How Global Institutions Rule the World

"In this thoughtful and thought-provoking book, Josep Colomer demonstrates that effective institutions of global governance exist. A single world government is neither possible nor desirable. But it is also unnecessary. Instead, a number of effective institutions already carry out essential functions of world governance. Moreover, in spite of worries about "democratic deficits", those institutions are able to meet the essential requirements of an effective democracy: representation, competence, consensus, and accountability." - Martin Wolf, Chief Economist, Financial Times, UK Does world government actually exist? Are the current global institutions efficient in making decisions? Can they be compatible with basic democratic principles? This book holds that, indeed, world government does exist. How Global Institutions Rule the World demonstrates how the world is actually ruled by a few dozen global bureaus, organizations, funds, banks, courts and self-appointed directorates.They use different representation, voting, and organizational formulas, yet the variety of arrangements of the global institutions is not an indicator of weak capacity of decision-making or of policy enforcement. Instead, it reflects the extensive scope of their activities and the complexity of the global agenda of issues. With the appropriate institutional design, global government needs to be made compatible with a notion of accountable democratic rule.