Democratic accountability of international organizations: Parliamentary control within the Council of Europe and the OSCE and the prospects for the United Nations

Abstract

Many international organizations, including the United Nations, are accused of lacking democratic accountability. A variety of proposals have been made to close the gap between their extended influence and the lack of effective controlling mechanisms to prevent abuses of power. This article focuses on one specific proposal: the establishment of parliamentary assemblies. Based on the experiences of the Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, it presents the factors that enable such assemblies to exercise parliamentary control and influence towards intergovernmental decision-making bodies.The article shows how a parliamentary dimension can be introduced conceptually into the debate on the democratic accountability of international organizations and how these insights support the reflections on a United Nations parliamentary assembly.