E-Book Overview
Today democracy is both exalted as the "best means to realize human rights" and seen as weakened because of globalization and delegation of authority beyond the nation-state. In this provocative book, James Bohman argues that democracies face a period of renewal and transformation and that democracy itself needs redefinition according to a new transnational ideal. Democracy, he writes, should be rethought in the plural; it should no longer be understood as rule by the people (d?mos), singular, with a specific territorial identification and connotation, but as rule by peoples (d?moi), across national boundaries. Bohman shows that this new conception of transnational democracy requires reexamination of such fundamental ideas as the people, the public, citizenship, human rights, and federalism, and he argues that it offers a feasible approach to realizing democracy in a globalized world.In his account, Bohman establishes the conceptual foundations of transnational democracy by examining in detail current theories of democracy beyond the nation-state (including those proposed by Rawls, Habermas, Held, and Dryzek) and offers a deliberative alternative. He considers the importance of communicative freedom in the transnational public sphere (including networked communication over the Internet), human rights as the normative basis of transnational democracy, and the European Union as a transnational polity. Finally, he examines the relationship between peace and democracy, concluding that peace requires democratization on interacting state and suprastate levels.
E-Book Content
51221Bohman
2/21/07
6:32 AM
Page 1
Bohman
philosophy/political science
Democracy across Borders
Democracy across Borders From Dêmos to Dêmoi James Bohman Today democracy is both exalted as the “best means to realize human rights” and seen as weakened because of globalization and delegation of authority beyond the nation-state. In this provocative book, James Bohman argues that democracies face a period of renewal and transformation and that democracy
Democracy across Borders
itself needs redefinition according to a new transnational ideal. Democracy, he writes, should be rethought in the plural; it should no longer be understood as rule by the people (dêmos), singular, with a specific territorial identification and connotation, but as rule
James Bohman is Danforth Professor of Philosophy and Professor of International Studies at Saint Louis University. He is the author, editor, or translator of many books, including Public Deliberation: Pluralism, Complexity, and Democracy (MIT Press, 1996) and Perpetual Peace: Essays on Kant’s Cosmopolitan Ideal (edited with Matthias Lutz-Bachmann, MIT Press, 1997).
“Deploying deep theoretical insight and wide-ranging concrete examples, Bohman’s Democracy across Borders compellingly and with great originality characterizes a feasible global democracy: one in which a constellation of varied political units realizes the ideals of nondomination and democratic autonomy in a decentered and institutionally distributed way, remaining open to reflective, democratic reconfiguration from many directions.”
“James Bohman provides an important and original account of the prospects for transnational democracy, and this book will become a standard point of reference for debates on key issues in the theory and practice of international democratic politics.”
From Dêmos to Dêmoi
by peoples (dêmoi), across national boundaries. Bohman shows that this new conception of transnational democracy requires reexamination of such fundamental ideas as the people, the public, citizenship, human rights, and federalism, and he argues that it offers a feasible approach to realizing democracy in a
John S. Dryzek Professor, Research