Globalization, Economic Restructuring and the Implications for Democracy in Developing Countries

Abstract

Even in the context of the extraordinary twentieth-century, the 1990s could be described as a remarkable decade. Rarely in modern economic history has there been a period characterized by such dramatic volatility, not only in material forces and economic and political conditions, but also in perceptions and expectations. The most recent phase of international capitalism, which is now described as the process of globalization, has been one of very rapid and dramatic changes, and the promise — largely belied thus far — of even greater changes to come. At the start of the new century, the majority of the people in the world are living in countries where various sorts of economic insecurity has increased quite significantly, and has changed the ways in which citizens can react to both national and international economic forces.