With the coming into being of forms of supranational-such as the European Union – and with the advance of economic and cultural globalization, it is believed that democracy must also respond to these challenges beyond the borders of the nation-state.
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The idea of Cosmopolitan Democracy is a response to this challenge. Though there is no single institution of global governance that has replaced the national state, this theory points to the global civil society being created by the phenomenon of “globalization from below”.
The new solidarities being forged across national borders give rise to the notion of Cosmopolitan citizenship. The environmental movement and the women’s movement are two notable examples of this. As the world is getting more rapidly and closely connect through the communications and interest revolutions, the implications of these developments for democracy are uncertain.
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Do these technological innovations make governments more or less accountable? Is it really possible for citizens to participate in them? For instances, though the majority of members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) are developing countries, who represent a majority of the worlds, citizen’s, the WTO continues to be responsive to the more prosperous nations and their interest. How can this and other institutions of global governance be democratized? How can the power conditions of Cosmopolitan citizenship be realised?