Managment articles: What role, if any, does Hinduism perform in relati...

Managment articles: What role, if any, does Hinduism perform in relati...: "Introduction India has a great history of democratic stability after its independence in 1947 as the result of rule of secular political ..."

What role, if any, does Hinduism perform in relation to India's contemporary international relations?

Introduction

India has a great history of democratic stability after its independence in 1947 as the result of rule of secular political parties. Political scenario in India slighted changed after 1970 when various new regional political parties emerged. These regional political parties tried to represent constituency on the basis of religion, caste, ethnic and regional interests. This opened the way for Hindu nationalism. Representatives of Hindu nationalism, BJP have begun their winning story form 1980 when they became one of the major political parties in India. BJP came into power during 2000 as part of coalition government. BJP is lead by the religious ideology denoted as “hindutuva” (Bhatt, 2001). 

The rule of BJP in India caused the popularity of this term”Islamophobia”. The government of BJP became closer with USA and Israel. As BJP represented Hindutuva, it affected in their foreign policy as well. It is clearly seen in their continuing dispute with the Muslim Pakistan over the issue of Kashmir and their support to the civil war in Sri Lanka. They supported both Buddhist Sinhalese and Hindu Tamils. Thus their foreign policies are directly influenced by the Hindutuva. Most of the decisions and policies of BJP are guided by VHP. Let us analyse how it affects the international policies of India along with its international relationships with other countries like Pakistan and Sri Lanka in this essay. We need to realise the ideologies and cultural aspects of Hinduism before analysing the foreign policy of India during the time of BJP led coalition at centre.

Hinduism: An Analysis

‘Hindu’ is a term used to denote particular belief which was specially followed religiously by many people almost around five thousand years ago in the present India location. Thus we can see the fact that it is one of the oldest religious cultures existing in the world. According to Lewis and Slater, Hinduism is “a great Ganges River of religious beliefs and practices fed by many streams” (1969, 31). However Chiriyankandath says that we cannot consider it as single religion or faith as it has plural religious cultures (Chiriyankandath (1996b 45).

The tradition of Hinduism is mostly related with the practises of Indian soil. Some of the features of Hindu tradition are that it does not have central church and no historical basis as other religious traditions. It consists of yugas which consists of four ages and epochs which are dealing with the maintenance and destruction process of nature. Most of its beliefs are purely based on polytheistic and monotheistic principles. It promoted caste system and the dominance of Brahmanism (Venugopal, 1990). The concept of Karma in Hinduism is directly related with Buddhism. According to their beliefs, a man would be judged by his or her past lives and they would be given the emancipation of salvation on the basis of their karma. In order to get moksha, one should change himself from avidya which is ignorance to vidya which is knowledge. 

Hinduism categorises people and the lowest people in their religious hierarchy are forced to follow both animistic and polytheistic beliefs. The gods of Hinduism are pervasive and gods incarnate in the form of animals to save mankind from the hands of darkness. Hinduism support caste system and it divides the people into different varnas. They are Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Sudra. There are many sub castes as well and they are known as Jatis (Venugopal, 1990). The major religious scriptures of Hinduism are Four Vedas which are the greatest collections of hymns, Upanishads which are philosophical in nature, Bhagavad Gita which is the advice of Krishna, Mahabharata and Ramayana. Now let us look at the ways VHP is influenced and guided by the philosophies of Hinduism. 

Vishwa Hindu Parishad

Vishwa Hindu Parishad generally known as VHP and it is emerged as the international Hindu organisation as there was no such international organisation for Hindus. Their slogan is that “Dharma protects when protected”. This international Hindu organisation was founded in the year 1964 by Chinmayanada and Apte along with Tara Singh who were the eminent Hindu Priests. There was a conference conducted by RSS on 29^th of August 1964 and this conferece was attended by important representatives of Sikh, Buddhist, Hindu and Jains. That conference discussed the importance of being united by all faiths of Indian origins (Golwalker, 1964). The conference asked them to unite to fight against three evils such as Christian, Islam and Communist. As per as the decision of this conference, they had conducted a World convention of Hindus at Allahabad in the year 1966. In this convention, they had decided that this organisation should a non political organisation and officer bearers should not be the office bearers of any political parties. They developed their objective and aims for this international Hindu Organisation and important aims of them are:

Support and strengthen Hindu Community: VHP is trying their best to strengthen Hindu Community by uniting Hindu all over the world. That is why VHP is conducting world conferences and seminars by creating opportunities for all Hindus to share their ideas.

Propagate the great ethical and spiritual values of Hindu religion: VHP is propagating the cultural and spiritual values of Hinduism through books and journals. They are conducting awareness programs among Hindu Community.

Organise and get in touch with Hindus all over the world: VHP is now having their presence in all parts of the world. They are working as socio cultural organisation in the intention to unite Hindus.

The policies of BJP are directly influenced by the Hindutuva stand of VHP as the leaders of BJP are guided by the ethical and cultural philosophies of Hindutuva. BJP’s main aim is to attract the major vote bank of Hindus. Thus they support and obey the religious propaganda of VHP.

Latter Developments in VHP

The movement against the killing of cow paved the way to form VHP. They worked among the lower caste people by promoting their live by building new hospitals, schools and colleges for them. They fought to build a temple in the disputed place of Ayodhaya through peaceful campaigns and demonstrations. They had formed a youth wing called “Bajrang Dal” in the year 1980 to attract more youths in its side to fight for their causes and this youth wing is militant in nature. Even though they were working in the pretend nature to help the poor, their main aim was to work against the great efforts of Christians and Muslims.

BJP raised this temple issue in the national politics in order to support the ideologies of VHP from 1980. Both of them started conducting larger meetings and protests against government policies on Ayodhya. Because the secular parties ruled government of India did not allow them to build temple in Ayodhya. VHP has strong presence in the country of Nepal and it was declared as the Hindu Kingdom as a result of VHP’s presence in Nepal.

It is quite evident that most of the decisions and policies of BJP are developed and implemented by the spiritual guidance of VHP. VHP always stands against the teachings and policies of Islam and Christianity. Thus they force BJP to mould their foreign policies accordingly. BJP tries to obey the guidelines of VHP in order to attract more and more Hindu votes. 

Ayodhya: Centre Stage of Dispute

6^th of December 1992 was the dark day in the history of India as the symbol of religious secularism “Babri Mosque” had attacked and demolished by VHP. It caused a riot in the states of UP and MP. Muslims were largely attacked and Muslims attacked Hindus as a result of that. It had resulted communal violence all over India (Liberhan Commission). Almost nine hundred people were brutally murdered on the following days. Government appointed Liberhan Commission to investing the case. Liberhan Commission questioned many VHP workers and they agreed their role in the riots. They told the commission that it was their reaction against alienation of Hindu Community from the political favours. 

Ideology of VHP
According to VHP, the word “Hindu” applies to all who believes and follows the Indian or Dharmic culture and faiths. Thus they are using this word in a very broader sense. VHP forces it political ally BJP to propagate for Single Civil code for all. BJP had got immense pressure from VHP to have legislation in the parliament to build a temple in disputed place “Ayodhya”. According to VHP, India is a Hindu nation and thus all the legislations and policies should follow the spirits of Hindutuva. They have their arguments to prove those facts. The native Indians were all Hindu. This land was invaded by Muslim rulers and they destroyed temples and built mosques instead of that. Muslim rulers forced mass conversions. Later Christian missionaries came to India to propagate Christianity in India. They widely spread the messages of Christianity all throughout India.
According to VHP, Hindu religion was denigrated and demonized by missionaries. They had also done massive conversions. Thus VHP states that all people of India are basically belonging to Hinduism. Some of demands of VHP are; beautiful temple should be constructed at Ayodhya as soon as possible, ban and Punish forceful conversions those are performed especially by Christian missionaries, build legislation to ban cow slaughter, declare India as a Hindu Nation, implement tight legislations and laws for terrorist actions and terrorists, introduce a single Uniformed Civil Code for all Indians, promote the ethical and cultural values of Hinduism.

They have also taken initiatives to promote education and medical facilities to all marginalised people in India. They are educating the people not to be discriminated on the basis of sex, caste, religion and colour. Their main intention is to propagate the ideologies of Hinduism all over the world. They are getting funds for these activities by selling religious books, boarding and lodging charges from the respective organisations. These are not intended to make any profit.

Influence of VHP on Indian Foreign Policy
VHP always stands stern against the Islamic fundamentalism and they have raised my issues against the recently happened terrorists’ attacks which were done by Muslim extremists. Now they are conducting awareness programs against the effects of Islamic terrorism in Indian soil. In order to empower their campaigns against Muslim fundamentalism, they used to conduct business shutdowns in India.
As VHP is subsidiary of BJP, BJP adapt the ideology and the philosophies of VHP in their foreign policy. They also think that Hinduism is not getting much attention in the international arena. They liked to project India as Hindu Nation. They tried to build nationalism among people. This staunch nationalism is very keenly seen in the foreign policies as well. They did not even try to have conversation with Pakistan on Kashmir issue. They believed that Pakistan was the prime cause behind the terrorist’s attacks in India. India tested nuclear weapons successfully. These are all can be seen as the result due to the influence of VHP’s stands against Islam.

Organisational Setup of VHP
Vishwa Hindu Parishad has its branches known as Shakhas in all parts of the country. VHP has a democratic organisational set up. It has its international general secretary and President. Both of them are elected in a democratic way in the organisation. Most of the key posts and the central council in the organisations are controlled by the senior members of the organisation.

VHP has a powerful and active youth wing and they are Bajrang Dal. It conducts training sections in almost all Shakhas regularly. Youth people are given training to have both mental and physical health. VHP has its female cadres as well and it was started in the year 1991. The female wing of VHP is known as Durga Vahini and main objective of this wing is to “dedicate ourselves to spiritual, physical, mental and knowledge development” (PTI, 1991). VHP has its high philosophical and religious parliament to explore its new fileds of actions and get motivational theories from Holy Scriptures and that is Dharma Sansad. It consists of only religious scholars and high priests.

VHP has its presence in overseas as well. They are working as the socio cultural organisation in North America, East Africa and South East Asia. It is intended to revive the religious thoughts and philosophy of Hinduism. They tried to propagate their agendas through social and cultural activities in these regions.

Linked Groups of VHP
VHP always stands as the symbol of Hindu Supremacy. We can see that VHP is guided by the so called “Hindu spirit” and it is their central theme. One of the linked groups of VHP is BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) and its earlier name was Bharatiya Jana Sangh. This party was formed in the early 1951 as political subsidiary of RSS. In the initial stages, it could not make any impressions in the Indian politics as there was little room for communal politics. The leaders of BJP especially AB Vajpayee and LK Advani became popular figures after they were sent to jail during the emergency in the year 1975. When Dalits were mass conversed to Islam, VHP thought it as question to their own integrity and they joined with BJP to protect the ethical and cultural principles of Hinduism. Other linked Groups of VHP are RSS, Shiva Sena and so on.

Hindutuva and Kashmir
The powerful emergence of Hindutuva during 1980s and 1990s reflected in the foreign policies of Indian government as well. During these periods, it was the applied in all domestic concerns and issues of India. Thus it is directly influenced in the conflict over Pakistan owned Kashmir. As we know during 1990s India was ruled by the Hindutuva influenced BJP led coalition Government. Their religious policy of Hindutuva was reflected in their relationship with Pakistan and it tries to keep away from Muslim countries as they feared Muslim extremism as well.

It was not in the case of fast. No government policies or foreign policies were guided by the religious factors as Ram Prasad says “religious ideology in itself has played virtually no direct role in major political and economic decisions”. Thus we can see that traditional secular nationalist policies were ignored when BJP came into power in the Centre. Thus the soft powers o Hindutuva influenced the hard power in politics. It is very important to know that the foreign policies of a country are influenced by its domestic features such as “geo strategic location, economic health, military strength and domestic stability” (Kapila, 2005). Thus it is evident that the policies of a nation would be guided by the soft power of religion.

Traditional Indian Foreign Policy
It is quite interesting to know that Indian foreign policies are always guided by the sprit of religious secularism. However it was not the case when BJP led coalition came into power in India during 1990 and 2004. According to Katalya, Indian Foreign policy from independence was guided by moderation and pragmatism. Some of the traditional foreign policies of India are:
Indian traditional foreign policy forces India to have regular dialogue with Pakistan on Kashmir issue and resolve the issues between. Therefore no mediatory is needed to solve these problems. India empowers its trading relationship with China. India had a strong business and trade relations with Russia, Japan and European Countries. India had taken initiatives to maintain peace in the South Asian Countries.

Hindu Muslim Relationship Vs BJP
 India is now witnessing a religious militancy of Hindu nationalism. It is emerging as the threat to nation’s secular nature. India is very well known for its religious secularism and the constitution of India ensures religious secularism (center conversation, 2003:1).  Now Hindu Muslim conflicts are the prime concerns of the political parties of India. This concern is growing higher due to the political ideology of Hindutuva which was supported by the opposition party BJP. This ideology gained more power when BJP led coalition ruled India during 1996 and 2004.

One of the subsidiaries of BJP, Sangh Parivar is trying their best to make their Hindu influence in all spheres of life particularly in the socio, political and cultural arena. They adopt violence and terror to establish their agenda in the Indian society (Human rights Watch, 2001). Sangh Parivar tries to implement their Hindutuva agenda by suppressing Christian and Muslim. According to them, Christians and Muslims are aliens in faith to them as they are the faiths of the conquerors of India. As we know, Islam was largely introduced and popularised by Mughals and the Christianity was popularised in India by British. When India became independence, the prime minister of that time Jawaharlal Nehru hesitated to adopt Hindutuva in our constitution.

India witnessed regular tension between Muslims and Hindu as BJP who are the supporting Hindutuva, came into the main political scenario of India. It was great threat to the traditional Indian understanding of religious secularism in the country (Chiriyankandath, 1996). BJP tried to invite more foreign investments to India. India’s economy has seen a great growth in their ruling time. But they did not change their religious perspectives. They formed a strong alliance with its subsidiaries RSS and Sangh Parivar. The Prime Minister of that time, AB Vajpayee praised the activities of these religious organisations in public. Thus it was a motivation for them to implement their strategies in the Indian society. BJP with the support of its allies tried to hindu-it-ze- Indian politics and culture. They had withdrawn the grants given to cultural institutions, reduced the rights of the minorities and indirectly supported the violence done by Hindu extremists (Marshall, 2004).
BJP considered Christianity and Islam as the threat to national integrity and they were often noted as foreign religions. They had passed laws restricting the building of places of worship by the minorities. During their ruling time, some states of India particularly in Tamil Nadu and Gujarat passed law to prohibit and ban religious conversions. Pope John Paul 11 reacted against this as “unjust” and he further said it as the “prohibition of free exercise of the natural right to religious freedom” (Marshall, 2004).

As we know, two bitter incidents made the relationships of Hindus and Muslims worse. First incident happened in 1992 when Hindu Extremists demolished Muslim Mosque in Ayodhya. Hundreds of people were killed on the riots caused by that. The second incident happened in 2001 when Muslims were attacked and killed in Gujarat during the chief minister ship of Narendra Modi. Properties of both parties were looted during this riot (Brass, 2005). On the occasion of this incident, Bal Thackery, a leader of Shiv Sena addressed Muslims as “Cancer to this Country”. Leaders like him poured oil in the flames of riot by their statements like these (MacFarquhar, 2003). It is quite shocking to know that the International Working President of Vishwa Hind Parishad, Singhal appraised the massacre at Gujarat as “successful experiment”. When BJP led coalition came into power in the Indian state of Gujarat, one of the VHP leaders said that “All Hindutuva opponents will get the death sentence”.

Hindutuva and Indian Foreign Policy Changes
We can see tremendous changes in Indian foreign policies during the rule of BJP led coalition in the center. We can see a great shift in the foreign policy. Indian foreign policies shifted from the non alignment towards to restrict the Islamic terrorism. Thus it had worsened the relationship with Pakistan and it had taken the abrasive stance against Pakistan. Indian government accused Pakistan as the main sponsors of terrorism in Indian soil. BJP led coalition then turned against the non alignment with China and Pakistan. They supported the acquisition of Nuclear weapons (Federal Research Division, 1995).

According to Ganguly, Indian foreign policies changed not due to Hindutuva. He finds out the reasons for that. He sees that as the result of changes in the international scenario. The effects of cold war and the impact of globalisation can be seen in the shift of the foreign policies of India. The previous foreign policies were mainly centred on the super powers Russia and USA. India is also emerged as the power to advocate for the poor and powerless. As a result of this India has asked the world financial institutions to restructure its order to adopt India’s role in International arena (Ganguly, 2003).

Thirumalai is also supporting these views. He says that the foreign policies are not changed due to the influence of Hindutuva (Thirumalai, 2001). According to him, Hindu religion is the most tolerant religion in the world. As the main religion of the nation, it might have influenced our nation’s foreign policies during the rule of BJP led coalition in the years 1990 and 2002. However these are not major in its nature. Some of the ideologies raised by BJP led government are appraised and accepted by Jewish government of Israel. Thus Indians and Jews became the strategic allies against the Islam Sponsored terrorism. Some of the reasons for these strategic allies discussed by Bidwai are mentioned below.

Indian Government is trying to build a good relationship with USA and thus indirectly making strategic alliance with Israel. Thus India is indirectly trying to avoid Pakistan. India is now more conscious of the terrorist’s acts and therefore it is trying to cope up Islamophobia and Anti Arabism in its foreign policy. The current foreign policies are intended to promote nationalism.

India Pakistan Dispute Vs Religion
India Pakistan conflicts makes the south Asia are placeless. Both of them have nuclear and it causes lots of problems in the region. Main reason for indo Pak dispute is on Kashmir. Parliament attack in December 2001 and attacks on Christian churches in Islamabad are causing main problems in the region (Center Conversations, 2003). As we know the problem over Kashmir lasts for more than six decades. During the British rule, Kashmir was a Muslim dominated society and it was ruled Hindu prices. It became a problem when Indian got freedom. When this issue came in front of United Nations, they tried to settle the issue by taking referendum among the people. It was not continuous problem and there was great calm in the 1970s and 1980s. It still continues to be the issue forever.

Sri Lankan issue and Hindutuva
Another issue related with Indian foreign policies is with the Sri Lankan Civil War. This Civil war is caused by the conflict between Buddhist Singhalese and Hindu Tamils. Indian Governments used to put their attention on these issues as it is the threat to the stability of the region and the origin of Tamil really belongs to India as they are really gone from India (Allen, 1992). Recently the civil war was over as the LTTE had failed in the encounter with Sri Lankan Soldiers. BJP led coalition had turned their attention on Sri Lankan issues when they were in the rule and they tried to protect Tamils as they were Hindus. It was evident in their foreign policies with Sri Lankan.

Conclusion
It is quite evident that most of the decisions taken by BJP led coalition Government were influenced by Hindutuva. Even though it had created instability in the national arena of India, They had brought new changes in the Indian foreign Policy which was proved to be effective. It raised India’s name among the nations. As Indian economy is growing day by day, Indian foreign policies are vital in order to Indian’s presence in the main spectrum of Global arena.


References

·         Jeffrey Haynes (1999) Religion, globalization, and political culture in the Third World (1^st edition) London MacMillan

·         Christophe Jaffrelot(1996)The Hindu nationalist movement and Indian politics: 1925 to the 1990s (1^st edition) New Delhi Thomson Press

·         Allan D (1992) Religion and Political Conflict in South Asia (1^st edition) London Greenwood Press

·         Bhatt C (2001) Hindu Nationalism: Origins, Ideologies and Modern Myths (1^st edition) India Oxford Press

·         Bose S (1994) States, Nations, Sovereignty, Sri Lanka, India and the Tamil Eelam Movement (1^st edition) New Delhi Sage Publications

·         Brass P (2005) The Production of Hindu-Muslim Violence in Contemporary India (2^nd edition) Seattle University of Washington Press

·         Chiriyankandath J (1996) The 1996 Indian General Election (2^nd edition) London Oxford University Press

·         Cohen S (2004) The Idea of Pakistan (1^st edition) Washington The Brookings Institution

Is the EU in ‘democratic deficit’?

Introduction

“Pivotal parts of the decisions of the EU are subject to neither watch nor control by the citizens of Member States, neither directly nor by their representatives. Furthermore, what control and accountability there is runs counter to received democratic theory”. (Andreas Follesdal)

European Union has come to a common platform after a dynamic evolution of fifty years. European Union is not like any other international organisation. It has its own parliament, court of justice, commission, bank and legal procedures. However we cannot call or consider it as a state as it has no common army, common tax policy and social policy either. Thus we can say that it is not a legitimatised form of state. 

Here comes the relevant question whether the political leadership of European Union requires contestation and they need a general political agenda. The other issue we are going to address in this essay is that of the great difference of democracy and benevolent authoritarianism which are to be considered as the “thinnest theories of democracy”. These great things are missing in the structure of European Union. Even though there is unity among the nations in European Union on many things, however there is no legitimated democratic system. Many experts and authors have questioned its mere existence and consider that “there is democratic deficit in European Union”. 

Democratic Deficit: Definition

Even though it has definite definition for this term, Democratic deficit can be defined as lapses or ignorance of implementing the great principles of parliamentary democracy both in practise and in legal system. Different authors and scholars have their own connotation for this phrase. David Marquand is the one who used is this great phrase of democratic deficit in the year 1979 as he was referring legitimate democracy weaknesses of European Union (Parliament for Europe, London; Jonathan Cape, 1979). He suggested having direct election for Europe Parliament and at last it happened in the year 1979 as the members of European parliament were elected directly. However the questions of giving more power to the European Parliament still continues.

European Union decided to have “Single European Act” after Maastricht treaty which forced to have an economic and monetary union among European Union member countries. They have added two more pillars to this treaty; “Common Foreign and Security Policy and Justice and Home Affairs”. The problem of this treat was that it was not controlled European Parliament and it clearly showed the democratic deficit in the processes. People of reacted against these kind of things differently. It was fully refused by the people of Denmark when it came for referendum. However it was accepted in France with a mild majority. The democratic concerns of European Union became worse when Irish refused the Treaty of Nice in the first referendum itself. 

Democratic Deficit: Standard Version

As we have seen above, there is no single definition for democratic deficit and it differs from person to person and nation to nation as well. Joseph Weiler too has this opinion and he comes up with a standard version in 1990s. According to his opinion, we can define democratic deficit by including five main claims and they are listed below.

1)      As we know, the integration of Europe was intended to increase more power to the Union by decreasing the national parliamentary powers (Andersen, Burns and Raunio 1996, 1999). However European Parliament has only few executive powers especially in legal amendments. Policy matters are dealt by the executive actors of European Union and these actors are either the national ministers or government nominated members. These actors have no control over national parliaments and whenever they take policy decisions in Brussels, it is not accepted by these national parliaments. 

2)      As most scholars advocate, European Parliament is weak. There was a direct trade off among the national parliaments and European Parliament where, as we know, the increase in power of European Union will automatically decrease the legislative powers of national parliaments (Holland, 1980). But this seems to be faded away and many argue to give more power to European Union over councils and commissions of governments (Lodge, 1994). Even though some treaties passed in 1980s increased the powers of European Union, it is still a weak figure. Though it has legislative power in national councils according to co decision procedure, most of its laws are passed as consultation procedures where even the national government can amend the European Union Budget as “Non Compulsory Expenditure”. 

3)      One other fact is that there is no European election and the people in European Union elect their national governments and these governments nominate their representatives in the European Parliament. Thus there is no direct involvement of people in the election of European Parliament as the people elect the personalities and parties at the national level. As we know, the parties fight in the national level on national issues rather European Union issues (Marsh, 1998). So the people of European Union have no direct involvement in the decision making policy of European Union as the issues of European Union are not influential in the national elections. 

4)      Suppose if people are directly involved in the election process of European Union, but European Union is “too distant” from the voters of European Union. It is psychologically and institutionally true. It is too away from their domestic democratic institutions and thus people cannot understand the ideologies of European Union. European commission is not a government or a bureaucratic office. Commission is elected through complex and obscure procedures and the council is the part of their legislative and most of its decisions are done secretly (Magnette, 2001). Another problem is that they cannot make effective debates in the legislative assemblies as it has the member of different languages and it is assembly of multi language as well (Wallace and Smith, 1995).

5)      We can see a great drift in policy due to this integration and European Union cannot adopt a common policy due to the factors mentioned above. Because most the decisions and policies are not supported by the all the people in European Union. Even though the national governments accept and form the policies for European Union, it is not able to convince those in the national levels due to their own legal systems, courts and interest groups. As social democratic scholars point out there is a great policy drift from domestic policy status quos (Scharpf, 1999). 

Democratic Deficit in the views of Scholars

Majority of Economic Society beliefs are based on Giandomenico Majone and Hans Peter. According to Majone, European Union is “regulatory state” or “fourth branch of government”. It acts as a special agency and it is the responsibility of the agency to monitor the implementation process of long term strategies or objectives. Agency has an important role to play in the governance of the state (Majone 1993a). He says that European Commission has much creditability than inter governmental agreement. Thus we have to see it as a regulatory process rather than democratic process and it resembles legal system and central banks which are concerned as “the second or constitutional pillar” of modern democratic set up in the view of Ives Meny. However Majone further argues that European Union is missing political accountability as every important institution must give proper and valid reason for their decisions and policies. Thus they can put the policies and decisions for public debate and judicial reviews. According to European commission is the one and only institution and other members in its are inconsistent, because they are temporary in their positions. Thus it is “not yet institutionally suited to develop a coherent legislative strategy to achieve the objectives laid down in the treaties”. (Craig, 1997).

Thus we can see great difference between the opinions of Majone and the standard version of democratic deficit. He does not believe that the increasing popularity and the powers of European Union will reduce the democratic deficit. On the other hand he believes that it will enhance the concept West Minister Model. He trusts more in European Union commission as it has the capacity to defend the interests of the community which are clearly defined in its treaties. For him credibility is more important than the legitimacy of the democracy. 

Other important thesis on democratic deficit is of Hans-Peter Ipsen. According to him, European Union is “Special purpose association for functional integration”. He believes that European Union is formed to cope up with consequences of economic liberation. “This purpose legitimates the activity of the European Union in a number of functional areas and at the same time limits the extension of European Union competences to what is necessary to cope with economic interdependence” (Follesdal A. and Koslwoski P, 1998). According to him, European Union lacks democratic legitimating as it is no supranational and it consists of different nationalities of democracy.

Scholars like Scharpf, Streeck, Schmitter, Leibfried and Pierson have different perspective on European Union’s democratic deficit. According to them, European Union lacks centre left ideas and thus it becomes “the door wide to a pure laissez faire capitalism” (Scharpf P, 1996). It focuses more on negative integration which is intended to remove economic barriers like trade barriers and national regulations. Thus it ensures the free movement of goods, resources, capitals and so on among the member countries. However it is so weak in positive integration and it has its limitations in legal harmonisation. It causes “competitive deregulation”, because the decision making process in European Union has more than one veto players. It has a solution for this and that is “two level politics”. It is in a way making the European Union to adapt social regulations by looking at the majority in the council and it should allow the national governments to overcome the negative repercussions which are happening in the market due to the integration. 

Pillars of European Union Democratic Legitimacy

There are certain good things in European Union. Some of institutions ensure the participation of the people of all nations. It has three pillars of democratic legitimacy. Now let us look into those pillars of European Union’s democratic legitimacy.

European Parliament

We can consider European Parliament as the only legitimate democratic institution in European Union. It along with other institutions such as council and European Union council tries to solve the political problems of democratic accountability. Now it is an ordinary international assembly for European Union where the nations are nominating their representatives and thus the indirect involvement of people can be seen. But the power of European Union parliament is limited and it works as supervisory, budgetary and legislative body for European Union. Important funding treaties were amended in the European Parliament in 1953 and 1984. However we cannot say that it is the success of European Parliament. European Parliament needs general consent to pass amendments and policy matters. But it often happens as each nation think differently in each policy matters. Another issues European Parliament faces is that there is no direct election to select the representatives and the general issues are not discusses and only national issues are dealt. 

The Council: Other Important Pillar

Wolfgang denotes European Council as “the decision making centre” of the whole Union. Almost all agree the fact that European council and the ministers in it are elected directly by the people of respective countries. They do have the legitimate authority as well. European Council has two competences in the whole system and they are legislative and executive. This council in a way shares its legislative powers with the European Parliament. However this empowerment of European parliament is indirectly strengthens the democratic process of European Union. Council tries to take a decision by consulting with all countries and by voting if it gets the majority. Unanimity in decision is sometimes required to form certain policies and that is why the Article 205(3) on Treaty says that “Abstention should not prevent the adaptation by the Council of acts which require unanimity”. Most of the meetings of Councils are conducted in secret and it will not be in records. Thus the national parliaments and public do not know their positions on certain issues in European Union and it is one of the major problems in European Council.

The Commission

Everybody including the political scientists agree that Commission is the fine example of lack of legitimacy in European Union and it works as the non dependent supranational institution. European Parliament has the authority to control Commission’s decisions on budget and other issues. It is European Parliament that appoints Commission of European Union after the treaty of Maastricht. Scholars like Crum and Hix suggest that Commission should be politicized in order to increase the participation of citizens by enhancing democratic accountability. 

Suggests and Solutions to the problem of Democratic Deficiency

As we know, there is no direct election to elect the European Union Parliament. If there is an election, the turnover will be lower. If there is election, then it would be on national issues that the political parties use to debate on. Thus the real problems in European Union are ignored. There should be a general election to select the European Union Parliament and the Union issues should be debated in the election arena. The election should be publicized and people’s participation should be ensured by the local governments.

There is no direct connection between the European parliament and the council over growing democratic politics and it does not reflect the real views of people as well. The nominated members do not likely to represent the views of the people. It is a major problem. General consent and referendum should be conducted before taking important policy matters. The participation of people is this great process should be ensured by the respective government bodies.

Conclusion

The integrity of European Union was for good and it yielded many positive results as well especially in the economic trade. It reduced the effects of recession and it proved to be a great success as well. However it does not make sure the participation of all sections of people. We can clearly see the democratic deficit in this system as we have discussed above. European Union has to take necessary steps to ensure the participation of people.

References

·         David Ward (2004) The European Union democratic deficit and the public sphere (1st edition) Netherlands IOS Press

·         Michelle Cini (2007) European Union politics (2nd edition) United Kingdom Oxford University Press

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Global Trade Liberations

Abstract

This study addresses the issue of the impact of global trade liberalization on developed and developing countries. The advantages and disadvantages of global trade liberalization, and whether it has helped either of the developed or the developing countries in their economic developments will also be discussed. The different perspectives of both the type of economies and further their expectations regarding the trade liberalizations will also be dealt with in detail. We will analyze the contrasts in their perspectives with the help of examples of policies introduced by the government in different type of economies.

Introduction

In the past few decades we have seen a very drastic change in the practices of trade throughout the world. Many world economies have developed and many others have progressed. These changes are a result of the fast growing international trade. Further this increase in international trade has been led by the technological advancements taking place in the world and the reduced trade barriers globally. Some developed countries have reduced or removed trade barriers for the further development of their economies and some developing countries have done the same so that their economies can compete with the developed nations of the world. The remaining trade barriers on the part of industrial nations or developing countries that are still prevalent are on the agricultural products or the labour intensive trades in which the developing economies have a comparative advantage. Trade liberalization in these areas by both developing and developed economies will definitely help to reduce poverty globally.

Trade liberalization has also been considered as the major driving force behind globalization. Many critics of trade liberalization have blamed it for a number of problems like rising unemployment and wage inequalities in developed countries, increased exploitation of working force in the developing countries, increasing poverty, global inequality and degradation of the environment. These views have spread in spite of barrier free trade, in terms of improved allocation of resources and consistent gains in productive efficiency and economic growth.

The impact of trade liberalization is of particular significance in context of employment. The economic development of a nation can be determined on the level of employment, especially developing countries. The impact of trade liberalization on the level and structure of employment determines the level of poverty, wage, income distribution and the quality of employment. Trade liberalization in general provides a better growth perspective to economies whether developed or developing as fewer trade barriers make trade profitable for them. So there is no doubt that trade liberalization is beneficial in terms of growth, economic development and employment. This integration of the world economy has raised the living standard around the world. Trade liberalization can be seen as a very powerful means for economies to promote economic growth, development and poverty reduction.

Trade Liberalization

In general, liberalization refers to a relaxation of previous government restrictions, usually in areas of social or economic policy.  Trade liberalization “can be defined as the process of reducing or removing restrictions on international trade. This may include the reduction or removal of tariffs, abolition or enlargement of import quotas, abolition of multiple exchange rates, and removal of requirements for administrative permits for imports or allocations.”

Trade liberalization can also be defined as removal of or reduction in the trade practices that oppose the free flow of goods and services from one nation to another. It includes removing of tariff  such as duties, surcharges, and export subsidies as well as non-tariff  barriers such as licensing regulations and quotas.

Trade liberalization usually involves the following:

·         Trading of goods without taxes including tariffs and other trade barriers like quotas on imports or subsidies of products.

·         Trading of services without taxes or any other trade barriers.

·         Free access to markets

·         Free access to market information

·         Free movement of labour between and within countries.

·         Free movement of capital between and within countries.

·         Absence of trade distorting policies that gives some firms, or factors of production an advantage over the others.

Global Trade Liberalization in Developed Nations

We will now analyze the trade liberalizations done or are being done in developed nations. The impact of trade liberalization on these economies and their further interests in such trade policies will also be talked about in detail.

Taking as an example we will talk about the trade policies of the European Union and under it we will be analyzing some policies implemented in France.

Although the trade policy of the European Union is generally an open one but there are some sectors such as agricultural and audiovisual sectors which are having a higher level of protectionism as compared to other sectors. The European Union is one of the largest exporter and importer of agricultural products. The EU firmly believes in further opening the trade in this sector for sustained and continued economic growth of all its countries. But trade liberalizations have not only economic but other effects on the sector, such as effects on environment, health, social standards and cultural diversity. These 'non trade concerns' are the fundamental links between sustainable agriculture, maintaining the landscape and the environment and responding to consumer concerns.

Agriculture is the biggest part of France’s GDP .It is “the 6^th largest economy in EU, and its GDP approximately $2 trillion. It has substantial agricultural resources, a large industrial base, and a highly skilled work force. A dynamic services sector accounts for an increasingly large share of economic activity and is responsible for nearly all job creation in recent years. Real GDP increased 2.2% in 2006. According to initial projections, 2007 GDP growth will hit 1.9 %”( Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs).

France is the leading agricultural producer in the European Union, accounting for one-third of all agricultural land in EU. France is the world’s second largest agricultural producer, second only to the United States. However 70% of its exports are done to other EU members. Agriculture is a major part of France’s GDP so protecting the industry is necessary for the country’s economic wellbeing. That is why French Government is trying to protect its agriculture, even though it might go against the EU international trade commitments, because usually it is achieved by increasing tariffs, as well as raising quality and sanitary standards for food imports. 

The CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) has been developed to determine the health of the rural economy as well as the rural landscape. The CAP has continues tried to reflect the concerns of the rural areas of the EU. France depends on agriculture as its main source into its GDP’s growth. It is also concerned about the natural beauty of its farms and landscapes, so they are not willing to make it heavily industrialized.

In past few years, environmental objectives, landscape preservation, food quality, animal health and welfare standards have become a very important issue. The implementation of the CAP and the Uruguay Round of the GATT Agreement resulted in many reforms in the agricultural sector of the economy. France has protected its agricultural sector through various trade policies and has made sure about the safety concerns of its farmers and its lands.

The above details about the policies of the French Government towards its agricultural sector we can say that, France being the largest agricultural producer in the EU is being protected a great deal from any kind of harm to its lands, or the productions done on it.

The trade policy for import or export of its produce puts a lot of limit to the trade being done. It looks forward to open some of its trade barriers but might be very hesitant in doing so. As a developed nation France might not be able to count on any sort of further economic development through agriculture by export of its produce to non –EU nations as the route is too narrow. Although it might be willing to liberalize some policies but there may be a danger of involvement into the agricultural sector from many developing economies.

In the case above, a developed nation like France has not totally benefitted by the global trade liberalization being followed throughout the world. It may be interested in some reforms and of liberalization of its policies for its agricultural sector but not much can be expected from the Government.

Developed nations are quite careful in liberalizing their trade policies as involvement on the part of developing countries poses as a threat to their economic development.

Global Trade Liberalization in Developing Nations

Over the past 2 decades, the growth of world trade has averaged 6 percent per year, twice as fast as world output. Trade liberalization is presumed to be really good for the developing countries as they are basically involved in labour abundant. Freer trade will not only increase efficiency but also increase employment opportunities and wages for the unskilled working class of the developing countries. This will further lower the wage inequalities prevailing in the markets as the labor class is paid the least as compared to other working classes.

As a group developing countries have become a very important part of the world trade. Many developing countries have increased their exports of manufactures and services as compared to the traditional goods that were being exported.

Developing countries have increased trade among them. They are now contributing a large percentage of exports to other developing countries.

Some countries have progressed quite well in comparison to other developing countries. Some countries in Asia and Latin America have benefitted a lot through liberalization as they have freely participated in foreign trade. They have succeeded in attracting a lot of foreign direct investments to their nations. Countries like India and China are an example of developing nations that have actively participated in global trade and are now the fastest developing nations.

We will now take the example of India as a developing nation that has been affected by the trade liberalization policies.

The Edible oil consumption has been rapidly increasing in India since last few decades.

“Aggregate consumption increased from around six million tonnes in the early nineties to around than 11 million tonnes in recent years. However, per capita consumption of fats and oils in India is far below the world average”. Consumer’s preferences for the consumption of different oils vary across different regions in India and even between rural and urban areas. Groundnut and mustard oil are among the most consumed edible oils in urban and rural areas respectively. The choices of the consumers vary according to the produce of their regions.

The edible oils sector in India is currently facing several challenges. Cultivation of                        oilseed is becoming increasingly unattractive due to low and unstable yields. Decrease in the price of edible oils due to trade liberalization may result in very low prices for oilseeds resulting in poor supply response. High import tariffs and many other restrictions have made oilseed imports less attractive. Low output of raw material and restricted import of oilseeds can lead to under utilization of processing capacity.

The government has helped the people by providing them with Minimum Support Prices (MSP)) through its stocking policy and by imposing customs duties on imports of edible oils and oilseeds. Although these steps taken by the government did not help in reducing the prices instead the imports stopped and the prices increased with more increase in demand.

“Later as per the agreement under the WTO India fixed its bound rate of tariffs at a really high level of 300 percent for most oils, except for soy oil, for which the bound rate was fixed at 45 percent. Despite this low bound rate, palm oil is the most imported oil in India and not soya oil. This is mainly due to the price sensitivity of the Indian consumers” (Dohlman et. al, 2003). “Not only are palm oil prices lower at the point of origin (Malaysia and Indonesia) but also the freight cost is cheaper compared to Soy oil supplied from USA or Argentina. With trade liberalization imports rose and the prices of edible oils dropped for consumers.”

This helped Indian consumers with their edible oil prices. The reduction in duty on palm oil due to trade liberalization policy prevented prices from rising in India in spite of a drought condition around the world.

These trade liberalization policies of the Indian Government have helped the oilseed farmer and have led to the prevention of unemployment. India being an agriculture based nation can face a lot of problems related to the unemployment of their labor classes.

Trade liberalization in India’s case has helped it in many ways. It has avoided problems of unemployment, poverty, and unmet demand of edible oil. The economic growth of India could have suffered drastically if the trade liberalization policies would not have allowed import of oils from other countries.

Trade liberalization in case of developing nations plays a very important role in increasing their GDP and overall economic growth. Higher standards of living, employment, reduced poverty, inflow of foreign currency through exports etc, are some of the major factors that have led developing nations to liberalize their trade policies and hence they are among the most active participants in global trade. Freeing trade frequently benefits the developing economies. The increased growth resulting from barrier free trade tends to increase the incomes of the poor in developing nations in roughly the same proportion as those of the population as a whole. Hence new jobs are created for unskilled workers, giving them enough to survive properly, further leading to a higher GDP and growth of the nation. Developing countries are far more benefitting from trade liberalization than developing nations. Hence it can be said that we can expect a lot of trade policies being reformed and liberalized by the developing nations as compared to the industrialized ones.

Further Liberalization of Global Trade

Trade liberalization has played a very important role in making our world a globalized economy. Trade has flourished to such extent that countries now are importing and exporting goods on a large scale to fulfill the demands of their consumers. There are still many restrictions for economies in trading with each other. These restrictions can be liberalized further for a freer trade globally. Some developed nations have still restricted a lot of policies for import of goods to their nations to maintain a balance among their exports and imports. These restrictions basically affect the developing nations from entering foreign markets, which in turn slow their economic growth. It might take a long time for developing nations to entirely be able to trade freely with other developed nations. But as we can easily see that the global trade is being dominated by the developing nations, it might soon be possible for them to trade without any barriers with the developed economies also.

Conclusion

This report has emphasized on the trends of the global market in regards with the global trade liberalization being done. Globally many reforms have been made to make trade easier throughout the world. We have also analyzed the effects of liberalization of global policies on the developed countries as well as developing countries. Although it cannot be said that developed countries do not benefit from liberalization of trade but it is quite clear that the developing nations are far more benefitted by these liberalizations. There are many factors which can show the affects of liberalization on a country but the major one is “the economic development through the increase in employment”, which is easily visible in case of developing countries. Liberalizing of trade policies has helped many nations grow and have also increased their economic growth. Globally many trade practices are being restricted which should also be reformed for a better global economic growth.

References:

1.      Sullivan, Arthur; Sheffrin and Steven M. (January 2002). Economics: Principles in Action. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.

2.      Black, John .,2002:A Dictionary of Economics: Oxford University Press

3.      Lee, Eddy: Trade Liberalization and Employment.

4.      Smith, Jeremy.  “France eyes farm reform during its EU presidency.” March 29, 2008. 

5.      The Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs.

6.      International Monetary Fund and World Bank, "Market Access for Developing Countries' Exports", 2001