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Civil Society and Democracy in Global Governance
Civil Society and Democracy in Global Governance
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basis
the
sentation, and accountability should be pursued further. However,
democratic benefits of civil society engagement of global governance
do not flow automatically:
theymust be actively nurtured. Moreover,
281
282
civil society has the potential to detract from as well as add to democ
racy in the ways that global affairs are regulated. So we do well to ap
proach this subject with both optimism and caution.
Framework
of Analysis
Each
Society
against World
rently, rubber tappers and indigenous peoples mobilized
In
Bank-sponsored
development projects in the Brazilian Amazon.
1995 over 30,000 women attended an NGO forum in Beijing alongside
on Women.
Conference
Three years later,
the
summit
in Birming
encircled
of
7
(G-7)
protesters
Group
ham, U.K., to demand the cancellation of poor-country debts. What are
we saying when we lump these diverse activities together under the
name of civil society?
the UN's
60,000
Fourth World
fanAart Sch?lte
of civil society have varied enormously
Meanings
theoretical
place,
perspective, and political persuasion.4
century English political thought, the term referred to the
present-day usage tends to contrast civil society and the
283
across time,
In sixteenth
state, whereas
state. Hegel's
ing in the 1930s, Gramsci regarded civil society as an arena where class
hegemony forges consent, whereas much contemporary discussion iden
tifies civil society as a site of disruption and dissent.
In this article, I engage with ideas of civil society less as they have
Greater
the rules that govern one or the other aspect of social life. "Rules" in
this conception encompass specific policies, more general norms, and
deeper social structures. Thus, civil society actions may target formal
directives (such as legislation), informal constructs (such as many gen
der roles), and/or the social order as a whole. The "aspect of social life"
that concerns us here is the governance
of global realms.
To be sure, the lines dividing voluntary activities from official and
market practices can blur. For example, some civic associations may as
sist in the implementation of official policies or engage in commercial
some govern
activities to fund their advocacy campaigns. Moreover,
ments and companies may sponsor nonprofit bodies to serve as front or
ganizations. However, "pure" civil society activities involve no quest
for public office (so excluding political parties) and no pursuit of pecu
niary gain (so excluding firms and the commercial mass media).
284
more.
Civil
social
JanAait Sch?lte
285
Democracy
Like
ments
another. Deliberative
mocracy
democracy
is quite another. National
democracy.7
The more particular question at hand here is:What role can civil
society play in a reconfigured democracy for global governance? Much
Globality
The democratizing potentials of civil society are being evaluated here in
respect of the governance of global relations. However, more precisely,
286
what
the world as a single place, as one more or less seamless realm. Glob
ality in this sense has a "transworld" or "transborder" quality. A supra
territorial phenomenon can appear simultaneously at any location on
earth that is equipped to host it and/or can move more or less instanta
neously between any points on the planet.
Countless conditions in today's world manifest globality. For ex
electronic
the whole
change encompass
mass
Telecommunications
and
media
electronic
planet simultaneously.
move anywhere across the planet instantaneously. Many goods are man
ufactured through transborder production processes, and countless more
are distributed and sold through transworld markets. Surrounded by
global symbols and global events, current generations think of the
planet as home farmore than their forebears did.
ample,
When globalization
is understood along these lines?that
is, as a
transformation of social geography?then
it becomes clear that the
trend has mainly unfolded during the past half-century.9 The world of
1950 knew few or no airline passengers, intercontinental missiles, satel
fluences. The point is not that globality has taken over from territoriality,
but that territorialityno longer has themonopoly on social geography that
it exercised fiftyyears ago. We no longer live in a territorialer society.
Rather, territorial spaces now coexist and interrelatewith global spaces.
Contemporary globalization has also not encompassed all of human
ity to the same extent. In terms of regions, North America, Northeast
JanAart Sch?lte
287
Asia,
ers and the poor. In terms of gender, multiple studies have shown that
tend to be online much more than women.
men
Governance
So we come to the fourth often vague and widely contested concept in
the title of this article. Like "global-speak,"
talk of governance is a new
addition to the vocabulary of politics. The contemporaneous
advent of
the two terms is not accidental. Globalization?a
reconfiguration of so
a
cial space?has
gone hand in hand with
reconfiguration of regula
288
have become
territorial homeland.
mode
of regulation. Governance?a
collectivity's
steering, coordina
and
control
mechanisms?now
involves
much more than
tion,
clearly
the state.11 Contemporary governance
is multilayered.
It includes im
portant local, substate-regional, suprastate-regional, and transworld op
erations alongside and intertwined with national arrangements. More
over, governance has in recent decades
increasingly worked through
as
as
well
In
instruments.
this situation, regulatory au
private
public
more
has
become
decentralized
and diffuse.
thority
considerably
The governance
Much
JanAart Sch?lte
289
nance."
politics
to
explication. The first two terms?civil
society and democracy?need
be substantially rethought, whereas the other two?globality
and gover
new altogether. Politics at the start of the twenty-first cen
nance?are
is
different.
indeed
tury
Democratic
Deficits
in Global
Governance
below.
290
Structural Problems
first of the two main structural problems in contemporary con
structions of democracy
is the disjunction between supraterritorial
and
territorial
self-determination.
While many social relations
spaces
have gained a substantial global dimension, practices of democracy
most
have largely failed to keep pace. On thewhole, people?including
as
to
to
look
the
sole
site
for
demo
government
politicians?continue
cratic governance. Yet even if territorial (national, regional, and local)
The
mechanisms
itwould
global governance
ocratic government alone.
The second structural problem relates to the changing contours of
the demos under contemporary globalization.17 Territorialist geography
and statist governance tended to exist in tandem with a nationalist struc
Deficiencies
These
JanAart Sch?lte
291
bodies
volvement
inmultilateral
conferences,
suprastate agencies.
Democracy has been stillmore diluted in intergovernmental gover
nance mechanisms. For example, theG-7 is a major force of global eco
nomic management, but it gives a seat to only a handful of states whose
concluded
countless multilateral
memorandums
of under
and modus
concerned, let alone understand their mandates
circles
have
Established
little
interest
in creating
ruling
operandi.
transworld assemblies; nor do they face significant public pressure to
move in this direction. Moreover,
transworld political parties like the
Liberal and Socialist Internationals are not set up to conduct interconti
nental election campaigns for global parliaments; nor have proposals to
agencies
292
scale is available: political cultures across the planet are far too
on this matter. Furthermore, as already
to reach consensus
nature
the
of
the
noted,
global demos is so multifaceted and fluid that
it is not clear who should be represented in popular assemblies
for
transworld governance institutions.
world
diverse
experience has all too often shown, there is nothing inherently demo
cratic about local government. Global players can cut clandestine deals
to
with a local ruling clique that is no more accessible or accountable
the public than themost
the Derivatives
JanAart Sch?lte
The Democratic
Given
the democratic
Promise
of Civil
293
Society
deficits
to resolve
business
impact.23
In this way,
(including constitutional representative assemblies).
civic activism can empower stakeholders and indeed shift global poli
tics toward greater participatory democracy.
Second, civil society can enhance democracy in global governance
294
grounds, with what expected results, and with what resources to support
implementation. Civic groups can also interrogate the currently popu
lar official rhetoric of "transparency" by asking critical questions about
what is made transparent, at what time, in what forms, through what
channels, on whose decision, forwhat purpose, and inwhose interest.
ments
fanAart Sch?lte
295
ments
ample, a number of development NGOs and think tanks that lobby for
global debt relief and socially sustainable structural adjustment have gone
on to scrutinize public finances in national and local governments. For
their part, women's movements
in view of the
practices. Yet the possible gains are such?particularly
democratic
deficits described
earlier and the impracticability
of
we should welcome
transworld parliaments?that
the current rise of
civic activism on global governance and work tomaximize
its contri
butions to a democratic
Democratic
global polity.
Challenges
forCivil
Society
Having
in principle,
In addition, many of the civic groups that have addressed global gover
nance have not given priority to?or sometimes even been conscious
of?the
implications of their work for democracy. Hence, much more
effort, resources, and awareness will be needed if civil society is to
296
of global governance. Ar
the
only
early stages of a long-term project.
Yet the challenges involve more than expanding a movement;
they
also relate to improving existing civil society practices regarding the
democratization of global governance. For one thing, civic associations
democratization
civil society
might not give voice to all stakeholders in global governance, or might
do so very unevenly. If civil society is to make a full contribution to
democratic rule of global spaces, then all interested parties must have
preferably equal opportunities to participate. Otherwise,
civil society can reproduce or even enlarge structural inequalities and
arbitrary privileges connected with age, class, gender, nationality, race,
of social
religion, urban versus rural location, and so on. Hierarchies
power can operate in civil society just as in other political spaces. Civil
access?and
cess. Campaigners
in general?and
their leaders in particular?have
from middle-aged
drawn disproportionately
and
adults, professional
Northern
Christian
countries, whites,
propertied classes, men,
heritages,
and urban dwellers. On the whole, civil society engagement of global
governance has seen the privileged claim to speak for the subordinated,
often with only limited if any direct consultation of the would-be
stituents. Even membership associations may offer their followers
con
little
tions that civil society associations are not, and do not need to be, rep
resentative.27 Yet failures to include are failures to empower.
In another possible restriction of voice, civil society engagement of
global governance can rest on an overly narrow cultural base. In partic
ular, there has been a tendency for civil society activism on global
regimes inmuch of the South and the former communist-ruled countries
to be dominated byWestern-styled, Western-funded NGOs
led byWest
ernized elites. For all that such campaigners might criticize prevailing
fanAart Sch?lte
297
may misconstrue
global governance.
themandates
and modus
Campaigners
knowledge, sociological
training, and other relevant competences to be effective public educa
can be tempted to manipulate
tors. Advocates
public opinion with
score
to
in
data
order
and
inaccurate
sloppy argument
points in their im
to argue that civic
mediate political contests. This is by no means
down deadlines
"cross over"
ously challenged.
Some
civic associations
have engaged
in what
they
298
ally lost altogether.28 Indeed, advocates must stay vigilant that official
institutions do not co-opt the language of civil society critique, subtly
recasting it to their own purposes. Such captures of discourse may have
occurred in recent history when global agencies have repackaged rhet
oric of "sustainable
"good
development,"
"social
capital,"
"participation,"
and
governance."
such
natively, civil society groups may be reluctant to publicize
information when the law requires that they provide it.
Of course, an undemocratic environment may compel certain civil
to work in the shadows. For example, full trans
society associations
civic
groups would not have served democracy in the case
parency by
fanAart Sch?lte
299
democratic
Civic
credentials.
Conclusion
This article has set the contemporary rise of civil society engagement of
global governance in the context of wider historical trends of globaliza
tion.While
the new geography has raised significant opportunities for
human betterment, ithas also posed major challenges for democracy. Ex
isting arrangements to govern global spaces suffer frommajor democratic
deficits, and prevailing theories and practices of territorial democracy do
not match the global mold.
300
greater democracy.
To be sure, civil society does not offer a panacea for democratic
deficits in global regulation. The enhancement of civil society contribu
tions should be seen as one aspect of a multipronged strategy to democ
society. All too often in the past, official circles have treated exchanges
with civil society as a public relations exercise. Or they have focused
their contacts on sympathetic groups to the exclusion of critics. Or of
that challenge
immediate re
need time to
lies with offi
JanAart Schote
301
Notes
JanAart Sch?lte is professor in theDepartment of Politics and International
Studies and associate of theCentre for the Study of Globalisation and R?gion
alisation at theUniveristy ofWarwick, UK. He is author of Globalization: A
Critical Introduction (Palgrave, 2000), coauthor of Contesting Global Gover
nance (Cambridge University Press, 2000), and editor of Civil Society and
Global Finance (Routledge, 2002).
1. In thiswriting, "civic" groups and operations are taken to be the actors
and activities in civil society.
2. For
example,
T. G. Weiss
and L. Gordenker,
eds., NGOs,
the UN,
and
Chatfield,
Pagnucco,
eds.,
Transnational
Social
Movements
and Global
G.
M.
Thomas,
eds.,
Constructing
World
Culture:
International
Non
Social
Movements,
Networks,
and Norms
(Minneapolis:
Univer
302
other
arguments
making
the same
general
point,
D.
set of criteria
For
27-45.
Coleman
"International
see W. D.
globalization,
Globalisation
and Democracy:
for democratic
Institutions,
chap.
3.
10. Earlier versions of the following points can be found in "The Global
ization ofWorld Politics," in J.Baylis and S. Smith, eds., The Globalization of
World Politics: An Introduction to International Relations, 2d ed. (Oxford: Ox
fordUniversity Press, 2001), pp. 13-32; and Sch?lte, Globalization, chap. 6.
11. Cf.
J. N.
"Governance
Rosenau,
in the Twenty-First
Century,"
Global
"Governing
Slaughter,
the Global
Economy
Through
Govern
ment Networks," inM. Byers, ed., The Role of Law in International Politics:
Essays in International Relations and International Law (Oxford: Oxford Uni
versity Press, 2000), pp. 177-205.
13. The acronyms designate, respectively, theBank for International Set
tlements,
the European
Union,
the International
Monetary
the Organization
for Economic
Fund,
the Mercado
Cooperation
and Development,
C.
Cutler,
V. Haufler
and T. Porter,
eds.,
Private
Authority
in
fanAart Sch?lte
303
tic's View,"
and C. Hacker-Cord?n,
eds., Democracy's
Edges
(Cam
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), pp. 19-36; N. Woods, "Good Gov
ernance
in International
Global
Organizations,"
Governance
5, no.
1 (January
stitutions";
"Globalization's
Democratic
Deficit:
How
To Make
Inter
Cf.
P. J. Spiro,
"New
Global
Potentates:
Nongovernmental
Organiza
Cf.
E.
Smythe,
"State
Authority
and
Investment
Security:
Non-State
in Higgott
et al., Non-State
Actors,
pp.
74-90;
M.
Kaldor
et al.,
"Seat
Monroe,
Maine:
Common
Courage
Press,
2001).
25. Cf. H. Pietil? and J.Vickers, Making Women Matter: The Role of the
United Nations, 3d ed. (London: Zed, 1996).
26. T. Risse, S. C. Ropp, and K. Sikkink, eds., The Power of Human
Rights: International Norms and Domestic Change (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1999).
304