Beckermann's Berlin Brief

This morning/afternoonProfessor Mathias König-Archibugi from LSE led a discussion attempting to answer that very question.

A question of that size certainly doesn't provide an easy yes or no answer - and Professor König-Archibugi developed a reasonable and realistic case arguing for the possibility of a global democratic polity, but one which is likely not in the foreseeable future. Thats not to say the sceptics have won - on the contrary, he provided some convincing counter arguments to the realist scholars who are very critical of the cosmopolitan and global democracy rhetoric.

For one the presupposed conditions for national democracy are not clear - the stateness component, cultural homogeneity, a certain level of economic prosperity, and a certain level of economic equality. The absense of these factors does not mean a democracy cannot come into being - India was the example given.

König-Archibugi mentioned that what we know about democratization within states is relevant to help faciliate or bring about democracy at a global level.

I thought that we do not understand very much about democratic development at the national level, at least very little we can be certain about. The speaker seemed to agree at the end, indicating that democracy itself seems to be a miracle, and very difficult to explain causally.

So, is global democracy possible? Probably not - but the intellectual debate surrounding the question is certainly a interesting way to start a Wednesday afternoon.

OH - and it SNOWED today in Berlin - actual snow - very exciting!