‘Tis the season for international law conferences. Assuming you are not heading to New York or Orange County this weekend, consider stopping off in Wilmington, Delaware, where Professor Andy Strauss of the Widener University School of Law has organized a conference, Envisioning a More Democratic Global System. It’s being co-sponsored by Widener and the American Society of International Law. Members of the public are welcome, although a registration fee is required (see the conference brochure for details). The symposium’s stellar lineup of speakers includes Professors Richard Falk, Thomas Franck, Gregory Fox, Robert Johansen, David Kennedy, and Leila Sadat, not to mention scholars and government officials from Chile, Colombia, Finland, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Kenya, and Malaysia. I’m hoping to make it for at least some portion of Friday’s program, so say “hello” if you’re there as well.
Widener describes the conference as follows:
While the lack of democracy at the United Nations and other international institutions has been the subject of significant attention, there has been little academic work on how the global system could be made more democratic. The Widener event will be the first high level international symposium to be specifically devoted to exploring concrete proposals for democratizing the global system, including the proposal for a popular elected global parliament. Called “Envisioning a More Democratic Global System,” the symposium is chaired by Widener International Law Professor Andrew L. Strauss who has written extensively about issues related to the symposium. Panels will explore the following topics:
• The applicability of democratic governance theories and practices to constructing a well-ordered international system.
• Envisioning the architecture for a popularly elected global parliamentary body.
• Envisioning non-global parliamentary alternatives to democratizing the global system.
• Strategies for achieving global democracy.
• What would a more globally democratic world be like?
Duncan – if you manage to make Prof. Falk and Franck could you post a summary of their arguments? I know at least one PhD candidate (ahem – me) who’d be particularly grateful!!