The transparency of governance and the invisibility of power. An inquiry into the deficiencies of democratic representation in transnational institutions.

Economic, social and technological developments have an increasingly global impact, far beyond the traditional confines of the nation state. In order to control and coordinate these developments, transnational governance institutions have emerged which are, in terms of constitution and purpose, very heterogeneous. On one side of the spectrum we find almost state-like institutions such as the European Union; on the other side of the spectrum we have a variety of technocratic decision-making centers such as the WTO, the IMF or the United Nations and its affiliated organizations. In spite of their heterogeneity, these transnational institutions share two main characteristics. First, these institutions have all been established in order to deal with problems of coordination and cooperation that go beyond the scope and authority of individual sovereign nation states. Secondly, these institutions represent, on this new transnational level, both the nation states involved and their citizens. On the basis of their representative nature, these institutions claim democratic legitimacy: they act, not in their own name, but on behalf of the sovereign states that mandate them to deal with diverse transnational problems. Yet in spite of this alleged democratic legitimacy, there is a widespread and persistent sense of democratic deficiency with regard to these institutions. Not only individual nation states but especially individual citizens fail to see how their views and concerns, which from a democratic point of view should guide formal decision-making at this transnational level, are reflected in the transnational institutions policies. As a result, they fail to identify with these institutions and perceive them as lacking adequate democratic legitimacy. The present research project seeks to pursue a conceptual analysis of the democratic deficit of transnational, representative institutions. It will proceed by inquiring into the distinctive conditions of possibility of democratic representation in general and of democratic representation at the transnational level in particular. From a theoretical perspective, it is noteworthy that despite their claim to representativeness and despite the fact that they are mandated by elected national governments, these transnational institutions do not live up to their presumed democratic legitimacy. Apparently, institutions need to be representative in a more restricted and specific sense in order to be recognized as democratic. Our research project aims to identify the specific quality which makes representative institutions genuinly democratic. In other words, what kind of representation is presupposed in democratic representation? By focusing on transnational institutions, the results of this project should provide, at the same time, a deeper understanding of the conditions under which such institutions can be made more democratic.

Keywords:Representation, Democracy, Globalization, Governance

Disciplines:Other philosophy, ethics and religious studies not elsewhere classified, Theory and methodology of philosophy, Philosophy, Ethics