Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-42gr6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-18T05:01:08.629Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

No Global Demos, No Global Democracy? A Systematization and Critique

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 December 2014

Laura Valentini
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A globalized world, some argue, needs a global democracy. But there is considerable disagreement about whether global democracy is an ideal worth pursuing. One of the main grounds for scepticism is captured by the slogan: “No global demos, no global democracy.” The fact that a key precondition of democracy—a demos—is absent at the global level, some argue, speaks against the pursuit of global democracy. I discuss four interpretations of the skeptical slogan—each based on a specific account of the notion of “the demos”—and conclude that none of them establishes that the global democratic ideal must be abandoned. In so doing, I systematize different types of objections against global democracy, thus bringing some clarity to an otherwise intricate debate, and offer a robust but qualified defense of the global democratic ideal.

Type
Articles
Information
Perspectives on Politics , Volume 12 , Issue 4 , December 2014 , pp. 789 - 807
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abizadeh, Arash. 2005. “Does Collective Identity Presuppose an Other? On the Alleged Incoherence of Global Solidarity.” American Political Science Review 99(1): 45–60.Google Scholar
Abizadeh, Arash. 2008. “Democratic Theory and Border Coercion: No Right to Unilaterally Control Your Own Borders.” Political Theory 36(1): 37–65.Google Scholar
Abizadeh, Arash. 2010. “Democratic Legitimacy and State Coercion: A Reply to David Miller.” Political Theory 38(1): 121–30.Google Scholar
Abizadeh, Arash. 2012. “On the Demos and Its Kin: Nationalism, Democracy, and the Boundary Problem.” American Political Science Review 106(4): 867–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Archibugi, Daniele. 2004. “Cosmopolitan Democracy and Its Critics: A Review.” European Journal of International Relations 10(3): 437–73.Google Scholar
Archibugi, Daniele. 2008. The Global Commonwealth of Citizens: Toward Cosmopolitan Democracy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Archibugi, Daniele, and Held, David. 2011. “Cosmopolitan Democracy: Paths and Agents.” Ethics & International Affairs 25(4): 433–61.Google Scholar
Archibugi, Daniele, Koenig-Archibugi, Mathias, and Marchetti, Raffaele. 2011a. Global Democracy: Normative and Empirical Perspectives, ed. Archibugi, Daniele, Koenig-Archibugi, Mathias, and Marchetti, Raffaele. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Archibugi, Daniele. 2011b. “Introduction: Mapping Global Democracy.” In Global Democracy: Normative and Empirical Perspectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arneson, Richard J. 2004. “Democracy Is Not Intrinsically Just.” In Justice and Democracy, ed. Dowding, Keith, Goodin, Robert E., and Pateman, Carole. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Arrhenius, Gustaf. 2005. “The Boundary Problem in Democratic Theory.” In Democracy Unbound: Basic Explorations I, ed. Tersman, Folke. Stockholm: Filosofiska Istitutionen.Google Scholar
Axtmann, Roland. 2002. “What’s Wrong with Cosmopolitan Democracy?” In Global Citizenship: A Critical Introduction, ed. Dower, Nigel and Williams., HowardNew York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Barry, Brian. 1995. Justice as Impartiality. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Beckman, Ludvig. 2009. The Frontiers of Democracy: The Right to Vote and Its Limits. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Beitz, Charles R. 1983. “Cosmopolitan Ideals and National Sentiment.” Journal of Philosophy 80(10): 591–600.Google Scholar
Beitz, Charles R. 1989. Political Equality: A n Essay in Democratic Theory. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Benhabib, Seyla. 2011. Dignity in Adversity Human Rights in Troubled Times. Cambridge: Polity.Google Scholar
Blake, Michael, and Smith, Patrick Taylor. 2013. “International Distributive Justice.” In The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ed. Zalta, Edward N.. http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2013/entries/international-justice/.Google Scholar
Bohman, James. 2007. Democracy across Borders. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Brady, David, Beckfield, Jason, and Zhao, Wei. 2007. “The Consequences of Economic Globalization for Affluent Democracies.” Annual Review of Sociology 33(1): 313–34.Google Scholar
Brighouse, Harry, and Fleurbaey, Marc. 2010. “Democracy and Proportionality.” Journal of Political Philosophy 18(2): 137–55.Google Scholar
Brown, Chris. 2000. “Cosmopolitanism, World Citizenship and Global Civil Society.” Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy 3(1): 7–26.Google Scholar
Buchanan, Allen. 2004. Justice, Legitimacy, and Self-determination: Moral Foundations for International Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Buchanan, Allen, and Keohane, Robert O.. 2006. “The Legitimacy of Global Governance Institutions.” Ethics & International Affairs 20(4): 405–37.Google Scholar
Calhoun, Craig J. 2002. “The Class Consciousness of Frequent Travelers: Toward a Critique of Actually Existing Cosmopolitanism.” South Atlantic Quarterly 101(4): 869–97.Google Scholar
Caney, Simon. 2006. “Cosmopolitan Justice and Institutional Design.” Social Theory and Practice 32(4): 725–56.Google Scholar
Cavallero, Eric. 2010. “Coercion, Inequality and the International Property Regime.” Journal of Political Philosophy 18(1): 16–31.Google Scholar
Christiano, Thomas. 2006. “A Democratic Theory of Territory and Some Puzzles about Global Democracy.” Journal of Social Philosophy 37(1): 81–107.Google Scholar
Christiano, Thomas. 2008a. “Democracy.” In The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ed. Zalta, Edward N.. http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2008/entries/democracy/.Google Scholar
Christiano, Thomas. 2008b. The Constitution of Equality: Democratic Authority and Its Limits. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Christiano, Thomas. 2011. “Is Democratic Legitimacy Possible for International Institutions?” In Global Democracy: Normative and Empirical Perspectives, ed. Archibugi, Daniele, Koenig-Archibugi, Mathias, and Marchetti, Raffaele. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Cortell, Andrew P., and Davis, James W.. 1996. “How Do International Institutions Matter? The Domestic Impact of International Rules and Norms.” International Studies Quarterly 40(4): 451–78.Google Scholar
Craig, Campbell. 2008. “The Resurgent Idea of World Government.” Ethics & International Affairs 22(2): 133–42.Google Scholar
Dahl, Robert A. 1970. After the Revolution? Authority in a Good Society. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Dahl, Robert A. 1989. Democracy and Its Critics. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Dahl, Robert A. 1999. “Can International Organizations Be Democratic? A Skeptic’s View.” In Democracy’s Edges, ed. Shapiro, Ian and Hacker-Cordón, Casiano. Contemporary Political Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Deudney, Daniel H. 2007. Bounding Power: Republican Security Theory from the Polis to the Global Village. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Dryzek, John S. 1999. “Transnational Democracy.” Journal of Political Philosophy 7(1): 30–51.Google Scholar
Dryzek, John S. 2006. Deliberative Global Politics: Discourse and Democracy in a Divided World. Cambridge: Polity.Google Scholar
Dryzek, John S. 2011. “Global Democratization: Soup, Society, or System?” Ethics & International Affairs 25(2): 211–34.Google Scholar
Dupuy, Pierre-Marie. 2005. “Some Reflections on Contemporary International Law and the Appeal to Universal Values: A Reply to Martti Koskenniemi.” European Journal of International Law 16(1): 131–37.Google Scholar
Dworkin, Ronald. 1986. Law’s Empire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Dworkin, Ronald. 2002. Sovereign Virtue: The Theory and Practice of Equality. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Etzioni, Amitai. 2013. “The EU: The Communitarian Deficit.” European Societies 15(3): 312–30.Google Scholar
Fabre, Cécile. 2000. “A Philosophical Argument for a Bill of Rights.” British Journal of Political Science 30(1): 77–98.Google Scholar
Falk, Richard, and Strauss, Andrew L.. 2000. “On the Creation of a Global Peoples Assembly: Legitimacy and the Power of Popular Sovereignty.” Stanford Journal of International Law 36(2): 191–219.Google Scholar
Ferry, Jean-Marc. 2008. “Ten Normative Theses on the European Union.” Ethical Perspectives 15(4): 527–44.Google Scholar
Fish, M. Steven, and Brooks, Robin S.. 2004. “Does Diversity Hurt Democracy?” Journal of Democracy 15(1): 154–66.Google Scholar
Føllesdal, Andreas. 2011. “Cosmopolitan Democracy: Neither a Category Mistake nor a Categorical Imperative.” In Global Democracy: Normative and Empirical Perspectives, ed. Archibugi, Daniele, Koenig-Archibugi, Mathias, and Marchetti, Raffaele. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Fraser, Nancy. 2009. Scales of Justice: Reimagining Political Space in a Globalizing World. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Gallagher, Kevin P. 2009. “Economic Globalization and the Environment.” Annual Review of Environment and Resources 34(1): 279–304.Google Scholar
Gallie, W. B. 1955. “Essentially Contested Concepts.” Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 56(1): 167–98.Google Scholar
Gilabert, Pablo. 2011. “Feasibility and Socialism.” Journal of Political Philosophy 19(1): 52–63.Google Scholar
Gilabert, Pablo. 2012. From Global Poverty to Global Equality: A Philosophical Exploration. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Gilabert, Pablo, and Lawford-Smith, Holly. 2012. “Political Feasibility: A Conceptual Exploration.” Political Studies 60(4): 809–25.Google Scholar
Goldberg, Pinelopi Koujianou, and Pavcnik, Nina. 2007. “Distributional Effects of Globalization in Developing Countries.” Journal of Economic Literature 45(1): 39–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodin, Robert E. 2007. “Enfranchising All Affected Interests, and Its Alternatives.” Philosophy and Public Affairs 35(1): 40–68.Google Scholar
Goodin, Robert E. 2010. “Global Democracy: In the Beginning.” International Theory 2(02): 175–209.Google Scholar
Goodin, Robert E. 2013. “World Government Is Here!” In Varieties of Sovereignty and Citizenship, ed. Ben-Porath, Sigal R. and Smith., Rogers M.Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.Google Scholar
Grant, Ruth W., and Keohane, Robert O.. 2005. “Accountability and Abuses of Power in World Politics.” American Political Science Review 99(01): 29–43.Google Scholar
Grimm, Dieter. 1995. “Does Europe Need a Constitution?” European Law Journal 1(3): 282–302.Google Scholar
Habermas, Jürgen. 1996. Between Facts and Norms: Contributions to a Discourse Theory of Law and Democracy. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Habermas, Jürgen. 2006. The Divided West. Cambridge: Polity.Google Scholar
Habermas, Jürgen. 2012. The Crisis of the European Union: A Response. Cambridge: Polity.Google Scholar
Held, David. 1995. Democracy and the Global Order: From the Modern State to Cosmopolitan Governance. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Kant, Immanuel. 1991. Kant: Political Writings. Ed. Reiss., H.SCambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Kayser, Mark Andreas. 2007. “How Domestic Is Domestic Politics? Globalization and Elections.” Annual Review of Political Science 10(1): 341–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keohane, Robert O. 2006. “Accountability in World Politics.” Scandinavian Political Studies 29(2): 75–87.Google Scholar
Keohane, Robert O., and Victor, David G.. 2011. “The Regime Complex for Climate Change.” Perspectives on Politics 9(1): 7–23.Google Scholar
Koenig-Archibugi, Mathias. 2011a. “Is Global Democracy Possible?” European Journal of International Relations 17(3): 519–42.Google Scholar
Koenig-Archibugi, Mathias. 2011b. “Global Democracy and Domestic Analogies.” In Global Democracy: Normative and Empirical Perspectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Kymlicka, Will. 2001. Politics in the Vernacular: Nationalism, Multiculturalism, and Citizenship. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Lawford-Smith, Holly. 2013. “Understanding Political Feasibility.” Journal of Political Philosophy 21(3): 243–59.Google Scholar
Lenard, Patti Tamara. 2010. “Motivating Cosmopolitanism? A Skeptical View.” Journal of Moral Philosophy 7(3): 346–71.Google Scholar
List, Christian, and Koenig-Archibugi, Mathias. 2010. “Can There Be a Global Demos? An Agency-Based Approach.” Philosophy & Public Affairs 38(1): 76–110.Google Scholar
List, Christian, and Pettit, Philip. 2011. Group Agency: The Possibility, Design, and Status of Corporate Agents. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Lu, Catherine. 2012. “World Government.” In The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ed. Zalta, Edward N.. http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2012/entries/world-government/.Google Scholar
Macdonald, Kate. 2011. “Global Democracy for a Partially Joined-up World: Toward a Multi-level System of Public Power and Democratic Governance?” In Global Democracy: Normative and Empirical Perspectives, ed. Archibugi, Daniele, Koenig-Archibugi, Mathias, and Marchetti, Raffaele. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Macdonald, Terry. 2003. “Boundaries beyond Borders: Delineating Democratic ‘Peoples’ in a Globalizing World.” Democratization 10(3): 173–94.Google Scholar
Macdonald, Terry. 2008. Global Stakeholder Democracy: Power and Representation beyond Liberal States. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Marchetti, Raffaele. 2008. Global Democracy: For and Against: Ethical Theory, Institutional Design, and Social Struggles. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
McGarry, John, and O’Leary, Brendan. 2009. “Must Pluri-national Federations Fail?” Ethnopolitics 8(1): 5–25.Google Scholar
McGillivray, Fiona. 2000. Democratizing the World Trade Organization. Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace.Google Scholar
McMahon, Christopher. 1994. Authority and Democracy: A General Theory of Government and Management. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Miller, David. 2000. “Bounded Citizenship.” In Citizenship and National Identity, ed. Miller., DavidCambridge: Polity.Google Scholar
Miller, David. 2007. National Responsibility and Global Justice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Miller, David. 2009. “Democracy’s Domain.” Philosophy & Public Affairs 37(3): 201–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, David. 2010a. “Against Global Democracy.” In After the Nation: Critical Reflections on Post-Nationalism, ed. Breen, Kaith and O’Neill., ShaneBasingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Miller, David. 2010b. “Why Immigration Controls Are Not Coercive: A Reply to Arash Abizadeh.” Political Theory 38(1): 111–20.Google Scholar
Nagel, Thomas. 2005. “The Problem of Global Justice.” Philosophy & Public Affairs 33(2): 113–47.Google Scholar
Näsström, Sofia. 2011. “The Challenge of the All-Affected Principle.” Political Studies 59(1): 116–34.Google Scholar
Nozick, Robert. 1974. Anarchy, State, and Utopia. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Owen, David. 2012. “Constituting the Polity, Constituting the Demos: On the Place of the All Affected Interests Principle in Democratic Theory and in Resolving the Democratic Boundary Problem.” Ethics & Global Politics 5(3): 129–52.Google Scholar
Patomäki, Heikki. 2011. “Towards Global Political Parties.” Ethics & Global Politics 4(2): 81–102.Google Scholar
Pogge, Thomas. 2009. “Kant’s Vision of a Just World Order.” In The Blackwell Guide to Kant’s Ethics, ed. Hill., ThomasOxford: Wiley-Blackwell.Google Scholar
Räikkä, J. 1998. “The Feasibility Condition in Political Theory.” Journal of Political Philosophy 6(1): 27–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rawls, John. 1996. Political Liberalism. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Rawls, John. 1999. The Law of Peoples: With “The Idea of Public Reason Revisited. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Risse, Mathias. 2012. On Global Justice. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Rixen, Thomas. 2011. “Tax Competition and Inequality: The Case for Global Tax Governance.” Global Governance: A Review of Multilateralism and International Organizations 17(4): 447–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ronzoni, Miriam. 2009. “The Global Order: A Case of Background Injustice? A Practice-Dependent Account.” Philosophy & Public Affairs 37(3): 229–56.Google Scholar
Scheuerman, William E. 2011. The Realist Case for Global Reform. Cambridge: Polity.Google Scholar
Shannon, Vaughn P. 2005. “Wendt’s Violation of the Constructivist Project: Agency and Why a World State Is Not Inevitable.” European Journal of International Relations 11(4): 581–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simmons, A. John. 2010. “Ideal and Nonideal Theory.” Philosophy & Public Affairs 38(1): 5–36.Google Scholar
Song, Sarah. 2009. “Democracy and Noncitizen Voting Rights.” Citizenship Studies 13(6): 607–20.Google Scholar
Song, Sarah. 2012. “The Boundary Problem in Democratic Theory: Why the Demos Should Be Bounded by the State.” International Theory 4(1): 39–68.Google Scholar
Steele, Brent J. 2011. “Alternative Accountability after the ‘naughts’.” Review of International Studies 37(5): 2603–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tallberg, Jonas, and Uhlin, Andreas. 2011. “Civil Society and Global Democracy: An Assessment.” In Global Democracy: Normative and Empirical Perspectives, ed. Archibugi, Daniele, Koenig-Archibugi, Mathias, and Marchetti, Raffaele. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Tilly, Charles. 2007. Democracy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Tinnevelt, Ronald, and Geenens, Raf. 2008. “The Coming of Age of Global Democracy? An Introduction.” Ethical Perspectives 15(4): 427–51.Google Scholar
Ulaş, Luke. 2014. “Realising Cosmopolitanism: The Role of a World State.” Ph.D. diss. London School of Economics.Google Scholar
Valentini, Laura. 2013. “Justice, Disagreement and Democracy.” British Journal of Political Science 43(1): 177–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Votewatch, . 2011. “Voting in 2009-2014 European Parliament.” http://www.votewatch.eu/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/votewatch_report_voting_behavior_26_january_beta.pdf.Google Scholar
Waldron, Jeremy. 1999. Law and Disagreement. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Ware, Alan. 1996. Political Parties and Party Systems. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Weiler, J.H.H. 1995. “Does Europe Need a Constitution? Demos, Telos and the German Maastricht Decision.” European Law Journal 1(3): 219–58.Google Scholar
Wendt, Alexander. 2003. “Why a World State Is Inevitable.” European Journal of International Relations 9(4): 491–542.Google Scholar
Whelan, Frederick. 1983. “Prologue: Democratic Theory and the Boundary Problem.” In Liberal Democracy: Nomos XXV, edited by Pennock, J.R. and Chapman., J.W.New York: New York University Press.Google Scholar
White, Jonathan, and Ypi, Lea. 2011. “On Partisan Political Justification.” American Political Science Review 105(2): 381–96.Google Scholar
Ypi, Lea. 2012. Global Justice and Avant-garde Political Agency. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar