The End of History

Abstract

Global politics does not end at the global level. Rather, much deeper forces are in action at the national and subnational levels, bringing about the huge torrents of liberalization and democratization. This chapter reflects on the dialectics of such forces. In the 1980s, there were conspicuous moves towards economic deregulation in developing countries in the wake of economic globalization, which was rendering excessively regulated economies obsolete. In tandem with this came the demand for political liberalization and democratization.¹ While bureaucratic regulation normally involves social and political clients, and dismantling bureaucratic regulation facilitates the realignment of social and political groups in society, it can also become a major factor in social destabilization.