On Infeasibilities of Cosmopolitan Democracy – Lessons from the European Union

• Published in: Swiss political science review Vol. 18; no. 2; pp. 249 - 271
• Main Author: Huller, Thorsten
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-06-2012
• Subjects: Accountability; Democracy; European Union; Federalism; International institutions
• ISSN: 1424-7755; 1662-6370
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1662-6370.2012.02070.x

:  This article critically examines institutional versions of cosmopolitan democracy and institutional ideas of global federalism. Assuming global institutions to be as they are designed in conceptions of cosmopolitan democracy, the paper addresses a feasibility question: (To what degree) would such global democratic structures meet normative standards of democratic accountability. As there is no global democracy existing, the argumentation makes a detour, first investigating the experiences of the most advanced project of cosmopolitan democracy – the European Union – and then, second extrapolating from persistent, structural democratic deficits in the EU to the feasibility of global democracy. Compared to national arenas, the EU faces a gradual deficit in democratic capacities and the global reality of cosmopolitan democracy would be –even compared to the EU – a downgraded democracy as well. The main findings are: Vertical accountability is either more ineffective or more inegalitarian or both. Neither unitary nor federal systems should be seen as a plausible solution for the threat of ‘Verselbständigung’ caused by multilevel politics. And nationally segmented public spheres will not promote a similar type of politicised discourses around ‘common’ global issues.