8.3. Post-National Democracy: Towards New Forms and New Contents
Democracy, however, involves more than elections and institutions as we have
become only too aware of lately in East and Central Europe. It requires a bottom-up
dynamic that has often been lacking in transitional states. It is true that the
democratization of societies takes much longer than the establishment of democratic
institutions. Much of the recent turbulence in East and Central Europe is evidence
which points to the long process required for embedding social democratic
principles in societies that are traditionally authoritarian and paternalistic. Bottom-up
approaches to democracy-building in these cases become more important in the long
run than top-down, elite-driven approaches.
Another contemporary irony in the era of globalization is that many of the
actors mentioned above (regional and international organizations, private
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Jody Patricia Jensen: Globalizing Governance in a Multi-Stakeholder World:
The Global Prince, Merchant, and Citizen
foundations and global NGOs) are refocusing their activities from the national to the
local level. Some economists suggest that global trends are converging to create
conditions whereby economic development may be best approached at the local, not
national level. (SISK: 1999.) Therefore, the tendency to decentralize economic
decision-making to the regional if not local levels, as in the EU, has gained force.
The EU’s principle of subsidiarity recognizes that the emergence and development
of new global norms or standards needs the development of local democracies if
they are to be acted upon.
In an era of rapid and pervasive globalization, local governments face
increasingly complex and interdependent challenges, e.g., environmental threats,
pandemics, employment, trade- and finance-related questions, human migration and
refugee flows, organized crime and trafficking. Most citizens typically look to local
authorities first to solve their immediate social problems. These new challenges are
putting tremendous pressure on local societies, and in order to be able to address and
manage these challenges local communities need new and innovative democratic
alternatives.
Democracy itself has come under scrutiny in the recent decades, and
particularly in the aftermath of the decision to invade Iraq. The question has been
posed as to whether or not democracy can be imposed on societies from the outside,
and whether or not traditional (Western) democratic practices are universally
applicable. In many parts of the world today democracy might better be defined in
the context of conflict management.
There may be a strategic advantage to
furthering NGO participation, cooperation and collaboration in conflict zones. Their
participatory decision-making system, their local knowledge and expertise, the trust
they have built int o their practice and their commitment to the communities they
serve, make them important actors in the field of local conflict management.
Not only INGOs and international organizations need to play a role in
strengthening local capacities to handle an increasing number of complex tasks. An
active role needs to be played by educational systems, by universities and think
tanks, to help empower communities, enhancing their capacities to improve the
quality of governance locally and nationally. An informed public makes better
decisions. There is increasing determination and commitment to creating and
supporting tripartite networks of public officials, the private sector and civil society