Political Equality and Legitimacy in a Global Context

Abstract

What is characteristic of the present era of intensified globalization is the growth of problems that transgress traditional territorial boundaries and which are no longer addressed by nation-states alone. Asymmetries between rule-makers and rule-takers, inequalities among states, and disparities between global political problems and the capabilities of existing democratic state institutions have stimulated massive growth in governance measures beyond traditional state structures in the past decades. These developments have fuelled debates about the role of national, regional, and global institutions, both as formal organizations that establish and enforce rules and as shared sets of norms and expectations that shape interaction between political and economic actors. Some scholars and practitioners argue that global governance structures suffer from a democratic legitimacy deficit and ask how to best rethink democracy to find solutions adapted to these “new” circumstances of politics. However, while institutional suggestions have been numerous, they have often been mutually incompatible. Moreover, the varied justifications offered on their behalf underscore that conceptual unclarity still reigns concerning the normative ideal of democracy as collective self-determination, that is, “rule by the people.” Others understand this deficit in global politics more broadly, in terms of a political legitimacy deficit.