Multilateral Democracy: Making the Autonomy of Peoples Compatible

• In Event: International Authority and Autonomy of Peoples

Abstract

This paper proposes an account of multilateral democracy, grounded in the normative value of personal and political autonomy realized within democratic states. It develops multilateral democracy as a framework seeking to reconcile the autonomy of diverse peoples in a voluntary association of democratic states. This Kantian account draws on both liberal and republican approaches to democracy beyond the state.

At its core, multilateral democracy operates on three interconnected levels of autonomy: 1) personal autonomy as the capacity for freedom of choice; 2) political autonomy as democratic self-legislation of peoples; and 3) autonomy of peoples through democratic relations between peoples. First, personal autonomy means that an individual is the author of her own life, shaping her future with the capacity for freedom of choice. This requires the robust protection of freedom of choice through the legal protection of individual rights. Personal autonomy is, however, incomplete without political autonomy. Second, political autonomy concerns the status of individuals as equal norm-givers. Political autonomy goes beyond having a sufficient option set and requires the status of norm-giver to be reciprocally recognized and treated as such in one’s political communities and its institutions. This requires democratic institutions to make their equal autonomy compatible, recognizing each other as equal co-authors of the law. Finally, on the international level, the question of equal autonomy arises once more: How can the collective autonomy of peoples established in democratic state institutions be made compatible? In order to achieve this, peoples in their respective states have an obligation to enter into rule-based relationships with each other. Again, shared institutions are required that allow for mutual recognition, this time of the political autonomy established in democratic states. However, since democratic peoples have already established personal and political autonomy through their democratic institutions, they cannot be forced into such a union. Multilateral democracy is, therefore, a voluntary association of democratic states, anchored in principles of equality, reciprocity, and mutual respect, forming the cornerstone of multilateral democracy.

Beyond the conceptual issues, this paper seeks to address questions of how this ideal should be institutionalized and brought about. To do so, the paper tackles two main challenges, namely the membership problem and the feasibility challenge. First, what Pettit calls the “membership problem” relates to whether individuals or states are taken into account in democracy beyond the state. The problem is aggregated as not all states are democratic and are therefore not representing their people. This requires an in-depth discussion of the normative concept of peoples and their relation to states institutions, particularly against the background of colonial history. Second, the feasibility problem complicates matters further, demanding extensive cooperation among states for institutionalizing multilateral democracy. Additionally, the cosmopolitan critique contends that the framework overly prioritizes the interests of democratic states, sidelining non-state actors and individuals. Addressing challenges such as the membership problem, feasibility issues, and the cosmopolitan critique, this paper contends that multilateral democracy provides a viable alternative between cosmopolitanism and statism, offering a normative foundation for the institutionalization of democratic relations among peoples.

Author

• Antoinette Scherz, Stockholm University