Реферат: Globalisation What Implications For Democratic Decision

unpalatable to certain groups, and therefore politically difficult to

implement. There may, in practice, be an implicit trade-off between efficiency

and democracy. There may also be a

shift of power from elected to non-elected bodies. The tendency to resort to

international decision making (including treaties and international agreements)

seems to be increasing the power of executive government at the expense of parliaments. This is

most clear for members of the European Union, especially as it relates to

European directives and regulations. Unlike the EU Treaties themselves, they

have not been submitted to national parliaments for ratification. These

instruments, which take precedence over national laws, are put into effect

without any involvement by national legislatures. The Maastricht Treaty gave

the European Parliament the power to veto regulations, but the consolidation of

the interests of the diverse citizenries of Europe into one legislative body

raises interesting accountability and responsiveness issues of its own. The

erosion of parliamentary oversight is likely to be a key issue in the democracy

debate in future. Parliaments already appear to be demanding more say in the

international undertakings of their governments. But can parliamentary

oversight be built into international decision making, without adding

significant costs and unnecessary delays? If not, are there new forms of

democratic accountability that could be developed? As more decisions are

taken at the international level, there are also likely to be demands for more

transparency and greater accountability in international fora. Citizens at the

local level will demand to know who is driving the debate at the international

level, and under what authority. These demands apply to both governmental and

non-governmental policy actors. If international interest groups are

influencing the policy debate, then citizens will be keen to know who is in

charge, what their mandate is, and how they are funded. What future for

"global governance"?The impacts of

globalisation on democratic accountability at both the national and