Tuesday, April 14, 2015

What would global democracy look like?

Summer is coming, and I would like to entertain an open-ended question that none of us will be able to answer soon if ever. The broad question is, "What would global democracy look like?" Thinking about that this morning, I came up with a few corollary questions, which I will post as polls at the top of this blog over the course of the summer.

What would global democracy look like---Utopia, a train wreck, or something in between?

How would we get the from here?

How would it be funded?

Would its constitutional structure resemble some existing model, or would it have to be something entirely different?

Would it replace or augment the existing system of nation states?

What legal institutions would keep it from becoming an autocracy, and how would we maintain them?

What cultural values would keep it from becoming an autocracy, and how would we maintain them?

If you did not want to live under this system of government, where would you go, outer space or to some autonomous zones on earth?