The Cosmopolitan Paradox

Abstract

Cosmopolitan normative global civil society theorists envisage a process of expanding cosmopolitan democracy and global governance, in which for the first time there is the possibility of global issues being addressed on the basis of new forms of democracy, derived from the universal rights of global citizens expressed largely through global civic actors. They suggest that, rather than focus attention on the territorially-limited rights of the citizen at the level of the nation-state, more emphasis should be placed on new methods of citizen engagement and representation outside the bounds of national political mechanisms of accountability. This chapter raises problems with extending the concept of rights beyond the bounds of the sovereign state, without a mechanism of making these new rights accountable to their subject. It is highlighted that the emerging gap, between holders of cosmopolitan rights and those with duties, tends to create dependency rather than to empower. This indicates that, while the new rights remain tenuous, there is a danger that the cosmopolitan framework can legitimise the abrogation of the existing rights of democracy and self-government preserved in the UN Charter framework.KeywordsCivil SocietyGlobal GovernanceState SovereigntyGlobal Civil SocietyPolitical FrameworkThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.