Globalisation and the Institutional Deficit

Abstract

Globalisation is a major process of change involving the creation of one global market economy with the promise of higher outputs and larger incomes. This process puts immense pressure on the environment of the earth with the risk of a severe degradation of nature. It also creates dependencies among the nearly 200 states of the world. Thus, a problem emerges: how to enhance state coordination, that is, how can governments cooperate to promote mutually beneficial outcomes without reneging? This article suggests the following answer, institutionalisation involving the multiplication and enforcement of transparent rules of the global society game. Needed are more economic, environmental and political rules, as well as stronger enforcement of these rules especially by judicial means.

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Notes on contributors

Jan-Erik Lane

Jan-Erik Lane is Professor of Political Science, University of Geneva, Switzerland.