Building Democratic and Responsible Global Governance: The Role of International Parliamentary Institutions

Abstract

The emergence and growth of international parliamentary institutions (IPIs) is a phenomenon that needs a comprehensive evaluation. Their members, parliamentarians, are increasingly interested in participating in these institutions, which explains the dynamic growth of IPIs over the last few decades. IPIs also have a long history. The first among them, the Inter-Parliamentary Union, was founded in 1889. As IPIs have the potential to establish themselves as a contributor to a more democratic and transparent global governance, the enthusiasm for creating them is puzzling, because parliamentarians are primarily expected to follow the local, rather than international agenda. Other problems may have a negative impact on activities of IPIs, such as the lack of continuity, institutional memory and funding. What, then, is the rationale behind the creation of IPIs? What are the returns that justify the investment of parliamentarians’ time and energy in these institutions? MANY would agree that globalisation is a fact of life, but also that we lack institutions for a kind of global governance that Pascal Lamy has described as ‘a system that offers a good balance between legitimacy and efficiency’. 1 International parliamentary institutions (IPIs), which by and large consist of democratically elected parliamentarians, can play a role in the building of such a system. In a world that increasingly suffers from the lack of legitimacy and transparency, and where the creation of a global parliament is an unlikely scenario in a foreseeable future, IPIs can establish themselves as a contributor to a more democratic and transparent global governance. Members of parliaments who are active in IPIs not only deliberate and exchange information on issues of common interest. They can also be very critical of governmental actions, they are actively engaged in addressing issues of international concern, in some cases they are even able to influence the decision-making processes at the inter-governmental level. Furthermore, IPIs have a long history. Their origins go back to 1889, when the first such institution, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), was founded. The number of IPIs has been steadily increasing,