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Democratic Deficit, the Global Trade System and 11 September
Author(s) -
Capling Ann
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
australian journal of politics and history
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.123
H-Index - 23
eISSN - 1467-8497
pISSN - 0004-9522
DOI - 10.1111/1467-8497.00292
Subject(s) - multilateralism , democratic deficit , globalization , legitimacy , democracy , accountability , political science , politics , government (linguistics) , terrorism , democratic legitimacy , commercial policy , political economy , international trade , economics , law , linguistics , philosophy
This short paper examines the Howard government's engagement with the World Trade Organization through the prism of two events: the S11 anti‐globalisation protests and the 11 September terrorist attacks against the United States. Several policy dilemmas are highlighted including: concerns about the accountability and legitimacy of global political institutions (democratic deficit); the government's reluctance to expand public participation in trade policy‐making; and the preference for bilateral rather than multilateral trade agreements. Together these developments have undermined Australia's commitment to multilateralism and a “rules‐based” system for international trade, and have subjected Australia to the asymmetries of power that were traditionally mitigated by global political institutions.