The inconveniences of transnational democracy

Despite some limited moves toward openness and accountability, suprastate policy formation in such bodies as the World Trade Organization remains fundamentally exclusive of individuals within states. This article critiques the “don’t kill the goose” arguments commonly offered in defense of such exclusions. It highlights similarities between those arguments and past arguments for elitist forms of democracy, where strict limitations are advocated on the participation of nonelites in the name of allowing leaders to act most effectively in the broad public interest. Advocated here is movement toward a strongly empowered WTO parliamentary body that would be guided in practice by a principle of democratic symmetry, attempting to match input to the increasing impacts of WTO governance. A parliament with codecision powers broadly similar to those of the European Parliament is offered as a long-term institutional ideal

Private Participation in the Control of Public Spending - The Multi-Level Subsidy Regimes

This paper presents a brief outline of conditions and possibilities for the involvement of private actors in the multi-level system of subsidies regulation. Although the mechanisms for control and coordination differ on each regulatory level - the international, supranational, national and sub-national - all levels use private involvement to solve steering problems common in the control of subsidies. The paper takes the view that granting private parties substantial and procedural rights in the procedure is beneficial to the public for reasons of steering and control of subsidies. On the basis of an intra-level comparison, the paper points out administrative structures and procedural provisions, which enable private parties to have a meaningful involvement in the regulation of subsidiesLaw, EC, WTO, Subsidies, State Aid, Governance, Private Parties.

Arab Countries’ (Under) Participation In The WTO Dispute Settlement Mechanism

The purpose of the present article is two-fold. First, the article examines the reasons as to why Arab countries do not actively participate in WTO dispute settlement proceedings.17 Trade volume, lack of technical expertise, financial strains, political relations, enforcement, and language problems eachplay a role in Arab countries under-participation and are discussed herein. Second, the article provides possible avenues through which Arab countries can enhance their presence in the WTO dispute settlement process. In the process of examining these issues, the article highlights the case(s) in which Arab countries participated in the WTO dispute settlement system. However, before addressing these issues, the article will briefly discuss the development of the WTO dispute settlement mechanism

The promise and peril of paralegal aid

Strengthening the rule of law and promoting access to justice in developing countries have been longstanding international policy objectives. However, the standard policy tools, such as technical assistance and material aid, are routinely criticized for failing to achieve their objectives. The rare exception is paralegal aid, which is almost universally lauded by policymakers and scholars as effective in promoting the rule of law and access to justice. This belief, however, rests on a very limited empirical foundation regarding what paralegal programs accomplish and under what theory they operate. This paper critically examines the conventional wisdom surrounding paralegal initiatives through case studies of two successful paralegal programs in post-conflict Timor-Leste that are broadly representative of the type of initiatives commonly implemented in developing countries. These programs did improve access to justice services, bolster choice between dispute resolution forums, and increase local knowledge of progressive norms on human rights and women’s rights. Yet, as this article shows, even successful programs can expect to achieve only incremental gains in promoting the rule of law because advances largely depend on alignment with the priorities of powerful state and non-state actors, donors, program implementers, and paralegals themselves. To date, the literature has not acknowledged these limitations. This article addresses this gap by demonstrating that paralegal aid faces multiple challenges that mean paralegals cannot necessarily transcend or modify deep seated norms and power structures. These issues include principal agent-problems due to the extensive delegation required, internal limitations resulting from paralegals’ limited authority and independence, and external constraints from state and non-state justice actors. Paralegal programs also face program design, implementation, and sustainability challenges. Consequently, scholars, practitioners, and policymakers need to adopt a more balanced view of paralegal aid

Judicial Intervention in the Contract of Employment: Some Reflections on Labour Adjudication in India

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Correspondences and Contradictions in International and Domestic Conflict Resolution: Lessons From General Theory and Varied Contexts

Does the field of conflict resolution have any broadly applicable theories that work across the different domains of international and domestic conflict? Or, are contexts, participants, and resources so domain specific and variable that only thick descriptions of particular contexts will do? These are important questions which have been plaguing me in this depressing time for conflict resolution professionals, from September 11,2001 (9/11), to the war against Iraq. Have we learned anything about conflict resolution that really does improve our ability to describe, predict, and act to reduce unnecessary and harmful conflict? These are the questions I want to explore in this essay, all the while knowing that I will ask more questions than I have answers to. My hope is to spark more rigorous attention to the possibility of comparative dispute resolution study and practice, using key concepts, theories, empirical studies, practical wisdom, and experiential insights to spark and encourage more multi-level and multi-unit analysis of some of our shared propositions