Historical institutionalism in world politics : prospects for democratisation

Abstract

How can democratisation best be pursued and promoted in the existing global system? Most proposals to ameliorate the global democratic deficit are conceptualised as ideal end-points which should be approximated as closely as possible. However, because there is an ineliminable gap between ideal conception and non-ideal institutionalisation, designers should redirect focus toward the transformative pathway. Institutional designers and policymakers thus require foreknowledge about how institutions may evolve through time. I contend that historical institutionalism - well-placed as it is to incorporate rationalist and sociological insights - can be recalibrated to think through these future pathways. I argue that the structure, sequence, and setting of a proposal all shed light on how institutions may change and the wider effects design might entail. The task for institutional designers then is to determine whether a transformative pathway can feasibly promote democratic values. I reconceptualise global democracy as an on-going process of democratisation promoted by the attainment of three values: equal participation, accountability, and institutional revisability. The thesis engages in comparative analysis of three ideal-typical proposals for global democratisation: federalism (world government), cosmopolitan democracy (piecemeal constitutionalism), and democratic polycentrism (global civil society). Having analysed these approaches, I argue that federalist models -which seek to replicate familiar statist institutions at the global level - would have difficulty inducing the democratising effects sought by proponents. Similarly, cosmopolitan democratic institutions would likely limit future experimentation through path-dependent feedback. While the deliberative base of global civil society offers a more fruitful way to think about global democratisation, it is difficult to envisage how this approach meets a fundamental equality condition of democratic participation. Building on the comparative analysis, I contend that regime complexes are the appropriate unit of democratisation beyond the state. Because each issue area in world politics is different, we require tailor-made (as opposed to one-size-fits-all) solutions. Through a discussion of the intellectual property rights regime complex, I contend that democratisation can be sought on two planes: horizontal deliberative accountability within multilateral negotiations; and the vertical development of deliberative democratic experimentalism. I apply my historical-institutionalist framework to expound both normative and institutional benefits of this prescription.