Globalisation and democracy - friends or foes? Examining the effects of economic globalization on the quality of democracy in established democracies.

Abstract

This thesis examines whether economic globalisation has any general effects on the quality of democracy in established democracies. Globalisation is considered a crucial contemporary challenge to modern democracies. While economic globalisation has steadily increased, democratic regimes seem to have experienced a backslide. Theoretical effects of economic globalisation has been thoroughly described, but empirical efforts at exploring this relationship are scarce. To investigate the globalisation-democracy-nexus, a time-series cross-sectional analysis is conducted on 48 established democracies from 1990-2016. The research question is “Does economic globalisation impact the quality of democracy in established democracies, and if so, does it enhance or harm the quality of democracy?”. The most significant finding of this thesis is that de jure trade globalisation seems to have a positive effect on the quality of democracy in established democracies. he conflicting theoretical perspectives and ontological disagreements regarding the concepts in focus are also reflected in the results.