Globalisation — What Implications for Democratic Decision Making

... imit the number of players involved in policy. The "behind-closed-doors" nature of international trade negotiations, for example, has been noted as being helpful in overcoming protectionist pressures on the domestic front.(25) Claiming "tied hands" as a result of international agreements, may be a way for governments to present policies at home that are - despite being in the national interest (however defined) - unpalatable to certain groups, and therefore politically difficult to implement. There may, in practice, be an implicit trade-off between efficiency and democracy.

There may also be a shift of power from elected to non-elected bodies. The tendency to resort to international decision making (including treaties and international agreements) seems to be increasing the power of executive government at the expense of

parliaments. This is most clear for members of the European Union, especially as it relates to European directives and regulations. Unlike the EU Treaties themselves, they have not been submitted to national parliaments for ratification. These instruments, which take precedence over national laws, are put into effect without any involvement by national legislatures. The Maastricht Treaty gave the European Parliament the power to veto regulations, but the consolidation of the interests of the diverse citizenries of Europe into one legislative body raises interesting accountability and responsiveness issues of its own. The erosion of parliamentary oversight is likely to be a key issue in the democracy debate in future. Parliaments already appear to be demanding more say in the international undertakings of their governments. But can parliamentary oversight be built into international decision making, without adding significant costs and unnecessary delays? If not, are there new forms of democratic accountability that could be developed?

As more decisions are taken at the international level, there are also likely to be demands for more transparency and greater acc ...