Can we have a world government?

Résumé du document

To answer the question "Can we have a world government", we must first answer two other questions. The first one is "What would be the use and necessity of a world government"; the second is "To what extent could thus be possible? "A government is a system, form or organization by which a community or other political unit is governed". Does the current trend of globalization imply that the world is ready for a supranational organization that would carry the badge of "world government"? Howard argues that "Gradually, under the pressure of globalization, supranational entities are coming into having the power to override the authority of sovereign states." Although today's world is getting more and more global in some way (countries more and more interdependent), diversity and inequalities have not yet disappeared, nor are they likely to be eradicated. Considering this, we may wonder whether a world government would help resolve problems such as inequality, by benefiting developing countries, or would only dominating powers reap the advantage of it. The answer obviously depends on the constitution of such a government. There have been various attempts to build a supranational entity, and each one of them has brought new useful lessons which are sometime good, and at other times bad.

Extraits

[...] Inoguchi and Newman quote Le Kuan Yew: do not believe that democracy necessarily leads to development. I believe that what a country needs to develop is discipline more than democracy”. The former leader of Singapore clearly states the uselessness, in his eyes, of having a democracy. An obvious proof of this could be the fantastic economic growth that China has known in these past few years. This country, where freedom of speech and basic human rights are not respected (this was symbolized by the Tiananmen event of 1986, where students were massacred by PRC officials while protesting), has nevertheless given economic freedom to its people; and this has enabled China to become the gigantic economic power we see emerging today. [...]

[...] Which values would be the most important? It is said, for example, that democracy is an occidental value, or at least that the Western definition of democracy is different from the Asian one. In a conference in 1997 Takashi Inoguchi and Edward Newman compared these values. They described the ideal “liberal democratic model of the West” as a model that “requires a multiplicity of parties representing competing policy agendas and clear political alternatives, limitations on governmental authority and guaranteed rights of free expression and association”. [...]

[...] But there are other reasons, more pragmatic and probably less idealistic for which we need a world government. In the past few years, the world has changed probably faster than it has ever done Globalization, although not affecting evenly all parts of the world, has made countries more and more interdependent and cooperation more and more necessary. An important part of the population, today, have more interests in the decision taken on the international scale rather than on the national scale. [...]

[...] Men are made to live in society, but at the same time they feel the need to isolate themselves from others, to be different. This opposition to others enforces individual energy, develops their natural dispositions and produces culture and morality in society. In order to achieve nature's hidden design, men have to achieve universal society which administers law among (Fifth Thesis). Each man is forced by another man to follow the rules of universal will (because in every man alone animality overshadows to reason). [...]

[...] But there are other reasons, more pragmatic and probably less idealistic for which we need a world government. In the past few years, the world has changed probably faster than it has ever done Globalization, although not affecting evenly all parts of the world, has made countries more and more interdependent and cooperation more and more necessary. An important part of the population, today, have more interests in the decision taken on the international scale rather than on the national scale. [...]