Lander, Jennifer R. (2017) The law and politics of foreign direct investment, democracy and extractive development in Mongolia : a case study of new constitutionalism on the “final frontier”. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

Preview

PDF WRAP_Theses_Lander2_2017.pdf - Submitted Version - Requires a PDF viewer. Download (2466Kb) | Preview

Request Changes to record.

Abstract

This thesis provides a critical account of state transformation on one of the last ‘frontiers’ of mineral exploration and extraction. Mongolia’s struggle to consolidate its extractive development strategy lies in a fundamental tension between the nature of global capital investment and the responsiveness of national democratic institutions to their political electorate. In this sense, Mongolia is part of a broader pattern of state formation in a global era. This pattern has been recognised in established Western democracies, but, as this thesis argues, vulnerable states in the periphery of the global economy are also being affected with potentially more immediate and alarming consequences. In the context of a transition to a development strategy reliant on the extraction and export of raw minerals (primary commodities) since 1997, the Mongolian state has entered the world of competitive international finance (as opposed to development loans) and investment, in which courting and preserving the interest and ‘confidence’ of the investor is paramount for the government. In the early years of the millennium (2003-2012), Mongolian citizens became increasingly engaged in democratic political processes and particularly vocal regarding the lack of perceived public benefit from mining investment and the damaging socio-environmental consequences of extraction in rural areas. Thus, I argue that a constitutional struggle played itself out between the contradictory impulses of the state towards investors and citizens as evidenced in the see-saw cycles of legal and policy reform between 1997 and 2013. Consequently, by the end of 2013, the general downturn in global commodity prices and the particular “vote of no confidence” in Mongolia’s investment environment from the majority of investors led to the consolidation of a cross-party ‘stability consensus’ within the state. The process of ‘stabilising’ the investment environment has occurred at the expense of the democratic constitution of the state, demonstrated in the curtailment of Parliamentary powers over policy-making processes, the limitation of self-government for sub-national administrations and the restriction of civil society organisations’ participation in political processes. As a post-socialist state adjusting to the constraints of the global economy and the cycles of commodity markets, Mongolia provides concrete evidence of the antagonistic relationship between national democracy and global economic integration, and the reality of the latter’s constitutional impacts.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	K Law [LC] > KN Asia and Eurasia, Africa, Pacific Area, and Antarctica
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Mines and mineral resources -- Law and legislation -- Case studies -- Mongólia, Investments, Foreign -- Government policy -- Case studies -- Mongólia, Democracy -- History -- Mongólia -- Case studies -- 21st century
Official Date:	April 2017
Dates:	Date Event April 2017 UNSPECIFIED
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	School of Law
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Mészáros, George
Format of File:	pdf
Extent:	340 leaves : maps
Language:	eng

Request changes or add full text files to a record

Repository staff actions (login required)

View Item

Downloads