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A Democratic Account of the Right to Rule in Global Governance
Author(s) -
Wheatley Steven
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
swiss political science review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.632
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1662-6370
pISSN - 1424-7755
DOI - 10.1111/j.1662-6370.2012.02063.x
Subject(s) - democracy , legitimacy , sovereignty , democratic legitimacy , politics , globalization , rule of law , global governance , power (physics) , law and economics , corporate governance , democratic deficit , political economy , political science , democratic governance , popular sovereignty , sociology , civil society , law , economics , physics , finance , quantum mechanics
The objective of this article is to examine the extent to which a democratic conception of legitimate political authority can be applied to global regulatory regimes. The analysis is both a response to the concerns around the putative ‘democratic deficit’ at the domestic level that results from the globalization of governance functions and the need for global regulators to demonstrate a ‘right to rule’ in conditions in which it is no longer meaningful to speak about ‘sovereignty’ as legitimating the exercise of political power in world society. The essay draws on the work of Joseph Raz and Jürgen Habermas to develop a conceptual framework for understanding the idea of legitimate political authority – as it applies to democratic societies – before going on to consider the complexities that emerge from the recognition of multiple overlapping regimes, all of which can make a plausible claim to democratic legitimacy and a right to rule on the issue under consideration.