Democracy: From City-states to a Cosmopolitan Order?

The ‘Battle in Seattle’ 1999

David HeldSome works:

Held, David, Models of Democracy, 3rd Edition (Polity Press, 2007).

Held, David. Global covenant. Polity Press, 2004.

Held, David; Koenig-Archibugi, M (eds.). Taming globalization: Frontiers of Governance. Polity Press, 2003.

Held, David; McGrew, A (eds.). The Global Transformations Reader: An Introduction to the globalization Debate. Polity Press, 2003

Held’s Key IdeaIncreasing globalization means nation-states

are losing control in key policy areas.We are seeing the `unbundling’ of the

relationship between SovereigntyTerritorialityPolitical power

Thus, we need to consider moving toward some forms of transnational democracy.

Key Questions for HeldCan transnational democracy work?Is globalization really so severe a threat to

democracy as we know it?Does Held put forth an unsustainable

conception of state sovereignty as once absolute, now eroding?

Globalization and unbundlingSpecific types of `unbundling’ of sovereignty

IGOs and the legalization (constitutionalization) of the global system. WTO, IMF, World Bank, EU—all extend aspects of the rule of law (political power) above the state.

Also, G8, G20, etc. International Networks of actors: central

bankers, environmental ministers, judges (Slaughter’s thesis)

Globalization and Unbundling cont.Other `unbundling’ actors

MNCs and related actors, including international chambers of commerce, establishing their own trans-state regulatory mechanisms.

NGOs and transnational advocacy networks. Oxfam, etc influencing global policy making (MDGs), but also social movements (Stand Up campaign for MDGs)

Fallout from global economic crisis? Global rule of law in banking?

IGO pressuresWTO assumes increasing “effective” powers

of governance.The IMF, NAFTA, even NATO take decisions

that limit state decision-making powerNot to mention the European Union

NGOs (or INGOs)Nongovernmental Organizations—NGOs.

Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, campaign to ban land mines, Greenpeace.

To reinforce, they are citizens’ groups, rather than groups of state governments working together.

They can sometimes change state behavior.

http://www.icbl.org/ Check the International Campaign to Ban Land Mines

DH’s three stepsThe rise of the modern state as the backdrop

for modern democracy.The increasing intensity of globalization.A proposal for transnational democracy.

The Rise of the Nation-StateThe modern, “absolute” nation state only

dates to about 1648. 1648: Treaty of Westphalia. Ended the Thirty

Years War, helped establish states’ control of affairs within their own borders.

Pre-WestphaliaBefore Westphalia, political communities

often overlapped.You might owe allegiance to a local lord, a

higher noble, a king and the Holy Roman Emperor.

The Westphalian SystemThe world is divided into sovereign states

which recognize no higher authority.External sovereignty: states are formally equal Internal sovereignty: states are the final judge

over affairs within their own borders--de jure vs de facto sovereign power—a key

distinction

Modern DemocracyModern democracy arose with the modern

nation-stateLiberal representative democracy made

democratic rule possible in very large states.Liberal democracy:

Attempt to balance necessary power of the state to impose order (Hobbes,)

With respect for the liberty and rights of the individual (Locke especially)

Modern Democracy, cont.Leads to key presumption for Held:

The liberal-democratic state assumes a monopoly on coercive power within its borders

But political equality helps to guard against abuses of power

Symmetry and CongruenceTwo further presumptions for Held:

Symmetry: those affected by public decisions, issues, or processes have an equal opportunity to shape them (political equality)

Congruence: impacts of decisions are limited to those formally within the political community

In the current age, symmetry and congruence no longer obtain, Held argues.

Symmetry and Congruence cont.Critics: does this presume a form of absolute

state sovereignty which has never actually existed?

Don’t all decisions affect somebody, somewhere, at some level? (butterfly’s wings, etc.)

Symm and Cong part 3Held’s response to the latter critique:There are three kinds of impacts on individuals:

Strong: vital interests are affected, with consequences for life expectancy (global warming?)

Moderate: affects individuals’ abilities to participate in their communities’ economic, cultural and political activities (trade subsidies by rich states?)

Weak: has impact on lifestyle or the range of available consumption choices (US hegemony in film, music?)

Rethinking Democracy We no longer live in self-determining

“communities of fate.” We live in overlapping communities of fate.

Thus, defenders of democracy have an obligation to build a transnational democratic structure

Moving forwardHeld notes “disjunctures” between

Westphalian absolute sovereignty and the individual rights norms implicit in the United Nations Charter.

System is still primarily “Westphalian” in its structure—UN Security CouncilNon-binding GA resolutions

A Democratic UN?The UN Charter could be a significant step in

“the cross-border regulation of world affairs” (30)Greater compliance with existing rights

conventions

At best, though, would only be a “thin” form of trans-state democracy

Cosmopolitan Democracy1) Create or expand the role of regional

parliaments (like the EP)2) Some form of global parliament, possibly a

reformed UN: a second chamber3) Long-term: a full global parliament with

some revenue-raising capacityInterconnected global legal system

Utopian?“If such a settlement (between coercive

power and democratic accountability) seems like a fantasy, it should be emphasized that it is a fantasy to imagine that one can advocate democracy today without confronting the range of issues elaborated here. If the emerging international order is to be democratic, these issues have to be considered, even though their details are, of course, open to further specification”(Held, 1992, 35).

CritiquesIs this age of globalization really so different

from the first, 1866-1914?

Laying of the transatlanctic cable, 1866

Will KymlickaOrdinary people will always want to debate in

their own common language: the “vernacular.”

That’s why a truly transnational democracy won’t work.

International, not Cosmopolitan, Democ.Alexander Wendt’s key idea:

Held is right to say that globalization will push democracy beyond the state.

However, it will be a democracy where states have the votes (think a much stronger UN)

Actors, cont.States: They are integrating economically but

are jealously guarding their formal sovereignty.

Thus, the world will be ever-more integrated, but formal world government is a long way off (actually, about 200 years: Wendt 2003)