Democracy As Human Rights ─ Freedom And Equality In The Age Of Globalization

Is global democracy possible? The most prominent institutional manifestations of this concept-the UN, WTO, IMF and World Bank-have been skewered as cloistered anti-democratic institutions by anti-globalization activists. Meanwhile, proponents of globalization advocate reforming these institutions to make them more transparent.

Michael Goodhart argues that both views fail to recognize the complex link between modern democracy and the sovereign state and the degree to which globalization challenges the modern conceptualization of democracy. Original and historically informed, Democracy as Human Rights provides a carefully argued theory of democracy in which traditional representative government is supported by global institutions designed to guarantee fundamental human rights.

Michael Goodhart teaches Political Science at the University of Pittsburgh. He is President of the American Political Science Association's Human Rights section and Book Review Editor for Polity. Recent publications include Civil Society and the Problem of Global Democracy (Democratization) and Origins and Universality in the Human Rights Debates: Cultural Essentialism and the Challenge of Globalization(Human Rights Quarterly).