Can international organizations be democratic? A skeptic's view

Abstract

Can international organizations, institutions, or processes be democratic? I argue that they cannot be. Any argument along these lines raises the question, “What is democracy?” or, better, “What do I mean by democracy?” If I can say what democracy is, presumably I can also say what democracy is not, or to put it another way, what is not a democracy. In brief: an international organization is not and probably cannot be a democracy. Democracy Yet to say what democracy is and is not is far more difficult than we would like. This is so for many reasons, of which I will offer three. First, as we all know, the term democracy has been and continues to be used indiscriminately. Although the word may be applied most frequently to a form of government, it is not restricted to forms of government. What is more, government itself is a protean term. Not only do states have governments; so also do economic enterprises, trade unions, universities, churches, voluntary associations, and other human organizations of infinite variety, from families and tribes to international organizations, economic, military, legal, criminal, and the rest. Even when the word democracy is applied to governments, and further restricted to the government of a state, the concept unfolds into several complex dimensions. In usage, then, the meaning of the term is virtually unbounded – indeed so unrestricted that it has even been used to signify dictatorship. To explain why international institutions and processes will be non-democratic, I intend to consider just two of the innumerable aspects of democracy.