A World Parliament

Global challenges such as war, climate change, poverty and inequality are overwhelming nation-states and today's international institutions. Achieving a world community that is peaceful, just and sustainable requires a democratic world parliament. This book describes the history, relevance and practical steps to implement this monumental project.

Global challenges such as war, climate change, poverty and inequality are overwhelming nation-states and today's international institutions. Achieving a world community that is peaceful, just and sustainable requires a democratic world parliament. This book describes the history, relevance and practical steps to implement this monumental project.

Democracy is the guiding principle for fairly and peacefully making community decision at the local, provincial, and national levels of human society. In this compilation of their collected works, Falk and Strauss argue for a practical approach to now finally extending democratic decision-making to the global system. Praise: "This book is a must read for those who care about our common future." - Mike Moore, former Prime Minister of New Zealand and former Director-General, World Trade Organization. "An important contribution to contemporary debate." - Dame Rosalyn Higgins, former President, International Court of Justice. "Falk and Strauss challenge all democrats to stretch their horizons: why shouldn't we aim for a global parliament?" - Peter Singer, Princeton University. "Falk and Strauss lead the way in calling for a global parliament - a representative body that would have the scope and authority to address vital global concerns." - David Held, London School of Economics

'A Global Parliament' gives a comprehensive discussion of the idea of world federation. Why should we want it? How might we get there? The world federalist movement has a long and fascinating history, but the end of the Cold War allows us a fresh look at the issues in question. The European Union also provides us with a crucial new model for the future. This is a book for all those interested in global governance, and how it might evolve in the new millennium.

Conceived as a magnificent display of the major religions of the world, the 1893 Parliament sought to unite "all religion against irreligion." A singular moment in the creation of a more pluralistic religious culture in America, it introduced many Americans to Eastern religions and meditative practices such as yoga. Some in the Christian community saw the gathering as a sign of the approaching fulfillment of the missionary's hope to evangelize the world, while others saw a divided Christendom under threat from the religions of the East. Richard Hughes Seager explores this fascinating event in all its complexities and, in a new preface, summarizes recent research and reflects on religious pluralism in an age of religious extremism.

The Parliament of Man is the first definitive history of the United Nations, from one of America's greatest living historians.Distinguished scholar Paul Kennedy, author of the bestselling The Rise and Fall of Great Powers, gives us a thorough and timely account that explains the UN's roots and functions while also casting an objective eye on its effectiveness and its prospects for success in meeting the challenges that lie ahead. Kennedy shows the UN for what it is: fallible, human-based, often dependent on the whims of powerful national governments or the foibles of individual administrators—yet also utterly indispensable. With his insightful grasp of six decades of global history, Kennedy convincingly argues that "it is difficult to imagine how much more riven and ruinous our world of six billion people would be if there had been no UN."

This study explores how the democratic deficit of the United Nations can be progressively minimized by the development of a global parliamentary body. After establishing a conceptual platform, three evolutionary steps with four specific models for the apportionment of seats are set forth for what would eventually become a directly elected world assembly. Praise: "This important study for the first time demonstrates successive models for the implementation of a world parliament. It makes the undertaking very tangible and shows that, in principle, there are no technical obstacles that cannot be overcome. What is needed is the political will." --Jo Leinen, Member of the European Parliament; "The creation of a global parliamentary assembly should be on the political agenda sooner or later. The apportionment of seats is a key question. This inspiring study demonstrates possible approaches." --Shashi Tharoor, Member of Parliament, former UN Under-Secretary-General

Growing numbers of scholars, practitioners, politicians, and citizens recognize the value of deliberative civic engagement processes that enable citizens and governments to come together in public spaces and engage in constructive dialogue, informed discussion, and decisive deliberation. This book seeks to fill a gap in empirical studies in deliberative democracy by studying the assembly of the Australian Citizens’ Parliament (ACP), which took place in Canberra on February 6–8, 2009. The ACP addressed the question “How can the Australian political system be strengthened to serve us better?” The ACP’s Canberra assembly is the first large-scale, face-to-face deliberative project to be completely audio-recorded and transcribed, enabling an unprecedented level of qualitative and quantitative assessment of participants’ actual spoken discourse. Each chapter reports on different research questions for different purposes to benefit different audiences. Combined, they exhibit how diverse modes of research focused on a single event can enhance both theoretical and practical knowledge about deliberative democracy.