Legitimacy, transparency, and information technology: The world trade organization in an era of contentious trade politics

Global Governance

Volumn 12, Issue 1, 2006, Pages 31-53

  Smythe, Elizabeth ^a   Smith, Peter J ^b  

^a Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies   (Canada)

^b ATHABASCA UNIVERSITY   (Canada)

Author keywords

Information technology; Legitimacy; Trade policy; Transparency; World Trade Organization

Indexed keywords

EID: 33645157478     PISSN: 10752846     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1163/19426720-01201005     Document Type: Review

References (62)

1. Ruggie labeled this period one of "embedded liberalism." For a review of this literature and a discussion of how the role of international institutions and rules have changed, see Michael Zürn, "Global Governance and Legitimacy Problems," Government and Opposition 39, no. 2 (April 2004): 262-275.
2. Michael Zürn, "Global Governance and Legitimacy Problems," Government and Opposition 39, no. 2 (April 2004): 267.
3. Ngaire Woods, "Holding Intergovernmental Institutions to Account," Ethics and International Affairs 17, no. 1 (2003): 69-80.
4. Ngaire Woods and Amrita Narlikar, "Governance and the Limits of Accountability: The WTO, the IMF and the World Bank," International Social Science Journal 53 (December 2001): 170.
5. Daniel Esty, "The World Trade Organization's Legitimacy Crisis," World Trade Review 1 (March 2002): 7-22;
6. Mark Halle, "Legitimacy: The New Frontier," Bridges 3, no. 2 (March 1999): 13-14;
7. Robert Howse, "The Legitimacy of the World Trade Organization," in Jean-Marc Coicaud and Veijo Heiskanen, eds., The Legitimacy of International Organizations (New York: United Nations University Press, 2001), pp. 355-407;
8. Robert Keohane and Joseph S. Nye, "The Club Model of Multilateral Cooperation and Problems of Democratic Legitimacy," in R. Porter, P. Sauve, A. Subramanian, and A. Zampetti, eds., Efficiency, Equity and Legitimacy: The Multilateral Trading System at the Millennium (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 2001), pp. 264-294;
9. Markus Krajewski, "Democratic Legitimacy and Constitutional Perspectives on WTO Law," Journal of World Trade Law 35, no. 1 (2001): 167-186;
10. Third World Network, "Transparency, Participation and Legitimacy of the WTO," Statement of the Third World Network at the WTO Symposium on Trade and Environment and Trade and Development, Geneva, 15-18 March 1999. An exception is David Henderson, whose provocative dismissal of WTO legitimacy concerns can be followed in an exchange with Daniel Esty, in Henderson, "WTO 2002: Imaginary Crisis, Real Problems," World Trade Review 1, no. 3 (November 2003): 277-296.
11. Markus Krajewski, "Democratic Legitimacy and Constitutional Perspectives on WTO Law," Journal of World Trade Law 35, no. 1 (2001): 169.
12. See the WTO website (www.wto.org) under "What is the WTO?"
13. and "10 common misunderstandings about the WTO." See also Fiona McGillvray, "Democratizing the WTO," Essays in Public Policy No. 105 (Stanford: Hoover Institution, 2000).
14. Ann Florini, "From Protest to Participation: The Role of Civil Society in Global Governance," in Host Siebert, ed., Global Governance: An Architecture for the World Economy (Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag, 2003), p. 114. She credits economist Mancur Olsen with providing the theoretical underpinning for this argument in the case of democratic countries.
15. Zürn, "Global Governance and Legitimacy Problems," p. 269.
16. Keohane and Nye, "The Club Model of Multinational Cooperation."
17. Susan Esserman and Robert Howse, "The WTO on Trial," Foreign Affairs 82, no. 1 (January-February 2003): 138.
18. Fatoumata Jawara and Aileen Kwa, Behind the Scenes at the WTO (London: Zed Books, and Focus on the Global South, 2003);
19. Richard Steinberg, "In the Shadow of Power? Consensus-Based Bargaining and Outcomes in the GATT/WTO," International Organization 56, no. 2 (2002): 339-374.
20. See Andrew Morvcsik, "Is There a Democratic Deficit in World Politics? A Framework for Analysis," Government and Opposition 39, no. 2 (April 2004): 336-363;
21. and Miles Kahler, "Defining Accountability Up: The Global Economic Multilaterals," Government and Opposition 39, no. 2 (April, 2004): 132-158.
22. Jan Aart Scholte with Robert O'Brien and Marc Williams, "The World Trade Organization and Civil Society," in Brian Hocking and Stephen McGuire, eds., Trade Politics: International Domestic and Regional Perspectives (London: Routledge, 1999), pp. 162-178.
23. Mark Halle, "Legitimacy: The New Frontier," Bridges 3, no. 2 (March 1999): 13-14.
24. Daniel Esty, "Environmental Governance at the WTO: Outreach to Civil Society," in Gary Sampson and W. Bradnee Chambers, eds., Trade, Environment and the Millennium (New York: United Nations University Press, 1999), p. 101.
25. Ronald Inglehart, "Postmodernization Erodes Respect for Authority But Increases Support for Democracy," in Pippa Norris, ed., Critical Citizens: Global Support for Democratic Governance (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999), pp. 236-256.
26. Robert Keohane and Joseph Nye, "The Club Model of Multilateral Cooperation and Problems of Democratic Legitimacy," in R. Porter, P. Sauve, A. Subramanian, and A. Zampetti, eds., Efficiency, Equity and Legitimacy: The Multilateral Trading System at the Millennium (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 2001), pp. 264-294.
27. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Citizens as Partners: Information, Consultation and Public Participation in Policy Making (Paris: OECD, 2001).
28. Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology, Transparency in the Information Age: The Lobbyists Registration Act, Ottawa, 2001, p. 1.
29. International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development, "Accreditation Schemes and Other Arrangements for Public Participation in International Fora: A Contribution to the Debate on WTO and Transparency" (Geneva: ICTSD, November 1999). See also Florini, "From Protest to Participation," for a discussion of the experience of NGOs with the World Bank.
30. Margaret E. Keck and Kathryn Sikkink, Activists Beyond Borders: Advocacy Networks in International Politics (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1998).
31. Craig Warkentin, Reshaping World Politics: NGOs, the Internet and Global Civil Society (Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2001).
32. John Arquilla and David Ronfeldt, eds., Networks and Netwars: The Future of Terror, Crime, and Militancy (Santa Monica, Calif.: RAND, 2001), p. 326.
33. For a cautious and sceptical view of ICTs and development in the South, see Robert Hunter Wade, "Bridging the Digital Divide: New Route to Development or New Form of Dependency?" Global Governance 8, no. 4 (2002): 443-466.
34. Charlotte Bunch et al., "International Networking for Women's Human Rights," in Michael Edwards and John Gaventa, eds., Global Citizen Action (Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 2001), p. 25.
35. Caroline Harper, "Do Facts Matter? NGOs, Research and International Advocacy," in Edwards and Gaventa, Global Citizen Action, pp. 247-258.
36. See, for example, the Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network WTO Education Toolkit, available at www.aftinet.org.au (accessed 11 November 2004).
37. The failed MAI was negotiated at the OECD in Paris from 1995 to December 1998. In Canada, national newspaper coverage came only after NGOs had leaked the draft agreement and attacked it on their websites. For a discussion of the NGO campaign and technology, see Peter J. Smith and Elizabeth Smythe, "Globalization, Citizenship and Technology: The MAI Meets the Internet," in Frank Webster, ed., A New Politics: Culture and Politics in the Information Age (London: Routledge, 2001), pp. 183-206.
38. Glen Tarman, "Digital Activism, The WTO and International Trade Rules," Digital Opportunity Channel (New Delhi), September 2003, available at www.digitalopportunity.org (accessed 10 November 2004).
39. For information about ICTSD, see their website at www.ictsd.org. The following discussion is also based on an interview with staff in 2002.
40. Interview with ICTSD staff, spring 2002.
41. Gabrielle Marceau and Peter Pedersen, "Is the WTO Open and Transparent?" Journal of World Trade Law 33, no. 1 (February 1999): 5-49.
42. This section is based on interviews with NGO representatives and officials in the WTO secretariat in October 2001 and June 2003.
43. Interviews with officials in the WTO External Relations Office in October 2001 and June 2003.
44. Interviews with officials in the WTO secretariat in October 2001.
45. WTO Summary Report on WTO Website User Survey (Geneva: WTO, 2002). Available at www.wto.org. (accessed 15 August 2002).
46. One World Trust, Global Accountability Report (London: One World Trust, 2003).
47. Scott Sinclair, GATS: How the WTO New "Services" Negotiations Threaten Democracy (Ottawa: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, September, 2000).
48. Aside from India, the other members include Cuba, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Honduras, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Malaysia, Mauritius, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. The proposal is available from the WTO and also appears in the appendix of Chapter 5 of Jawara and Kwa, Behind the Scenes at the WTO.
49. "The Cancún Democracy Challenge," Civil Society Call to WTO Members for the 5th Ministerial in Cancún, July 2003, available at www.globalpolicyforum.org (accessed 19 August 2003).
50. Based on interviews with officials and NGO representatives in the summer of 2001. More detail is found in Peter J. Smith and Elizabeth Smythe, "This Is What Democracy Looks Like? Globalization, New Information Technology and the Trade Policy Process: Some Comparative Observations," Perspectives on Global Development and Technology, no. 2 (2003): 179-214.
51. EU service demands, containing the requests the commission was making in a variety of service sector areas, were posted on 16 April 2002 on the GATSwatch website, www.gatswatch.org/leakannounce.html ("Leaked Confidential EU Documents").
52. See also "Open Letter to Lamy," 7 May 2002, www.gatswatch.org;
53. and the Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network (AFTINET), at www.aftinet.org.au, 13 June 2002 (accessed 10 November 2004).
54. For a discussion of the limits of consultations, see Josh Lerner, "Beyond Civil Society: Public Engagement Alternatives for Canadian Trade Policy" (Toronto: Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and Policy, 2003), available at www.cielap.org (accessed 11 November 2004).
55. OECD, "Summary Record of the Second Session of the PUMA Expert Group on Government Relations with Citizens and Civil Society" (Paris: OECD, 4 July 2002), p. 6.
56. For the World Bank experience, see Florini, "From Protest to Participation," and the October 2004 letter of protest of twenty-six NGOs over the inadequacy of transparency and consultation processes of the International Finance Corporation (the private sector arm of the World Bank), available at www.bicusa.org (accessed 11 November 2004).
57. Richard Blackhurst, "The Capacity of the WTO to Fulfill Its Mandate," in Anne O. Krueger, ed., The WTO as an International Organization (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998), pp. 31-58.
58. WTO, Doha Declaration (Geneva: WTO, 2001), p. 10.
59. Oxfam et al., Open Letter on Institutional Reform in the WTO (Oxford: Oxfam, October 2001), p. 2.
60. See David Henderson, "WTO 2002: Imaginary Crisis, Real Problems," World Trade Review 1, no. 3 (November 2002): 284.
61. Jan Aart Scholte, "Civil Society and Democratically Accountable Governance," Government and Opposition (April 2004): 211-233
62. and Florini, "From Protest to Participation," argue the need for NGOs to address issues of representation and transparency from a more sympathetic perspective.