The OECD was born out of the post-World War II Marshall Plan, when the US worked to rebuild the economies of friend and foe alike in a world shattered by war. But the work of the Marshall Plan and the early OECD was as much about politics as economics.
Investments in rebuilding Europe were made to avoid political chaos. They also diminished the political appeal of authoritarian rule at a time when European residents were reeling from the deprivations and destruction of wartime.
Democracy under threat
Today, the rules-based, liberal order and model is again under threat. The war in Ukraine and the rise of populism threaten these shared values and the international alliances that have preserved the peace and brought new prosperity to citizens and countries around the world since WWII, through an open rules-based trade and economic regime, and common defense arrangements.
Not all democracies are seriously threatened by anti-democratic nationalist populist leaders and movements, and not all populist leaders lead such an assault. But as we have seen in recent years, once stable democracies are tested and threatened by internal anti-democratic leaders, momentum can build that will threaten the whole transatlantic and international alliance of nations.
Tackling the cause, not the symptom
This will be a struggle for the hearts, minds and future political orientation of the residents of once-solid democracies. At the core of this must be an effort to treat the root cause of polarising politics that threaten democracy from within.
While fears of cultural dislocation, national decline, and migration animate anti-democratic populist movements – a principal driver is the real and perceived decline in living standards, living conditions and future opportunities experienced by residents of once proud and mighty economic regions. Where these communities continue to decline, residents feel disconnected and alienated from a rapidly changing world.
Left untreated, these economic divides push residents of declining regions to support ethnonationalist political movements, retreat from international engagements, and participate in anti-democratic “act outs” that threaten to upend democratic norms and regimes long taken for granted.
Binding regions – and countries – back together
Countries and their leaders are waking up to the fact that residents of ignored and left-behind regions are angry and alienated, and are moving to ameliorate the economic, social and political divides undermining our polities from within.
There is a convergence of interest and effort on both sides of the Atlantic, to learn from each other, and identify and enact the policies, programmes and practices that are effective in closing these geographic economic divides. There’s a common desire to reconnect residents of rural and former industrial heartland communities to economic opportunity. Where communities recover, it returns community pride and optimism about the future, diminishes the appeal of polarising, political movements and the demagogues who stoke them.
The US is now making unprecedented investments in place-based industrial policy and more inclusive economic growth. In the UK, both the in-power Conservative government and opposition Labour party share an agenda to “level-up” the country’s in-decline regions. The European Commission, its member states’ governments, universities, civic organisations and policy partners, are focused on enhancing and improving regional structural adjustment and cohesion policies to diminish the political damage and the political threat to member countries.
The OECD is doubling down on efforts to bring countries together to share knowledge and develop road maps and inventories based on successful transformations. All are increasingly focused on building social capital as well as the “hard” infrastructure that supports effective economic and community regeneration.
As one contribution to this work, several years ago I organised the Transforming Industrial Heartlands Initiative, which has brought together a growing group of transatlantic political, civic, business, labour and third-sector leaders to spur attention and provide practical policy and political action.
Owning the narrative
Collectively we must take these efforts to new levels of priority and effectiveness. An important method is to spread tools and tactics around effective leadership and political messaging. No leader, no matter how well intentioned, can force change on people.
The message from leaders must be, “it is not ok that your prospects and your communities’ conditions aren’t what they should be. We see and hear you. We understand why you are upset with the conditions of your community. You and your community and future success are a national priority. We are here to support you and your ideas, for building a brighter future”.
John Austin is the former President of the Michigan, USA, State Board of Education, and a Nonresident Senior Fellow with the Brookings Institution and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.
John Austin is a Senior Fellow with the Eisenhower Institute at Gettysburg College, leading work on international economy-building and democracy strengthening. He also serves as a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, where he has directed efforts to support economic transformation in the American Midwest and industrial heartlands of Western democracies for over 20 years. Prior to joining EI, Austin created and led the Michigan Economic Center, a network-building organization that advanced the state's economic transformation. He coined the term "Blue Economy" and catalyzed initiatives in the Great Lakes region and globally. Austin previously served 16 years on the Michigan State Board of Education, including 6 years as Board President. He holds a Master's in Public Administration from Harvard's Kennedy School and a BA from Swarthmore in Economics & Political Science, with High Honors and Phi Beta Kappa.