Legitimating INGO Advocacy: The Case of Internal Democracies

Abstract

While significant debate exists with respect to the historical novelty of contemporary processes of internationalisation and globalisation (cf. Held and McGrew, 2002; Scholte, 2005), there is a general consensus that circumstances have fundamentally altered the way governance is enacted beyond the nation state.¹ And, regardless of one’s normative view, the argument that many contemporary issues necessitate coordinated action across national borders is persuasive. Trade relations and human rights issues, for example, can benefit from coordinated action among nation states. Increasing attention is being paid to the way in which the everyday lives and opportunities of the world’s citizens are being shaped by the decisions and deliberations of International Governmental Organisations (IGOs). As such, concerns are being raised about the poor level of democratic accountability of such institutions to those who are affected. One does not have to be a convicted normative cosmopolitan to accept that as key decisions are increasingly hammered out in such global institutions, those same institutions need to demonstrate forms of democratic accountability to the citizens affected.