Abstract
From the perspective of international law, democracy may be regarded as a multifaceted phenomenon. On the one hand, it reflects the collective right of self-governance of a particular political community; on the other hand, it reflects an individual entitlement to participate in the conduct of public affairs of one's country. Democracy is connected to the principle of self-determination, understood as the freedom of a group to decide the system under which it wishes to live, while requiring a formalized set of voting procedures in order to implement this freedom. Democracy is focused on the procedural aspect of organizing elections, while not mandating any particular substantive outcome of those elections. In this essay, I propose that the right to democratic governance should be supplemented with a more robust concept: the substantive notion of good governance.
Highlights
From the perspective of international law, democracy may be regarded as a multifaceted phenomenon
It reflects the collective right of self-governance of a particular political community; on the other hand, it reflects an individual entitlement to participate in the conduct of public affairs of one’s country
I argue for the vital importance of a substantive element of democratic decision-making, which I call the requirement of good governance, in order to ensure the protection of all members of the political community
Summary
From the perspective of international law, democracy may be regarded as a multifaceted phenomenon. I argue for the vital importance of a substantive element of democratic decision-making, which I call the requirement of good governance, in order to ensure the protection of all members of the political community. The international right to a democratic form of government has been identified as flowing from the principle of self-determination.[1] In its external aspect, self-determination focuses on the formation of separate political units in the form of independent states. The principle of self-determination requires a state to allow a discrete political community to rule itself in an autonomous manner. The external aspect of the self-determination principle is connected to the political freedom of a particular community within the international arena, while the internal aspect focuses on the political freedom of the same community to make decisions within the domestic sphere
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