The Discursive Democratization of Global Climate Governance

Hayley Stevenson, John Dryzek

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

107 Citations (Scopus)
4 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The global governance of climate change represents one of the more profound and, to date, intractable sets of problems confronting humanity. Legitimacy, accountability, fairness, and representation matter as well as effectiveness. In the absence of effective centralised authority, these democratic norms need to be sought in a polycentric context. An approach to democratisation is advanced that de-emphasises authoritative formal institutions, and instead operates in the more informal realm of the engagement and contestation of discourses in global public spheres. Democracy here is conceptualised not in terms of elections and constitutions, but in aspirations for inclusive, competent, and dispersed reflexive capacity. Based on empirical analysis of discursive engagement in several structured settings, key challenges for improving the democratic quality of global climate governance are assessed
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)189-210
Number of pages22
JournalEnvironmental Politics
Volume21
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2012
Externally publishedYes

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