Relationship between Human Rights, Globalization, and Democracy
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Relationship between Human Rights, Globalization, and Democracy
The relationship between human rights, globalization, and democracy cannot be easily separated. Human rights can be defined as the ethical rules or norms that describe certain human behavior and are protected as natural rights. Globalization means increasing connections between social, economic, and political activities across the world. At the same time, democracy is a government in which its powers are vested in the people, and power is exercised by them directly through their elected representatives. This essay looks at a deeper relationship between the three terms are connected. The essay aims to discuss the relationship between the three challenges and possible solutions to the problems.
One of the characteristics of human rights according to ‘Human Rights and International relations pptx.’ file, is that it is universal, meaning it is applicable across the globe. This means that these rights are the same everywhere. For everyone, this is related to globalization in that as people are increasing connections between social, economic, and political aspects, the equal rights being applied in their country will be applied in any country of their interest. Democracy helps in the protection of these human rights as its main principle is that nobody is above the law. For human rights and democracy to be sustained, economic growth needs to occur through globalization; this is because the protection of human rights and democracy cannot be constant in an emerging country. According to ‘Wars old and new ppt.’file when there is low income in a country, its citizens may use violent means to get their livelihood, violations of human rights occur, and democracy is greatly undermined. The social accountability of a business is to increase profits. ‘Globalization debate ppt.’ file states that, economic interchanges allow for the exchange of ideas that is, backs commercial and human rights advancement. As globalization is taking the course, it leads to diffusion of concepts; for example, the ideology of capitalism shapes the behavior of states and investors. According to ‘International politics and the state ppt.’ file states that, capitalism leads to the rise of the middle class, which is great at demanding equal human rights and democracy. When multinational companies invest in a place, there is a spotlight spectacle, whereby the investment by these companies are often accompanied by the attention given to human rights exploitations and weight to alter those norms. When corporations have a prime goal of maximizing profit, there are chances that they will willingly not become good citizens; in turn, there will be a need for the government and the civil society on human rights and democracy to intervene as stated in the ‘Human rights and international relations ppt.’ file.
The (Neo) liberal paradigm, according to McCorquodale and Fairbrother, in the ‘Globalization debate ppt.’ file, most investments are focused on the development of projects such as Infrastructure and large scale profitable farms, but not the upgrading of individual lives. Investments decisions are exclusively based on financial concerns whereby profits for the investors are stationed in a developed state but not the states that are being affected. This affects democracy and human rights because, when human rights are violated and democracy undermined during globalization, international law is supposed to be applied, but this is yet to happen since it is poor against the big corporations; hence they end up not getting justice.
According to ‘Human Rights and international relations pptx.’ file, the guardians of human rights and democracy shoulder that the state is the central actor. Therefore the state is the right actor for promoting human rights. There is also a rise in non-state actors, who sometimes have greater power and resources and economic power to protect people’s rights; this is due to the increase in the era of globalization. This is viewed positively by some because international companies can hold the state accountable in violation of human rights and democracy. In his book Planetary Bargain (2003), Michael Hopkins says that “a planetary bargain should satisfy both capital and humanity whereby success to corporations leads to profitability and social responsibility.” However, some view this differently by arguing that new global order means new openings for exploitation as they put economic growth above everything else. In this, humans are viewed as workers rather than people with needs and wants.
‘Globalization debate ppt.’file, during the 1999 Works, economic Forum, the United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan called upon business to “give a social face to the global market.” According to ‘International politics and the state ppt.’file this means that investors were supposed to put the rights of individuals into consideration. This led to the creation of the Global Compact office (UN), where corporations were supposed to show their commitment to moral and ethical principles by registering with the office. It also signaled that global governance institutions saw the importance of including corporations in protecting democracy and human rights. The main goal was to promote responsible global citizenship. The conditions for membership were to take actions that supported society and operate responsibly in alignment with universal sustainability.
In conclusion, human rights, globalization, and democracy are related since according to ‘International organizations ppt.’ file, the office of the Global Compact was created by the United Nations to help corporations act responsibly and engage them with international agencies to ensure human rights are protected, and democracy is upheld. This, in turn, will make the world peaceful because of democracy, thus enabling a favorable environment for globalization.
References
Lecture Readings. Human Rights and Relations.pptx.
Lecture Readings. Globalization Debate.ppt.
Lecture Readings. International Organizations.ppt.
Lecture Readings. Wars Old and New.ppt.
Lecture Readings. International Politics and the state.ppt.