The Emergence of Democratic Participation in Global Governance (Paris, 1919)

Steve Charnovitz
Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, Washington, D.C

The theme of this Tenth Anniversary issue, “Globalization and Governance: The Prospects for Democracy,” is a fitting and timely topic. By way of introduction, this article will begin by discussing each of these concepts briefly.

“Globalization” has become a buzzword in recent years, in part because it has so many important dimensions. Culture is globalizing as the ideas, styles, and technologies from each society infiltrate others on a continuous basis. The economy is globalizing as money moves without hindrance across borders, and goods, services, and workers seek to overcome protectionist barriers. Environmental globalization occurs as scientists and policymakers increasingly understand the planet’s ecosystems and the ways in which environmental mismanagement in one region affects other regions. Politics is globalizing as governments and societies make greater efforts to influence each other and as internal tensions in one country spread to neighbors.

“Governance” is an apt term for describing decisionmaking processes that are less formal than a government. Although no international government exists in a world of notionally sovereign nation states, global governance certainly does exist, and these processes have grown deeper in recent decades. One of the key challenges of governance is siting authoritative decisions at the proper level to coincide with the scope of the problem being addressed. The proper level in economic or environmental terms might not match the governmental units available for making and implementing decisions.

The “prospects for democracy” is a broad topic that scholars are addressing in distinct ways. A central concern is the viability of democracy in changing configurations of world politics. Free elections are essential to democracy; yet democracy requires more than that. In his monumental analysis of Democracy in America in 1848, Alexis de Tocqueville discovered the vital role of political and civil associations in informing and sustaining democracy.

The importance of such participation to national democracy is now recognized and promoted by international organizations. For example, the World Bank reports that “[i]ncreasing opportunities for voice and participation can improve state capability. . . .” The U.N. Commission on Human Rights states that at the national level, “the widest participation in the democratic dialogue by all sectors and actors of society must be promoted in order to come to agreements on appropriate solutions. . . .” The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development has extolled the value of “active participation” at the national level in which there is “a role for citizens in proposing policy options and shaping the policy dialogue—although the responsibility for the final decision or policy formulation rests with government.”

Although the democratic value of a contestation of ideas at the national level is an accepted nostrum today, the extension of that principle to the international level remains controversial, even in an era of globalization. The debate is not about freedom of speech; few would deny that an individual should be able to advocate ideas outside of his country, or to engage in discourse with foreign government officials and private individuals. Rather, the debate is about whether there is a democratic imperative in giving individuals opportunities to participate in global governance. Such opportunities can be justified for their contribution to national democracy. As Susan Marks has explained, “democracy cannot flourish in nation-states unless efforts are made to democratize the processes of transnational and global decision-making as well.” Unbounded participation can also be justified for its contribution to multilateral decisionmaking. Boutros Boutros-Ghali has observed that nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), parliamentarians, and international lawyers act at various levels of the international system as “mechanisms of democracy.” A recent U.N. Human Development Report stated that “[o]ne big development in opening opportunities for people to participate in global governance has been the growing strength and influence of NGOs—in both the North and the South.”

Opening opportunities for people is the theme of this article, which is divided into four parts. Part I examines the concept of democracy at the international level, and finds that some democratization already ensues. Part II looks for the roots of this phenomenon, and postulates that it originated in 1919 at the Paris Peace Conference. Part III suggests that this key event should be called a global constitutional moment. A brief Part IV concludes.

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