Global capitalism and the question of global governance : A socioeconomic perspective

Economists have observed that during the last several decades of the twentieth century there have been more examples of national economic success than failure. One leading explanation for this is that socio‐economic evolution has resulted in improved institutions and institutional arrangements. Globalization during the second half of the twentieth century spread capitalist institutions and liberal politics around the world. This paper examines the fundamental forces underlying these socioeconomic processes. If the boundaries of these forces are on the global rather than national level, the issue of a global government naturally arises. The relationship between the forces of socio‐economic evolution, sustainable globalization and global governance are explored. An index of global government is presented to monitor these phenomena over time.