Global Stakeholder Democracy: Power and Representation Beyond Liberal StatesA pressing question at the forefront of current global political debates is: how can we salvage the democratic project in the context of 'globalization'? In recent years political activists have mounted high-profile campaigns for the democratization of powerful international institutions such as the World Bank and IMF, and for greater 'corporate accountability'. In turn, many of the NGOs linked to these campaigns have themselves faced demands for greater democratic legitimacy. Global Stakeholder Democracy responds to these challenges by outlining an innovative theoretical and institutional framework for democratizing the many state and non-state actors wielding public power in contemporary global politics. In doing so, the book lays out a promising new agenda for global democratic reform. Its analysis begins with the recognition that we cannot simply recreate traditional constitutional and electoral institutions of democratic states on a global scale, through the construction of a democratic 'super-state'. Rather, we must develop new kinds of democratic institutions capable of dealing with the realities of global pluralism, and democratizing powerful non-state actors as well as states. Through reflecting on the democratic dilemmas surrounding the political power of global NGOs, the book mounts a powerful challenge to the state-centric theoretical assumptions that have underpinned the established democratic theories of both 'cosmopolitan' and 'communitarian' liberals. In particular, it challenges the widespread assumption that 'sovereign' power, 'bounded' (national or global) societies, and 'electoral' processes are essential institutional foundations of a democratic system. The book then re-thinks the democratic project from its conceptual foundations, posing the questions: What needs to be controlled? Who ought to control it? How could they do so? In answering these questions, the book develops a novel theoretical model of representative democracy that is focused on plural (state and non-state) actors rather than on unitary state structures. It elaborates a democratic framework based on the new theoretical concepts of 'public power', 'stakeholder communities' and 'non-electoral representation', and illustrates the practical implications of these proposals for projects of global institutional reform. |
Contents
1 | |
PART I DEMOCRATIC BOUNDARIES IN THE NEW GLOBAL POLITY | 19 |
PART II DEMOCRATIC REPRESENTATION IN THE NEW GLOBAL POLITY | 103 |
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Global Stakeholder Democracy: Power and Representation Beyond Liberal States Terry Macdonald No preview available - 2008 |
Common terms and phrases
accorded agents of public aggregative argued arguments authorization and accountability Boutros Boutros-Ghali burkean model capacities chapter cited February claim conception conflicting contemporary global contexts cosmopolitan David Held decision-making processes decision-procedure decisions delegation Deliberative Democracy deliberative processes deliberative structures delineating democratic accountability democratic control Democratic Global democratic legitimacy discussion egalitarian elections electoral empowered empowerment equality established exercise public power forms of power forms of public framework global democratic Global Governance global politics global public power humanitarian ideal identify impact institutional interest representation International John Rawls jurisdictional community kind law-making liberal individualist model liberal pluralist model mandate mechanisms of authorization multi-stakeholder model multiple nation-state NGOs non-electoral Non-Governmental Organisations non-state actors norm-building normative organizational Oxford participatory particular political actors practical public political agents representative agency representative democracy require responsibilities Robert Keohane role significant social choice stakeholder communities stakeholder constituencies stakeholder interests territorial theoretical University Press various wield