Monopolistic Companies
5B) State Socialism State Control of Economy
6. Non-Marxist observers suggest that globalization increases demand for talented professionals and
managers who can adapt to new technologies and have a global conceptual framework
They are correspondingly reward more, compared to less skilled workers, especially those in
sectors declining through global competition, whose salaries thus fall
Overall, this generates more inequality in income although ideally it would be measured by
status level of the occupation and the sector, with each classified by degree of global
interdependence
o Sassen attempts this for the financial sector in New York, but traditional census
data do not permit precise breakdowns
The impacts of such private sector dynamics on net income depends, however, on
government policies, which often explicitly counter potential inequalities through taxes,
welfare-state programs, and public goods available to all citizens
o Classical socialist governments as well as corporatist and the “Asian economic
model” sharply contrast with the free market model in mediating global forces
See Sassen and Robert Reich
6A) Global Interdependence More Demand for Talent Shifts in Income
6B) Income Inequalities and income job changes by sector Political pressures to respond to new
violations of equality norms Public goods policies and/or redistribution of income directly and via
tariffs, subsidies, etc.
Proposition 6B qualifies 6A, which operates largely in the private sector
The amount and success of these political processes depends fundamentally on the following:
o The global spread of egalitarian ideals and practices, such as social movement
protests, linkages to international organizations (esp. NGOs) with similar concerns
o The amount of political pressure that dissatisfied constituents mobilize
Clearly these two shift with impacts from globalization
,Global-Local Politics Midterm Study Guide
In more strong-state contexts, pressures toward income redistribution are more likely, while
in weak-state, and strong civic contexts, the NGOs (civic associations) are more key actors on
specific issues
If individuals accept the inequalities as “fair,” political action may be unpopular
A compromise by political leaders is to use public goods (broadly shared actions to counter
the undesirable globalization processes, e.g. better schools, infrastructure investment more
R&D) rather than private goods of income redistribution
Class Readings:
Week 2—Globalization: Economics, Technology, and Hierarchy
Overview
In the global economy, persons in previously small-market regions can participate in more advanced,
persons in previously small-market regions can participate in more advanced division of labor.
Critics argue capitalist expansion creates new, monopolistic economic hierarchies and inequalities.
Globalization in this section is largely economic and fiscal
Thomas Friedman, The World is Flat
Syllabus Comments
o Great anecdotes, but look for internal contradictions
o Overstresses technical and economic forces—metaphors like Golden Straitjacket on politics
o Cities barely appear in this account. Why not?
The Triple Convergence
o What are the components of the triple convergence? The short answer is this: First, right
around the year 2000, all ten of the flatteners discussed earlier started to converge and work
together in ways that created a new, flatter, global playing field.
As this new playing field became established, both businesses and individuals began
to adopt new habits, skills, and processes to get the most out of it.
They moved from largely vertical means of creating value to horizontal ones
As this was happening, a whole new group of people, several billion, in fact, walked
out onto the playing field from China, India, and the former Soviet Empire.
Thanks to the new flat world, and its new tools, some of them were quickly
able to collaborate and compete directly with everyone else.
o Convergence I
It is my contention that the opening of the Berlin Wall, Netscape, work flow,
outscoring, offshoring, open-sourcing, insourcing, supply-chaining, in-forming, and
the steroids amplifying them all reinforced one another, like complementary goods.
They just needed time to converge and start to work together in a complementary,
mutually enhancing fashion. That tipping point arrived sometime around 2000
The net result of this converge was the creation of a global, Web-enabled playing
field that allows for multiple forms of collaboration without regard to geography.
It is open today to more people in more places on more days in more ways than
anything like it ever before in the history of the world.
This is what I mean when I say the world has been flattened. It is the complementary
convergence of the ten flatteners creating this new global playing field for multiple
forms of collaboration
o Converge II
Introducing new technology alone is never enough. The big spurts in productivity
come when a new technology is combined with new ways of doing business
We needed the emergence of a large cadre of managers, innovators, business
consultants, business schools, IT specialists, CEOs, and workers to get comfortable
, Global-Local Politics Midterm Study Guide
with, and develop, the sorts of horizontal collaboration and value-creation processes
and habits that could take advantage of this new, flatter playing field
And then the two began to mutually reinforce each other
This new globalization allowed for a horizontal chain of command for value creation
It will take time for this new playing field and the new business practices to be fully
aligned. But it is happening much faster than you think, and it is happening globally
o Convergence III
3 billion people who had been frozen out of the field suddenly found themselves
liberated to plug and play with everybody else
These three billion people had never been allowed to compete and
collaborate before, because they lived in largely closed economies with very
vertical, hierarchical political and economic structures.
I am talking about the people of China, India, Russia, Eastern Europe, Latin America
Their economies and political systems all opened up during the 1990s, so that
their people were increasingly free to join the free-market game
As a result of the collapse of communism in the Soviet Empire, India’s turn
from autarky, China’s shift to market capitalism, and population growth all
over, the global economic world expanded to encompass 6 billion people
Thanks to the flattening of the world, many of these new entrants didn’t even have to
leave home to participate
o It is this triple convergence—of new players, on a new playing field, developing new
processes and habits for horizontal collaboration—that I believe is the most important force
shaping global economies and politics in the early twenty-first century
o This is not a slow-motion triple convergence.
They are jogging even springing there. The winners will be those who learn the
habits, processes, and skills most quickly
These new players are stepping onto the playing field legacy free, meaning that many
of them were so far behind they can leap right into the new technologies without
having to worry about the sunken costs of old systems
Many Chinese skipped over the landline phase
o In the future globalization is going to be increasingly driven by the individuals who
understand the flat world, adapt themselves quickly to its processes and technologies
There has been a spontaneous explosion of energy from the zippies
Zippies are the huge cohort of Indian youth who are the first to come of age since
India shifted away from socialism and dived headfirst into global trade and the
information revolution by turning itself into the world’s service center
While many Indians want to come to America to work and study, due to triple
convergence many can now compete at the highest levels, and be decently paid, by
staying at home. In a flat world, you can innovate without having to emigrate.
India right now has a great advantage in having a pool of educated, low-wage English
speakers with a strong service etiquette in their DNA and an enterprising spirit…so it
makes sense they are leading the so-called wave of service outsourcing
o Now that the world has gone flat, many people can plug and play anywhere, natural talent has
started to trump geography (which had not been the case earlier)
Another example, Boeing outsourcing airplane design work to Moscow
o The Other Triple Convergence
Three separate things came together to create a smoke screen
The first was the dot-com bust
