Building Global Democracy

This article analyses the inequality of access of people to the international policy process. It is argued that this presents an important challenge for global social policy considerations. The work explores the question of how these inequalities are prod

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) can be considered a pioneer of soft forms of transnational governance. For some it has used its `soft powers' to contribute to the construction of a neoliberal world order, however Neoliber

BANGKOK, Jul 8 (IPS) - Using the power of his office, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon achieved a rare diplomatic feat during his recent visit to military-ruled Burma. He broke a taboo by delivering a public speech about the lack of democracy and human

While we're still arguing about whether there's life after death, can we add another question to the cart? Is there life after democracy? What sort of life will it be? By democracy I don't mean democracy as an ideal or an aspiration. I mean the working mo

This article examines the allocation of roles and responsibilities in the construction of UN peacekeeping. The case is made that decision making in UN peacekeeping is not only fragmented between various states and institutional actors, but also critically

In some left political theory, democracy is an aspiration that occupies a place once held by communism. One might think of Chantal Mouffe and Ernesto Laclau's work on radical democracy, accounts of deliberative democracy influenced by Jrgen Habermas' theo

Former rebels have come to power in Aceh but they now face the twin challenges of winning greater autonomy from Jakarta and controlling corruption in their own ranks, writes Edward Aspinall

In this article we consider the forms of democratic participation that revolve around issues of religious faith and Islam. The context of such work is one in which a concern with the levels of participation in the political institutions of Western Europe

In 2004-2005, for the first time in more than five decades, Egypt witnessed the rise of a protest movement calling for the end of one-party rule. In 1 year, Egypt witnessed more oppositional demonstrations, rallies, and the organization of nonviolent diss

This article reconsiders the argument that civil society promotes democracy. Both the independent variable of civil society and the dependent variable of democracy are disentangled. Several hypotheses on what characteristics of civil society organizations

It need hardly be said, however, that to determine how a public realm which provides for a political relationship of this kind between governors and governed can be constituted in an age of increasing individual and group diversity, as well as one in whic

International politics are undoubtedly in transition along recognizable lines. The resulting disruptive effects on the international institutions founded after World War II are no less evident. Such times demand a principled basis to guide the politics of

The age of privatization is over. Politics, not the market, is irresponsible for promoting the common good. Philosopher Jürgen Habermas talks to Thomas Assheuer about the necessity of an international world order.

JUBA, Jun 24 (IPS) - When the women of South Sudan welcomed the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005, they were cognizant of the fact that true democracy will be realised only when their human rights are realised.

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 23 (IPS) - When a major international conference on financing for development took place in the Qatari capital of Doha last November, the heads of both the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) skipped the meeting.

Regardless of their integrity, Iran's elections -- and even their aftermath -- are the fundamental democratic and collective expression US hawks and Zionists fear most, writes Hamid Dabashi*

Dominant theoretical approaches in political economy today, whether they posit convergence to neoliberal capitalism, binary divergence of capitalisms, or tripartite differentiation of financial governance, downplay the importance of state action. Their me

The author argues that military rule has never been good for Pakistan. Historically it has not helped the fight against extremism, On the contrary, the generals' search for some sort of legitimacy has tended to give encouragement to militant Islam. Certai

It had to happen sooner or later. The first bill on nationalization has been submitted to the State Duma. That such a bill would appear in Russia only after similar legislation was introduced in Britain and the United States might seem paradoxical, at lea

This note explores new ways of thinking about the history of political thought in twentieth-century Europe. It argues that more attention ought to be paid to the interaction between political thought or imagination on the one hand and, on the other, actua