The countries in the world are becoming more and more democratic. Are international organizations like the UN and IMF becoming less democratic? If yes, why?
asked Jun 18, 2022 at 1:09
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2I think there is some misinterpretation here. The UN is not (and was not designed to be) democratic. A democratic system cannot have a minority (in this case a single entity) overriding the votes of a majority (which 5 members of the UN have with veto powers). It therefore cannot become "less" democratic.– uberhaxedCommented Jun 18, 2022 at 4:42
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@uberhaxed The UK government was also not "designed" to be democratic originally, but it's certainly a reasonable question to ask if it has become more or less democratic over time. Likewise for the UN - e.g. if hypothetically an even smaller minority dominated the UN, it'd be fair to say it had become "less democratic".– ajd138Commented Jun 18, 2022 at 14:49
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1I would query though the assertion in the question that "countries in the world are becoming more and more democratic". I'm not sure that's necessarily true.– ajd138Commented Jun 18, 2022 at 14:52
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1 Answer
There are different kinds of international organizations.
- The UN was set up to prevent a repeat of World War 2, something the League of Nations failed to do after World War 1. To do that, the Security Council was formed around the principal victors of WW2, the US, UK, France, Soviet Union, and China (then represented by the ROC, not the PRC). This Security Council was balanced by the General Assembly, where the rule was 'one country, one vote.' That isn't very democratic, either, at least as it is generally understood. Why should Belize get as many votes as Brazil?
- The IMF is a sort of bank where countries can deposit or borrow money. There are also some agreements regarding currency trade. Control is set with the economical contribution, not on democratic principles.
- Then there are institutions which function on a broad consensus principle, like the Universal Postal Union or the International Organization for Standards. Slow to act, easy to derail by a minority, again not democratic.
- Then there are regionally restricted, special purpose institutions. A prominent one is the EU, which has a democratically elected parliament sharing power with the (elected) heads of government. It has been getting more democratic over the last couple of decades, which could be used to argue that the "average" over international organizations has gone up, too.
