Nominal democracy?: Prospects for democratic global governance
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[1] Princeton University
Princeton University
Estados Unidos
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- Localización: International journal of constitutional law, ISSN 1474-2640, Vol. 13, Nº. 2, 2015, págs. 343-353
- Idioma: inglés
- Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
- Dialnet Métricas: 2 Citas
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Resumen
Democracy requires a substantial measure of common values, institutions that reflect its principles, and a well-established set of practices, or habits, that reinforce it. These practices are reinforced, in well-established democracies, by traditions and symbols with emotional value. Without the legal, institutional, and civil society infrastructure that makes democracy work, nominal adherence to democratic principles at a global level will be illusory. Furthermore, it may well appear that urgent challenges to security, global economic welfare, or the global climate are most expeditiously met through non-democratic means. As a result, realizing a vision of global democracy would involve serious tradeoffs and dilemmas. It is therefore unlikely to occur quickly. Creating and sustaining global democracy will require constructing a democratic global political infrastructure. It will require not just rational institution-building but also attentiveness to symbolism that engages people’s emotions. And it will require global leadership that is both visionary and accountable. None of this will happen quickly, even under the most favorable conditions. Members of this Society should, first of all, avoid deluding themselves into believing that global democracy is about to appear, or into mistaking nominal for real democracy. They can do three more things as well: (i) work to develop legal structures that reduce arbitrariness and increase fairness; (ii) encourage, monitor, and criticize our current leaders; and (iii) continue to build transnational networks, which are not democratic but can provide some social infrastructure on which democracy could eventually rely.
