Background
Proliferation of international organizations:
UN, WTO, WB and IMF etc
Regional organizations:
The EU, AU, ASEAN, ECOWAS, SADC, EAC etc

Autonomous institutions that initiate and enforce common binding policies
Elements of Supranationality
 Executive ( Commission & Council of Ministers
 Legislature (Parliament)
 Judiciary body with a constitutional role (Court of
Justice)

 Transfer of state’s sovereign authority to these bodies
 means nation-states are losing control in key policy areas
 Such acquired authority therefore make regional organizations resemble a political entity
 Binding decisions that affects the governed

These organizations have in the past been statecentric, elite driven and technocratic (Steffek and
Ferretti, 2009:40)
Hence, they are “Diplomatic clubs”
Where,
The citizens are alienated from the decisions that affects them

The “battle in Seattle”, 5 th December,1999

Demonstrations against WB and IMF in Washington
DC on April on 8 th April, 2000

Protest against World Bank and IMF in Lima, Peru on 19 th October, 2015

Accordingly,
• David Held (1999)
• Ian Shapiro and Casiano
H-Cordon (2000)
• Michael Zurn (2000)
• Joseph Nye (2001)
• Heikki Patomaki (2003)
• Koenig-Archibugi et al,
(2005
International Organizations just like nation-states ought to rest on democratic principles

What is democracy?
Democracy as a contested concept (Jorgen Moller and Svend- Erik Skaanng (2013:13)
Yet
Social science requires clearly defined concepts
(Giovanni Sartori (1970)

The Ogden-Richards Triangle
Term
( verbal (Operational definition) definition)
Connotation
Conceptual treatment
Inverse Relationship
Source: Moller and Skaaning, 2013:40)
Denotation

 The relationship between the connotation and denotation
 Connotation=concept’s properties
 Denotation = the cases that the concept covers
(i.e instances of democracy)
Example (a)
 If democracy is defined by competitive elections alone(connotation), many countries would be democratic

Example (b)
 If additional properties are added to the concept e.g Electoral criteria, political liberties, or rule of law then
 Fewer countries would be democratic

Procedural Definitions
 Joseph Schumpeter’s (1943)
“individuals acquire the power to decide by means of a competitive struggle for the people’s vote.”
 The fallacy of electoralism”
(
Terry Karl)
The belief that elections equal democracy.
Substantive Definitions
 Maximalist definitions focuses on the provision of outcomes that promote the good of citizens
• Socioeconomic equality; and/ or high levels of popular participation in economic, social, and political institutions.

Procedural Definitions
 Institutions or guarantees of freedoms,
– E.g. Liberal definitions of democracy
 Institutional Requirements
• Checks & balances,
separation of powers: legislative, executive, & judicial organs separated.
• Rule of law: legal rules applied fairly and consistently to all citizens.
• Guaranteed protection of minorities .
Substantive Definitions

Procedural definitions
• Larry Diamond {the following are key for protecting liberal democracy}:
1. Constitution.
2. Civil society.
3. Independent media.
4. Independent judiciary
Substantive definitions

Abraham Lincoln defined democracy in three ways…
• Government of the People
• Government by the people
• Government for the people
• But what does this mean in international organizations?

Figure 1: A conceptual framework of a democratic political system a
Input Legitimacy mechanisms
(Horizontal and vertical)
Output
Legitimacy
Feed back

• We therefore conceptualize democracy in international organizations in procedural and substantive terms
Procedural
• representation/participation;
• Vertical accountability
• Political control (checks and balances)-horizontal accountability
Substantive
• Policy outcomes-efficiency.

 Representation ( Election procedure of EALA)
 Participation (Civil society)
 Checks and balances ( separation of powers)
 Output