Where the Evidence Leads by Robert C. Johansen;

Author:Robert C. Johansen;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: OUP Premium
Published: 2021-06-15T00:00:00+00:00

5.6.2 Recognizing Democracy’s Extent

With societies as heavily interdependent as they are today, the human right to democracy cannot be fulfilled in a national context alone, because one country’s decisions affect people in neighboring countries also. Without the latter’s representation in the former’s decisions, democracy is compromised and may be contradicted. Although this problem arises for citizens of all countries, including the United States, China, Russia, and India, it is especially glaring for citizens living in small powers who bear the burden of even heavier democratic deficits because they are usually ignored when the big powers make decisions. For years, decisions by the United States and other powerful actors have violated the fulfillment of the democratic principle for many people throughout the world who are affected by great power decisions but who exercise no influence over them.

After the dawn of the nuclear-cyber-environmentally threatened age, citizens of every nation need to have some dependable democracy in the global sphere, at the least to have their basic human rights respected where they have no reliable political influence over others’ decisions. Progress in democratizing basic decisions internationally is necessary if we are not to lose democratic ground nationally. As interdependence advances it inevitably moves some control of decisions out of exclusively national hands, a reason that democratization is an essential ingredient in the proposed plan for human security. If global governance is to reduce all nations’ security fears, then all need to be fairly represented in its lawmaking institutions. Fair representation may also have important community-building consequences because working collaboratively with others often reduces hostilities toward them.253

Moreover, a pragmatic benefit arises with the understanding that mobilizing the necessary grassroots political support for global reform in every country will not happen without genuine promise that each group of people will be fairly represented. The democratic principle simply cannot be fulfilled in this stage of history unless it is implemented, to a minimal degree, in a worldwide context. Thus, some global representative governance eventually is a necessity. Reforms should always include full representation of women and other groups who have been discriminated against in the past. Of course, careful listening to underrepresented voices can help to “democratize” processes and pave the way even before institutions are sufficiently reformed.

Under appropriate conditions, democracy and globalization can be mutually reinforcing, because in a world of much interdependence, no nation should be left out of any major decision, made anywhere on Earth, if that major decision significantly affects it. Some of the burden of carbon dioxide emissions or virus infections arises from people living outside one’s own national boundaries, vivid reminders that “internal and external security are now inseparable.”254

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