Suchergebnisse

The Global Commonwealth of Citizens critically examines the prospects for cosmopolitan democracy as a viable and humane response to the challenges of globalization. Arising after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the decisive affirmation of Western-style democracy, cosmopolitan democracy envisions a world politics in which democratic participation by citizens is not constrained by national borders, and where democracy spreads through dialogue and incentives, not coercion and war. This is an incisive and thought-provoking book by one of the world's leading proponents of cosmopolitan democracy

The Global Commonwealth of Citizens critically examines the prospects for cosmopolitan democracy as a viable and humane response to the challenges of globalization. Arising after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the decisive affirmation of Western-style democracy, cosmopolitan democracy envisions a world politics in which democratic participation by citizens is not constrained by national borders, and where democracy spreads through dialogue and incentives, not coercion and war. This is an incisive and thought-provoking book by one of the world's leading proponents of cosmopolitan democracy.

Compared to earlier thinkers who had pleaded the cause of peace in Europe, such as Erasmus, William Penn took an important step forward: he sought institutional solutions to international disputes. Arguing that only dialogue could foster mutual understanding, he was the very first to put forward the idea of a European parliament. Unlike similar proposals of the time, such as those by Crucé or the Abbot de Saint-Pierre, Penn's did not confide the solution of such disputes to diplomacy and the existing dynasties of Europe, it did not envision the creation of an international convention whose members would be heads of state ortheir ambassadors, but of a parliament where each member state would be represented according to the size of its economy. Intended to favor the free exchange of ideas, Penn's parliament anticipated the creation of transnational political parties and possibly included among its members Orthodox Russia and the Ottoman Empire. Thus, Penn's Europe is not a Christian space but a political one, and his proposal stands as a sort of anti-Leviathan undermining the dogma of sovereignty.