Rethinking Democracy in the Context of Globalization

Globalization, the process of increasing interdependence around the world, has massively transformed patterns of legal and political order from the mostly clear-cut divisions between international and national systems to the ever more overlapping coexistence of various governance arrangements at different levels. This ongoing transformation is creating problems for democracy. On the one hand, many international and transnational institutions continue to operate with a serious democratic deficit in their decision-making processes. On the other hand, national legislations become less democratic as the number of affected but voteless individuals increases inside (and also outside) their jurisdiction. This paper addresses the problems of democracy in such troubling circumstances by directing attention to the configuration of the global order rather than to each institution and process involved in these changes.