Elections are critical to governmental legitimacy because they are an essential expression of people’s freedom to make choices. In our American political thought, elections embody the free expression of the collective will that provides the basis for the authority and legitimacy of government. This idea has been carried forward in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to which every member nation of the United Nations subscribes, which declares the following regarding democracy and representation:
Article 21
- Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
- Everyone has the right to equal access to public service in his country.
- The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.
However, there is a huge gap between this ideal and reality in the world. In the United States, money in the hands of both people and corporations counts as much as, or more than, votes in elections. In single-party states, elections are frequently not contested. Elections there are a ratification of decisions made behind closed doors. And in much of the world, the will of the people is embodied in an individual who maintains his status through violent suppression, even terror, with the patina of occasional elections. In some societies, notably in the orient, people acquiesce to continued rule by the powers that be, bolstered by ideological claims of representation. This has sufficed to maintain legitimacy during periods of rapid economic growth.
The world is becoming more closely connected and political influences flow worldwide. It is becoming harder to insulate events or elections in any country from foreign influence, in a wide variety of forms: cultural, economic, ideological, and political. In addition, cyber interventions, disinformation, and stealth interferences have become problematic. I would suggest that the only practical response to these challenges to the sovereignty of people is disclosure of sources and motivating benefits that will enable electorates to take all factors into account. At the same time, more transnational movements are feasible and are already occurring.
The world is becoming more closely connected and political influences flow worldwide.
The Carter Center, which has worked for decades to promote fair elections around the world, nevertheless asserts that “the rule of law is recognized as an essential condition for the fulfillment of human rights and representative democracy.” The Center has compiled and specified the elements of genuine elections that reflect the free expression of the will of the people. Furthermore, the Carter Center has been invited to monitor 110 election processes since 1989. In 2005, the UN developed Principles and a Code of Conduct for International Election Observation adopted by agreement among 155 nations and subscribed to by 55 intergovernmental and regional organizations.
Recent history has demonstrated that regardless of international relationships and communications, nationalism will continue to be important and even a dominant political factor for the foreseeable future. In charting the ebbs and flows between international liberalism and nationalism in the United States, John Mearsheimer outlined the human factors that make the dominance of nationalism persist[1], even in an individualistic society bolstered by economic freedom and reward. National loyalties and national elections will continue to be dominant political forces in the world. At his address to the UN on September 25, 2019 President Trump boldly stated that “Wise leaders always put the good of their own people and their own country first. The future does not belong to globalists. The future belongs to patriots.”
Development of world federation will require reconceptualizing world federation as a requirement for national patriotism, security, and human survival. For example, a new model of federative relationships is proposed by international economist Dani Rodrik in his book Straight Talk on Trade:
These [democratic] principles support a different model of global governance, one that would be democracy enhancing rather than globalization enhancing. They would open up space for democracies to improve their functioning at home, without prejudging what the policy outputs ought to be or whether the result is greater economic integration. Global governance could then usefully contribute to democracy, through global norms and procedural requirements designed to enhance the quality of domestic policy making—instead of rules aimed at increasing global trade and investment.[2]
Federation among countries must take place if existential threats such as pandemics, climate degradation, and nuclear annihilation are to be addressed. Also, federation will be required to preserve the sovereignty of people everywhere and prevent the human atrocities of genocide, chemical warfare, and war crimes. International enforcement must be strengthened by ongoing enforcement regimes such as the International Criminal Court and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. In any area of federation, equitable adjustments by governing organizations that enable ongoing cooperation and enforcement will be required. However, as the actions by international federations impinge more and more on the lives of people, direct representation of people in the governance of the federations will be essential to preserve their legitimacy. Transnational politics around them will develop, and representative organizations will be required to make the rules and laws by which the federation can be preserved and expanded. As areas of representative federations develop and converge, at some point we will be able to say that world government has arrived.
[1] Liberalism and Nationalism in Contemporary America, James Madison Lecture to the American Political Science Association, September, 2020 available at https://www.mearsheimer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Madison-Lecture.September-10-2020.pdf
[2] (Rodrik, Dani. Straight Talk on Trade (p. 226). Princeton University Press, 2017, Kindle Edition.)