Democratising the Global Governance

Democratising the Global Governance


John Samuel


There are many supranational and international institutions that wield more power than the governments in developing world or least developed countries. These institutions, particularly the IMF, Word Bank, WTO and various regional Banks (like ADB) tend to seek accountability from the national governments for the economic and political conditions imposed on them. The problem is that when unaccountable and undemocratic organizations like the World Bank or IMF seek accountability and ‘promote’ democracy- there is an unequal and unjust form of power relations that thrive on patriarchal relationship between the rich and poor countries or the old colonial masters or new imperialist and their erstwhile colonies of poor countries. Hence, democratization of global governance institutions and seeking accountability and transparency is a part of our struggle to fight unjust institutional system that perpetuates poverty.

Though many of such organisations , claiming a mandate of global governance, have taken incremental steps to increase the access to information, they have not done anything to reform or transform their governance to ensure social accountability to the communities and people affected by their action. Increasingly big INGOs and Grant-making Foundations have also play a significant role in global policy influencing and discourse. Hence, there is a need for such actors to come out with accountability framework in their own institutions and to the larger stakeholders in advocacy and action.


The increasing mobilizations across the world against war, unjust trade and neo-liberal globalisation is s symptom of the emerging global solidarity and new transnational civil society formation to work towards democratization of global institutions and the world order. As a result there is an increasing recognition about the role trade, aid and debt either in eradicating poverty or perpetuating poverty. The entire issues of trade reforms Land Mines, Climate Change, debt, aid accountability, small arms, food rights, HIV/AIDS women’s rights and corporate accountability were brought to the centred stage of global policy discourse to a large extend by the transnational citizens movement and civil society formations. The emerging global solidarity among social movements, progressive civil society organisations, Trade union and INGOs have forced the retreat of Washington consensus to some extend and also forced many of the organisations to at least disclose more information (even it is in the digital world). Such global mobilization and solidarity is also a symptom of a digital democratization and the use of technology to connect, participate, challenge and change. The international policy framework like Multi-lateral Agreement on Investment was contested and fought on the cyber-world. The emerging digital democracy and coordinated actions across the world in the context of campaigns like Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) and similar campaign for trade justice , stopping violence against women, and controlling small arms will have far reaching implications in shaping and building new forms of people’s solidarity though the cyber world and beyond it.

The emergence of the World Social Forum as an open space for social movements, citizen activists as well civil society formation is an important mile stone in the history of an emerging global solidarity. World Social Forum’s assertion that another world is possible for us to dream of work towards policy options to challenge as well as transform this world in a more just and democratic manner.

Following are few policy options towards democratizing global governance and our quest towards Another World.:

1) Reforming and Democratizing the Untied Nations: After 60 years of existence, the United Nation is urgently in need of substantive reform to make it relevant, efficient, and effective and a truly multilateral forum. The UN should be a democratic forum as well as a means to strengthen democratization across the world. This requires changing the structure of the Security Council by including at least ten more permanent members in the Security Council and provision of citizens groups and civil society organisations to participate in the general assembly and Security Council. The dependency of the UN on rich nations can be reduced through a small taxation on international travel and freight.
2) Restructuring and Democratization of the World Bank: The role of World Bank needs to be fundamentally challenged. It should play the role of a coordinating mechanism of regional development banks and decreasing its lending capacity and role substantially (except in very few and necessary cases). It can also play an international coordinating role of monetary balancing and some of the role of the IMF, so that IMF can be dismantled. However, World Bank should be a democratic body where the policies should be decided by an elected board( with regional as well economic representation- for the rich as well as poor countries)
3) An International Framework for Fair Trade and complete revamping of the Word Trade Organisation. The present trade regime is unjust and in favour of the rich and powerful countries. There has to be basic changes in the trade rules and patenting regime to make it more just, fair and sustainable. There has to be a different and more ethical framework to encourage international trade.
4) Regional Integration of Polity, Economy and Market: Regional Integration of Polity, Economy and Market will help to optimize the market potential of region or sub regions and there will be more balances of power in terms of economy and trade. A regional currency and fewer currencies in the world will be more helpful in terms of redefining the capital market and exchange rate mechanism and monetary policy. Regional Development Banks formed on democratic principles and accountability mechanism can help the smaller countries and financing development in the respective region. An International Currency, coordinated by the reformed World Bank or such institution will help to stabilize the international economy in a more effective way. Regional Integration can only be done without affecting the autonomy of the participant states as well as by granting more autonomous space for sub nationalities and marginalized ethnic minorities. Regional or sub regional (e.g. South Asia) can play the role of a policy making forum, with specific conflict resolution mechanism.
5) Global Accountability framework for transnational corporations and institutions. There has to be a global framework that will make transnational corporations accountable, transparent and just. Transnational corporations and international NGOs with more than US$ 200 million should have clear accountability and transparency mechanism (including sources of revenue, expenditure, salaries, work ethic, principles of management) so that citizens and consumers can hold them to account for their actions.
6) Disarmament and global framework to regulate small arms: There has to be time bound mechanism to reduce weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons. Small arms kill more people and perpetuate violent conflict in poor countries by furthering impoverishment and deprivation. So there has to be total ban or very stringent regulation for selling small arms to the public and to non-state actors and strict regulation for the production and marketing of small arms. It is important to have an effective International Treaty on Small Arms.
7) An International Conflict Resolution at the reformed United Nations: There has to be an international framework to stop the use of military force in the cases of international disputes or conflict. In the absence of such a mechanism, periodic wars will devastate parts of the world or the entire world. We need to learn from the mistakes during the Vietnam War and now Iraq War. Such wars never solved any issues or problems, except help the powerful countries to get a boost from the war economy.
8) An International Tax Framework: The unbridled flow of financial capital is a cause of real concern for the countries and economies of the developing world. The financial crisis in South East Asia in 1997 amply demonstrated this. Hence, there has to be some global mechanism to regulate the flow of finance capital and also a nominal taxation on the international flow of capital beyond a certain amount. Such taxation (like the one suggested by the economist James Tobin) will help to develop a global trust fund to finance human development and anti-poverty programmes as well as to address issues of climate change.
9) A global framework on Climate Change and Consumption: Unethical and market driven consumption and irresponsible use of energy-depended technology and travel are the prime reasons for carbon emission. The present economic growth model, which survive because of unbridled market growth, consumption and profit motive. Such an unbridled economic growth model is a cardinal cause for the carbon emission and resultant global warming. Unless there is a limit to such consumption based growth model, we will be doing a grave injustice to the coming generation and to the biodiversity and the earth itself. Hence, there has to be measures for cumulative taxation (for instance, when you buy a second car, there will be more and if you have third one, hundred percent more etc) on consumption, particularly that energy intensive equipments. There can also be a taxation on air travel and more economic incentive for the use of clean technology and for the research of new energy sources ( other than fossil fuels)
10) An International Charter on Just and Democratic Governance: This should help to enable democratization and citizens’ participation and accountability measures during and after election. This also should have an international agreement on electoral reforms. Increasingly the Media Empires and big Corporations are controlling or influencing Party Politics and electoral politics. So there has to be a framework for regulating the role of media (by having a code of conduct for poll surveys) and that of corporate donations (making it transparent, accountable with clear limits for such donation). This should also include accountability.


Many of these public policy options are indicative rather than comprehensive. There is indeed a need to have a paradigm shift of public policy making and implementation. The present neo-liberal and neo-conservative policy making process are inherently divisive and will perpetuate violence, poverty and agony all over the world. So we need to think, act and move towards a more humanist, ethical, human rights based and democratically accountable Policy Paradigm for heralding another world: A world of Human Rights for all where every person can live with dignity, where no one will go to bed hungry, a world without wars, a world of freedom from want and freedom from fear, a world that is sustainable…a world where every human person can realize her or his creative potential, a world of ethical consumption, ethical market and democratic state…a JUST World. We need to keep alive our capability to dream, capability to aspire, capability to change and transform this world to make more just and joyful to us and to the coming generations. We need to create a new politics and new poetry towards such a world.


VII Arenas for Action and Advocacy:


1)Governance and Development: At the dawn of the new Millennium ,the largest gathering of the heads of state promised to their own people and to the people of the world that ‘we will spare no effort to free our fellow men, women and children from the abject and dehumanizing conditions of extreme poverty”.

Development is the realization all human rights, particularly socio-economic rights, wherein people can enjoy the freedom from fear and freedom from want and live a life of dignity.

In the midst of broken promises and ever increasing policy rhetoric, more than 1.3 billion poor continue to struggle with less than dollar a day and more and more people are at receiving end of the violation of human rights, market invasion and unilateral militarization. Inequality and injustice is increasing at an unprecedented pace, with resultant exclusion, conflicts and erosion of rights. Poverty is the denial of rights to live with dignity and result of unequal and unjust powerful relationship within families and among communities as well as countries...


The most basic of rights are trampled upon – very few countries in the developing world provide their citizens with rights over food, employment, health, education, basic services and shelter. Constitutions which share this intent in spirit, do not go beyond listing them as “progressively desirable” arguing that there are not enough resources to make these possible. In such situation, the intents remain noble in formulations, yet distant in practice precisely because the very foundations of injustice are not addressed.

Women continue to be one of the most marginalized groups at a great risk of security and loss of rights. In most countries, women do not have property rights as legal and constitutional provisions... Political participation of women is low, and the MDGs fail to address women’s rights

Across the continents, conflicts are one of the most pressing challenges faced today. Exacerbated by inequity in access and control over resources and poor governance, conflicts undermine all the gains of development, legitimizing violence and abuse of human rights. There is a clear link between unaccountable and ineffective governance and vulnerability to human made disasters and conflicts. Africa, LAC and Asia are plagued by conflicts and violence. Sixty-three countries in these continents are plagued by conflicts of one nature or another. More people have lost lives from conflicts and disasters in this decades compared to the previous decades.


Public resources in countries are squandered without any accountability and for building up military might and defense expenditures. Corruption reproduces the impoverishment process and weakens the very core of democratization. Major portions of public funds are also channelised in the areas of debt servicing, further liberalization and other non-redistributive non developmental ends. Ten African countries, for instance, spend more on debt repayments than on health and education. It is no wonder then that concentration of wealth in the hands of a small number of corporations and individuals is happening at a rapid pace

Such situation is the result of lack of democratic accountability, responsiveness and justice system. But it is also because of the lack of accountability and effectiveness of the international aid regime, and the extractive nature of the international trade regime and aid and debt dependency of the poor country. Addressing the issues of development, poverty eradication, women’s empowerment and climate change require action and advocacy from the local, to the national to international levels. The rich countries and multilateral organisations can not wish away from the causes and consequences of poverty. Hence JD governance should be a means for addressing the issues of poverty, injustice and development, both in the south and in the north.



2) Making Governance work at the grassroots: Local Self Governance: Institutions of Local Self Governments and the process of Local Self Governance can become very important means of effective grassroots and community level democratization, participation and accountability. Decentralization of Governments, devolutions of power, administration and financial resources help to strengthen the delivery, effectiveness and accountability of common goods and services. Innovative practices like Participatory Planning( E.g.: Kerala in India) and Participatory Budgeting( E.g. Porto Algre in Brazil) help to make governance work at the grassroots level through substantive participation of citizens and public accountability at community level. While many of the governments across the world tend to move towards to decentralization and Local Governments, there is indeed a space and opportunity for citizens to expand spaces for participation, accountability and responsive governance. However, in the absence of effective devolution of power or finances, Local self Governments and decentralization become empty rhetoric to serve the interest of central governments and powerful bureaucracies.



3) Corporate Accountability: The big transnational corporations and finance capital market increasingly shape economic governance. Economic governance has taken precedence over both political and social governance. The key shapers and movers of economic governance are the unaccountable and non-transparent multinational corporations who control the market and media and thrive on unaccountable and unjust governance system. In this process, the shareholders, consumers, communities and employees get marginalized and lose their bargaining power to seek accountability. Hence, seeking accountability and monitoring the action and governance of the big and rich corporations will be important to challenge their influence on the governance institutions within the ambit of the state and also force accountability within the market and also communities in which they operate.

While Corporate Social Responsibility can be an incremental step by the big corporations to seek legitimacy, the CSR does not provide an adequate framework for Corporate Accountability. Corporate Accountability is political, ethical as well as economic. At a time when big corporations are beginning to control the entire agribusiness, including the production and marketing and large monopolies are emerging, the entire right to food of poor people and marginal farmers under unprecedented threat. Though India is supposed to be doing well in terms of economic growth, finance capital market and foreign direct investment, thousands of farmers have committed suicide due to debt-trap and economic crisis perpetuated by big corporations. This is equally important in the case of multinational pharmaceutical, mining corporations, producers of small arms and military equipments. The present trend of economic globalisation has also accelerated corruptions as the big corporations increasingly try to get access to the market as well as the raw material by bribing the political elites of poor countries. The profit hungry, growth-driven and consumerist based economic paradigm is responsible for unprecedented level of carbon emission and climate change. Hence Corporate Accountability is a pre-requisite to move towards a more just and sustainable world.


4) Women’s Political Participation and Leadership in Governance: All over the world women have less power in all institutional arenas. The culture of patriarchy and the reproduction of unequal and unjust power relationships throughout history became the major impediments for women’s rights and political participation. Active participation of women in all spheres of governance is an important step towards a just world. While there is an increasing recognition of women at the level of local governance, women have denied access or space to participate at the national level spaces of policy making or implementation. Even at the level of local self governance, there has not been enough investment or resources to strengthen the capacity of women to participate in the political process either at the local level or at the national level.

Hence, one of the priority areas for action and advocacy is to expand the space and scope for the political participation of women and other excluded people. This requires more space for affirmative action and affirmative politics in almost all countries of the world.

5) Accountable Civil Society Organisation: Accountability cannot be a one-way traffic. Accountability and participation require space and capacity to be answerable to the multiple actors and primarily to the people on whose behalf many of the CSO are working. The legitimacy of the Civil Society Organizations and the NGOs are increasingly questioned as many of them are perceived as less accountable ‘private initiative (enterprises or business) for service delivery. A rights based approach requires that all organizations that work with civil society or within civil society need to be publicly transparent and accountable. This can only be done when there is a governance system that promotes accountability, transparency within Civil Society Organisation and NGOs. Without public accountability and spaces for citizens engagement and participation, CSOs and NGOs will not have the moral and political legitimacy to challenge unaccountable and ineffective governments or governance.


But all these can only be done when people are empowered to ask questions, seek accountability and claim rights from all those institutions that seek to monopolize and control power at the social, political and economic arena; from local to global. We need to recognize that “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”. A new wave of grassroots and global democratization is waiting to happen. A new policy-paradigm and institutional framework based on Justice, Equity, Sustainable environment, Freedom and human rights will have to emerge. Philosophers can keep on interpreting the world, our task is to change it.


As Martin Luther Kind Said: “We have not made a single gain in civil rights without determined legal and non violent pressure … Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”