Multilateral

Democracy in the 21st Century

notes by Neil Eustaquio taken during as class on International Organizations conducted by Atty. JV Chan-Gonzaga, March 2013

I. MULTILATERAL DEMOCRACY ................................................................................................................................... 1 II. GROWING INTERDEPENDENCE BETWEEN TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT AND THE FORMATION OF A GLOBAL ECONOMY ......................................................................................................................................................... 1 III. HISTORY ..................................................................................................................................................................... 2 IV. OLD SYSTEM V. NEW SYSTEM ................................................................................................................................ 2 V. COMMON FEATURES OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS TODAY ................................................................ 2 VI. IMPORTANT RELATIONSHIPS ................................................................................................................................. 2 VII. IMPORTANT PROCESSES ........................................................................................................................................ 3 VIII. LEGISLATIVE FUNCTIONS ................................................................................................................................. 3 IX. FORUM FOR NORM-MAKING V. NORM-MAKING ................................................................................................ 3 X. EXCEPTIONAL CASES ................................................................................................................................................. 3 XI. EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS ....................................................................................................................................... 4 XII. INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS TODAY ......................................................................................................... 4 XIII. CONCLUSIONS ON MULTILATERAL DEMOCRACY ............................................................................................. 4

I. MULTILATERAL DEMOCRACY Multilateral democracy refers to the conduct of democracy or relations among three or more states. Oscar Schafters statement in the 1990s rings true moreso today than ever: [t]he international rules of International Organizations affect every area of human life, cut across territorial boundaries, and even into matters entirely within the sovereignty of states. This is a reality that was not contemplated by the international community at its inception. II. GROWING INTERDEPENDENCE BETWEEN TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT AND THE FORMATION OF A GLOBAL ECONOMY Today, there is a growing interdependence between technological development and the formation of a global economy. Technological development is apparent in (a) transportation from the galleon trade to the airplane; and in (b) communications networks (e.g. the differences in efficiency, and the corollary proof of development, in this regard is illustrated in the fact that a 10 pound call card bought in London is worth different hours when used to call different countries, i.e. 2 hours to the Philippines, 6 hours to Bangkok, and 10 hours to the United States.) Technological development (a) encourages specialization, which in turn leads to (b) interndependence, which in turn lead (c) to regulation by institutions.

III. HISTORY History has shown a shift from unilateral actions by Kings founded on the use of force, to multilateral actions made through consuls and legations, starting with the Peace of Westphalia, and the Congress of Vienna. The multilateral mode is described as bursting forth or writ large from bilateral relations. Throughout this shift, International Organizations may be seen as arising either from a need due to the increasing international intercourse or as arising from the appeal to a single world government. The pace of relations is beginning to require regular multilateral conferences. Before, new conferences needed to be called for every arising issue. Before, it was dependent on who Austria wanted to invite to conferences - there was no equality of rights, - no specialization. IV. OLD SYSTEM V. NEW SYSTEM The old system gave way to the new system. The old concert system based on a high degree of trust within its club of political individuals gave way to the new system of varied political intercourse which saw the human rights revolution, the regional and global relations, and even is concerned with judicial and quasi-judicial functions. One characteristic of the new system is that there is no express delegation of the legislative function to one member-state. The traditional objection to such is the possibility of the two-thirds binding the one-third, which really allows the circumvention of the treaty-making process. Exceptions to this are the FATF and the OECD which engage enforcement even to non-state members (thus, an exception to the principle of pacta tertiis nec nocent nec prosunt). V. COMMON FEATURES OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS TODAY A number of features may be seen as common among international organizations today: international organizations (1) hold periodic or regular sessions; (2) are organs of limited membership, i.e. not inclusive of all member-states, such as the Secretariat, UN Security Council, WHO Assembly, and the WIPO; (3) have a budget and a finance division which, in treaty organizations, are elected, and in subsidiary bodies, appointed; (4) publish reports; and (5) have institutional programs, e.g. in the WHO. VI. IMPORTANT RELATIONSHIPS Important relationships exist between some international organizations: (1) as to international economic issues, the heads of the WTO, WB, and IMF meet every year and make a report; (2) linkages between international organizations and non- government organizations, e.g. the UNESCO accreditation program of NGOs, in the UNCTAD, in UNIDO, and in WIPO. 2

 VII. IMPORTANT PROCESSES In the study of international organizations, attention must be given to the work of committees, and to the voting rules. The work of committees involve an overwhelming number of bureaucratic and expensive processes. Voting in international organizations may be (a) by consensus, in which no member makes an objection; or (b) by rule of unanimity, which should be distinguished from consensus; or (c) by rule of majority, as in the UN Charter. Each voting mode has its own advantages and disadvantages. In a rule of majority, advantages include (a) avoidance of paralysis; (b) prevention of effective veto; both necessary for large organizations. This is why agreed language is important. Usually, diplomats are given a binder of agreed language which are used in various organizations. For example, the binder in WIPO may be used in the UN General Assembly. The disadvantage is in the possibility of the minority being overrun. For example, in the UN, developing countries outnumber developed countries three-to- one. Ramming an action by rule of majority runs the risk that developed countries may not implement the resolution. In these processes, face-to-face relations are important. Thus, the existence of embassies and missions, among others. VIII. LEGISLATIVE FUNCTIONS International organizations legislate on substantive rules. This activity is usually called the standard-setting function of international organizations. It has a vast area of influence, as in the areas of trade, human rights, maritime relations, disarmament, or the environment. IX. FORUM FOR NORM-MAKING V. NORM-MAKING A distinction must be made between organizations that are forums for norm-making and organizations that are norm-making per se. As to to latter, in the UN, as of this writing, there are approximately 3,500 UN meetings that have treaty-making activities; thrice the number compared to those in 2012. X. EXCEPTIONAL CASES In the area of the environment, there are no organizations, but only mechanisms. There are also organizations which do not conform to the principle of pacta tertiis, such as the ICAO, FATF, OECD. (As a side note, in the OECD there is work to arrive at

Tax Information Exchange Agreement which allow states to talk to each other to obtain information to address double taxation and to overcome secrecy laws. XI. EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS International organizations have an administrative department serving as its backbone usually called the Secretariat and led by a Secretary-General, Executive Director, Managing Director, President, or other like names. In theory, this administrative department should not be involved with policy. Their usual statement is that they are a Member-driven organization; but in reality, they are very influential. Their influence may be coursed through their advice, reports (annual or otherwise), technical assistance (e.g. studies), or may even by in the form of drafting resolutions which serve as initial data or information for proposals, which should really be a legislative function. It cannot be denied that when dealing with international organizations, this administrative arm of the organization would serve as a good ally. XII. INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS TODAY Today, this international organizations have more activities in the form of monitoring and supervision, e.g. visitation, verification, enforcement measures (whether through politics, economics, or by force), or even in the form judicial and quasi-judicial. Currently, there is an eye on judicial specialization, as in the ICJ, ICC, and ITLOS, but the jurisdiction of such require state consent. XIII. CONCLUSIONS ON MULTILATERAL DEMOCRACY Multilateral diplomacy is no longer the business of governments alone, but now affects individuals and businesses. Contemporary literature has not addressed this particular nature of international organizations today. The kinds of international organizations are so varied, from the 10 member ASEAN, the SADAC, APEC, EU, LOB, to the international organization of Bananas and Plantae based in Los Banos. Why is there an emergence of multilateral democracy? Scholars argue that it due to the need for centralization and independence. Centralization offers a stable and formal structure with an administrative arm and a legitimated or increased legitimacy of action. Independence separates the owners from control. These organizations shapes political structure. International organizations strengthen international cooperation. It provides specialized agencies and staff. International organizations are neutral and depoliticized, especially with regard to technical and specialized issues. This neutral and depoliticized nature is true in the beginning, but would later shift to a political nature, at which point such issues are let to ministers to make the hard threshold decisions. 4

 The following are other apparents conclusions about international organizations: (a) The challenges or existing realities of international organizations lie in the principles of territoriality and the independence of states. (b) International organizations are increasingly involved in norm-setting. (c) International organizations are handling issues of increasing scope (e.g. before, the scope in Europe was only to maintain the balance of power.) (d) International organizations involve an increasing diversity of actors (e.g. the Philippine delegation on climate change are staffed by NGOs such as the AHRC or Dean La Vina.) (e) International organizations consist of epistemic communities. [Neil: My apologies, was not able to complete notes on the following topics.] (f) Founded on (g) Continuities -> state-based (h) International organizations have set aside the ad-hoc or consent system.