The new sovereigntist challenge for global governance: Democracy without sovereignty

Abstract

The "new sovereigntists," a prominent group of scholars and policymakers, articulate a widely held view that global governance is inherently undemocratic because it undermines popular sovereignty. Problems with their argument notwithstanding, we argue that they identify a real and serious tension. We also argue, however, that the vision of democracy as popular sovereignty that they advocate is becoming incoherent and untenable in an era of increasing interdependence. Conceptions of democracy anchored in popular sovereignty depend for their legitimacy on empirical conditions that no longer obtain. What we call the new sovereigntist challenge for global governance is to develop an alternate conception of democracy that avoids the logic and forms of popular sovereignty at the global level while still respecting and promoting democracy and democratization within states. We outline one such alternative here. © 2011 International Studies Association.