Globalization and the Harmonization of Laws

Debate about globalization has raised some serious questions about the viability of the state. Jarrod Wiener argues here that there is a danger of making generalizations that the state has lost authority across a range of sovereignty issues. Concentrating on one aspect of sovereignty, that of protective jurisdiction, Wiener examines the USA and the states of the European Union as actors that are highly integrated into transnational practices, and takes international banking, money laundering, and the Internet as case studies. Wiener believes that the challenge to sovereignty from these practices comes from deregulation and liberalization of public policy, with the consequent empowerment of civil society actors who are transnationally mobile. In response, states are pursuing a two-fold strategy to assert control. The first is "domestication", which is the formulation of municipal law to control the activities of individuals and to localize control on the territory of the state. The second process is that of "harmonization" of laws across borders, which standardizes the means of controlling civil society actors.