THE 'POLITICAL TRILEMMA' AND THE CRISIS IN THE WEST

Once academic theory, the idea is now playing out across the world, with its impact more visible in the West than elsewhere

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Democracies in the western world are in crisis, marked by deepening polarisation, mistrust in democratic institutions and rising populism that is making those countries take an insular turn.

Over two decades ago, economist Dani Rodrik put forward a proposition he termed the political trilemma of the world economy. Examining the state of economic integration in the western world, he claimed that countries face a difficult choice over time, they could only have at the most two of the following: international economic integration (globalisation), the nation-state (sovereignty), and mass politics (popular democracy).

Rodrik's paper, "How Far Will International Economic Integration Go?" (2000), introduced this concept, arguing that despite the rhetoric of globalisation, international economic integration remains remarkably limited. Countries, adopting a protectionist stance, have erected barriers to free trade. National borders and the transaction costs significantly hamper international commerce, limiting the extent to which gains from globalisation could be realised.

From theory to reality

This idea, once an academic theory, is now playing out in real time across the world. And nowhere is its impact more visible than in the West where the contradictions resulted in consequences worse than what Rodrik might have envisioned. Let us examine the trilemma more closely.