Democratic deficit in the globalized world: Issues & concerns

The democratic deficit implies issues that are, or should be, of importance to the ordinary citizens, but to our utter surprise they hardly attract the attention they deserve. Because of the democratic deficit in the way globalization is brought into practice, we have failed to develop the democratic political institutions which are indispensable to make globalization viable and workable, and thus are unable to ensure the right balance between the state and the market, in between collective actions at the local, national and global levels, and between governmental and non governmental action. Doubts apart, only the proper management of globalization under the supervision of the democratic political institutions can ensure the upliftment of the common people of the world in general, not the richest persons of the west in particular. Democratic deficit is immensely a serious problem for the global economic institutions. First, it weakens even democracy within our own country, circumscribing the ability of our national democracy to temper “Economia Americana”¹. Secondly, it also encourages the human tendency to think locally, in the pursuit of their self-interest maximization and perverse incentives, even while we live in an increasingly global economy. Thirdly, it leads to the management of globalization within the very narrow framework of local politics. It is this incompatibility and disharmony between local politics and global problems, responsible for much of the dissatisfaction with globalization. The only way out to overcome the above stated catastrophic condition is to increase the scope of collective action on account of greater interdependence for globalization. This remedy can only reduce the problem of democratic deficit in the international institutions to some extent.