Abstract
Despite the successful launch of a new round of multilateral trade
negotiations at Doha, the World Trade Organization faces a legitimacy crisis.
Protests continue to rock major international economic meetings, and the WTO's
role in globalization is being questioned by many observers. This paper examines
the contours of this crisis and explores the possibility that the WTO's indirect ties to
popular sovereignty – through national governments – provide an insufficient
foundation for the trade regime's authority and central role in the emerging
structure of global governance. Arguing that the WTO needs to re-establish its
legitimacy based on wider links to the public around the world in whose name freer
trade is pursued, the paper suggests that the WTO must also re-build its reputation
for efficacy in a context where success is no longer measured exclusively in narrow
economic terms. To be seen as serving the interests of the world community
broadly, the trade regime needs to pursue its economic goals in a fashion that shows
sensitivity to other important goals and values, such as poverty alleviation,
environmental protection, and the promotion of public health. Long-term success
further depends on the trade regime becoming embedded within a broader structure
of global governance that provides ‘checks and balances’ and reinforces the
legitimacy of international trade policy making.
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Subject
Law,Political Science and International Relations,Economics and Econometrics
Cited by
110 articles.
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