This article presents a discourse approach to the study of legitimacy of governance beyond the democratic state. It starts from the empirical question of how international organizations legitimate their own activities and how they create perceptions of legitimacy in the absence of democratic participation and control. In answering this question the article draws on elements from Max Weber's theory of rational legal domination and on Jürgen Habermas's idea of legitimation through justificatory discourse. This article claims that the legitimacy of international governance hinges upon popular assent to the justifications of its goals, principles and procedures. It thereby also challenges much of the existing literature on legitimacy above the state that regards a democracy deficit a priori as a core problem of international governance.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Banchoff, Thomas and Mitchell P. Smith (eds) (1999) Legitimacy and the European Union. London: Routledge .
2.
Beetham, David (1991) The Legitimation of Power. Basingstoke: Macmillan .
3.
Beetham, David and Christopher Lord (1998) Legitimacy and the European Union. London: Longman .
4.
Bodansky, Daniel (1999) `The Legitimacy of International Governance: A Coming Challenge for International Environmental Law?' , American Journal of International Law93(3): 596-624 .
5.
Brubaker, Rogers (1984) The Limits of Rationality: An Essay on the Social and Moral Thought of Max Weber. London: Allen & Unwin .
6.
Cassese, Sabino (2002) `Is There Really a “Democratic Deficit”?', in EuropEos (ed.) Institutional Reforms in the European Union: Memorandum for the Convention, pp. 9-13. Rome .
7.
Cederman, Lars Erik (2001) `Nationalism and Bounded Integration. What it Would Take to Construct a European Demos' , European Journal of International Relations7(2): 139-174 .
8.
Chayes, Abram and Antonia Handler Chayes (1995) The New Sovereignty. Compliance with International Regulatory Agreements. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press .
9.
Claude, Inis (1967) The Changing United Nations. New York: Random House .
10.
Dahl, Robert A. (1999) `Can International Organizations Be Democratic? A Skeptic's View', in Ian Shapiro and Casiano Hacker-Cordon (eds) Democracy's Edges, pp. 19-36. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press .
11.
De Búrca, Gráinne (1996) `The Quest for Legitimacy in the European Union' , The Modern Law Review59(3): 349-376 .
12.
De Winter, Lieven and Marc Swyngedouw (1999) `The Scope of EU Government', in Hermann Schmitt and Jacques Thomassen (eds) Political Representation and Legitimacy in the European Union, pp. 47-73. Oxford: Oxford University Press .
13.
Elster, Jon (1986) `The Market and the Forum: Three Varieties of Political Theory', in Jon Elster and Aanund Hylland (eds) Foundations of Social Choice Theory, pp. 103-132. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press .
14.
Franck, Thomas M. (1988) `Legitimacy in the International System' , American Journal of International Law82(4): 705-759 .
15.
Franck, Thomas M. (1995) Fairness in International Law and Institutions. Oxford: Clarendon Press .
16.
Friedeberg, A.S. (1969) The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development 1964: The Theory of the Peripheral Economy at the Centre of International Political Discussions. Rotterdam: University of Rotterdam Press .
17.
Graz, Jean-Christophe (1999) Aux sources de l'OMC: la Charte de la Havane, 1941-1950. Geneva: Droz .
18.
Habermas, Jürgen (1979) Communication and the Evolution of Society. London: Heinemann Educational Books .
19.
Habermas, Jürgen (1984) The Theory of Communicative Action. Boston: Beacon Press .
20.
Habermas, Jürgen (1987) `Wie ist Legitimität durch Legalität möglich?' , Kritische Justiz20(1): 1-16 .
21.
Habermas, Jürgen (1988) Legitimation Crisis. Oxford: Polity Press .
22.
Habermas, Jürgen (1996) Between Facts and Norms: Contribution to a Discourse Theory of Law and Democracy. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press .
23.
Held, David (1999) `The Transformation of Political Community: Rethinking Democracy in the Context of Globalization', in Ian Shapiro and Casiano Hacker-Cordon (eds) Democracy's Edges, pp. 84-111. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press .
24.
Hudec, Robert E. (1987) Developing Countries in the GATT Legal System. Aldershot: Gower .
25.
Hurd, Ian (1999) `Legitimacy and Authority in International Politics' , International Organization53(2): 379-408 .
26.
Jachtenfuchs, Markus (1995) `Theoretical Perspectives on European Governance' , European Law Review1(2): 115-133 .
27.
Joerges, Christian and Jürgen Neyer (1997) `From Intergovernmental Bargaining to Deliberative Political Processes: The Constitutionalisation of Comitology' , European Law Journal3(3): 273-299 .
28.
Kaldor, Mary (2000) ` “Civilising” Globalisation? The Implications of the “Battle in Seattle” ' , Millennium29(1): 105-114 .
29.
Koh, Harold (1997) `Review Essay: Why Do Nations Obey International Law?' , Yale Law Journal106(8): 2599-2659 .
30.
Kohler-Koch, Beate (1999) `Europe in Search of Legitimate Governance', Advanced Research on the Europeanisation of the Nation State — ARENA (Oslo ) Working paper 27/1999.
31.
Kratochwil, Friedrich (1984) `The Force of Prescriptions' , International Organization38: 685-708 .
32.
Lord, Christopher and David Beetham (2001) `Legitimizing the EU: Is There a Post-parliamentary Basis for its Legitimation?' , Journal of Common Market Studies39(3): 443-462 .
33.
Majone, Giandomenico (1999) `The Regulatory State and its Legitimacy Problems' , West European Politics22(1): 1-24 .
34.
Manin, Bernard (1987) `On Legitimacy and Political Deliberation' , Political Theory15(3): 339-368 .
35.
Obradovic, Daniela (1996) `Policy Legitimacy and the European Union' , Journal of Common Market Studies34(2): 191-221 .
36.
Oxfam (ed.) (2002) Rigged Rules and Double Standards: Trade, Globalisation and the Fight against Poverty. Oxford: Oxfam .
37.
Picciotto, Sol (2000) `North Atlantic Cooperation and Democratizing Globalism', in George A. Bermannet al. (eds) Transatlantic Regulatory Cooperation: Legal Problems and Political Prospects pp. 495-519. Oxford: Oxford University Press .
38.
Scharpf, Fritz. (1999) Governing in Europe. Effective and Democratic? Oxford: Oxford University Press .
39.
Scharpf, Fritz (2002) `Conceptualizing Democratic Accountability Beyond the State: The European Union' , paper presented at the Miliband Conference on Global Governance and Public Accountability, London School of Economics and Political Science, 17-18 May.
40.
Schmitt, Carl (1988[1940]) Positionen und Begriffe; Im Kampf mit Weimar - Genf - Versailles. Berlin: Duncker und Humblot .
41.
Schmitt, Hermann and Jacques Thomassen (eds) (1999) Political Representation and Legitimacy in the European Union. Oxford: Oxford University Press .
42.
Simmons, A. John (1999) `Justification and Legitimacy' , Ethics109(4): 739-771 .
43.
Weber, Max (1978) Economy and Society. Berkeley: University of California Press .
44.
Weiler, Joseph H.H. (1995) `Does Europe Need a Constitution? Demos, Telos, and the German Maastricht Decision' , European Law Journal1(2): 219-258 .
45.
Weiss, Johannes (1981) `Rationalität als Kommunikabilität. Überlegungen zur Rolle von Rationalitätsunterstellungen in der Soziologie', in Walter M. Sprondel and Constans Seyfarth (eds) Max Weber und die Rationalisierung sozialen Handelns, pp. 39-58. Stuttgart: Enke .
46.
Wendt, Alexander (1992) `Anarchy is What States Make of It: The Social Construction of Power Politics' , International Organization46: 391-425 .
47.
Wendt, Alexander (1999) Social Theory of International Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press .
48.
Williams, John (1996) `Nothing Succeeds Like Success? Legitimacy and International Relations', in Barry Holden (ed) The Ethical Dimensions of Global Change, pp. 40-67. Houndmills: Macmillan .
49.
Woods, Ngaire (2000) `The Challenge of Good Governance for the IMF and the World Bank Themselves' , World Development28(5): 823-841 .
50.
Zeiler, Thomas W. (1999) Free Trade - Free World: the Advent of GATT. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press .
