GLOBALIZATION-DEMOCRACY NEXUS: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM SOUTH ASIA

This article investigates whether globalization strengthened or strained democratic practice in South Asia during the 1990s–early 2000s. It assembles panel evidence on trade and FDI openness, media penetration, education, inequality, and political participation to test competing hypotheses. The findings suggest that economic openness correlated with improvements in voice and accountability where safety nets, independent media, and rule-of-law institutions were present; in their absence, shocks to livelihoods and perceptions of exclusion fuelled street contention and executive overreach. The study underscores the mediating role of institutions: the same surge in cross-border integration can deepen pluralism in one context and destabilize it in another. The paper concludes by proposing policy guardrails—competition policy, social protection, and transparency—that reconcile efficiency with legitimacy.

The body first reviews theoretical channels linking globalization and democracy: exposure to ideas and norms, capital mobility disciplining rent-seeking, and distributional shocks that may polarize societies. Section One documents measurement choices—trade/GDP, FDI stocks, tariff dispersion, mobile and satellite TV adoption, newspaper circulation—and governance indicators capturing elections, civil liberties, and constraints on the executive. Section Two presents econometric specifications with fixed effects and robustness checks, highlighting heterogeneous effects by income, education, and urbanization. Section Three provides country vignettes to ground the numbers: telecom liberalization and media pluralism; labour-intensive export zones and union representation; and fiscal transparency reforms linked to aid and market access. Section Four sets policy implications: invest in capabilities, uphold competition rules, cushion adjustment with social insurance, and publish timely data to sustain consent. The conclusion argues that South Asian democracies can turn globalization into a legitimacy asset if they embed openness within predictable rules and inclusive opportunity structures.