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Weiss, Thomas G. --- "Foreword" [2015] ELECD 997; in Wouters, Jan; Braekman, Antoon; Lievens, Matthias; Bécault, Emilie (eds), "Global Governance and Democracy" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2015) xi

Book Title: Global Governance and Democracy

Editor(s): Wouters, Jan; Braekman, Antoon; Lievens, Matthias; Bécault, Emilie

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781781952610

Section Title: Foreword

Author(s): Weiss, Thomas G.

Number of pages: 2

Extract:

Foreword
Thomas G. Weiss

Many analysts have pointed to the critical importance of `democratic defi-
cits' of various stripes, ranging from those in the United Nations and the
European Union to the communities in which we live or teach. Do such
deficits really matter? For those who believe that they do, we finally have
a cohesive edited volume that addresses a complex, but indispensable and
often overlooked, challenge for scholars who truly care about the future of
global governance, namely its democratic legitimacy.
Global Governance and Democracy is an essential first step in the right
direction of framing a problem whose solution will not miraculously
appear based on abstract models about how best to increase democracy
for the planet. Instead, and as this book's subtitle, A Multidisciplinary
Analysis, informs us, interdisciplinary perspectives should be applied when
mapping the terrain for what is an arduous and unfinished journey. As the
conclusion (Chapter 10) admonishes us, we will be engaged for the foresee-
able future in an ongoing conversation. The basic disciplines that affect
the relationship between global governance and democracy are brought
to bear in the pages here: political theory, international relations, interna-
tional political economy and international law.
What better group to address these intertwined and complicated issues
with transdisciplinary perspectives than the impressive team assembled
by Jan Wouters, a group of senior and junior researchers based at the
University of Leuven's Centre for Global Governance Studies? Those of
us who have been fortunate enough to spend time ...