Interrogating Democracy in World Politics

It is often assumed that democracy is both desirable and possible in global politics. Interrogating Democracy in World Politics provides an important counter-argument to this assumption by questioning the history, meaning and concepts of democracy in contemporary international and global politics.

Combining viewpoints from the fields of international relations, political theory and history, the book includes:



Critical examinations of the concept of democracy as a political order and ethical ideal
Assessment of the role and function of democracy in how contemporary political events are understood and evaluated
Analysis of the relationship of democracy to international stability, liberalism and the emergence of capitalist economies


The book focuses on the move from the concept of ‘international politics’ to ‘world politics’, recognising the equal importance of understanding democratic interaction both within and between states. It reviews current scholarly thinking in the field before providing a complex theoretical re-engagement with the meaning of democracy in contemporary world politics.

Interrogating Democracy in World Politics will be of interest to students and scholars of politics and international relations, democratization studies and globalization.

Joe Hoover, Meera Sabaratnam and Laust Schouenborg, Department of International Relations, London School of Economics, UK.

1. Introduction: Interrogating Democracy in World Politcs Joe Hoover, Meera Sabaratnam and Laust Schouenborg Part 1: Historical Interrogations 2. Democracy in America and Democracy in the World Today Nicholas Onuf and Peter Onuf 3. Democracy in International Society: Promotion or Exclusion? Ian Clark 4. Power to the People: Nationally-Embedded Development and Mass Armies in the Making of Democracy Sandra Halperin 5. Escaping the Liberal Straitjacket: Re-Examining Democracy’s History Christopher Hobson 6. The Active Making of Two Foundationally Unequal Subjects: Liberal Democracy’s Achilles Heel? Saskia Sassen Part 2: Conceptual Interrogations 7. Restructuring Global Governance: Cosmopolitanism, Democracy and the Global Order David Held 8. Democracy in a Multipolar World Chantal Mouffe 9. Critiquing Global Democracy David Chandler 10. Mobilising (Global) Democracy: A Political Reading of Mobility between Universal Rights and the Mob Claudia Aradau and Jef Huysmans 11. Pragmatic Cosmopolitanism and the Role of Leadership in Transnational Democracy Daniel Bray 12. Conclusion James Bohman