Democratic Accountability in Global Governance: the European Rhetoric and Performance in International Security

Abstract

In a context of intense transnationalism, acute interdependence and pertinent global trends, the conventional patterns of democracy are increasingly questioned by new standards and additional levels. This paper transgresses the ontological locus of democracy and aims to analyze the exercise of democratic accountability at global level, focusing on the EU practice in the spectrum of international security. The analysis begins with the conceptual framework of accountability, and seeks to clarify the meanings and mechanisms of democratic accountability within the architecture of global governance. The second part of the paper analyzes how the principle of democratic accountability is integrated in the planning and implementation of EU’s international security policies. The paper analyzes the forms of external accountability, peer and reputational, in the case of EU international counterterrorism policies. Finally, the paper assesses how the language of democratic accountability is used within the sphere of international security. Is the European rhetoric a mere recitation of the good governance norm, or a realistic investment towards an accountable exercise of power at global level?

Keywords

• European Union
• democratic accountability
• global governance
• standards
• power