Members of the Panel: Robert Badinter, Mohamed Bennouna, H.R.H. Princess Basma Bint Talal, Mohamed Charfi, Pierre Cornillon, Rosiska Darcy de Oliveira, Marrack Goulding, Guo Jiading, Han Sung-Joo, Abid Hussain, Attiya Inayatullah, Kéba Mbaye, Hisashi Owada, Bruce Russett, Nicolas Valticos, Alexei VassilievEveryone now agrees that there is a close relationship between democracy and development. But what is the nature of those links? How do they hang together? Should some of them be reinforced, and if so which? What effect do the new globalizations have on democracy and development? How can the emergence of a democratic form of development, without which democracy would remain meaningless, be encouraged?
In order to study these questions, UNESCO set up an International Panel on Democracy and Development, chaired by Mr Boutros Boutros-Ghali, and composed of sixteen personalities from all regions of the world. This Report presents the debates which took place during the three meetings (1998, 1999, 2000) and the Panel's recommendations.
Can there be such a thing as an international democracy?
In other words, domestic democracy is a reality, but can there be a genuine international democracy? What is the impact of globalizations - for there are many kinds of globalization - on domestic democracy?
What can the future of domestic democracy be, when some of the most powerful socio-political forces extend beyond the boundaries of the nation-state? In other words, the nation-state and domestic democracy have less and less power and are less and less capable of keeping in check those new forces, those new economic and sociocultural powers.
How is it that the increase in the number of democratic States has not gone hand in hand with more democratic relations between States?
How can one explain the reluctance of democracies to extend their model of governance to inter-State relations? Does democracy encourage peace? Are wars between democracies rare? What are the consequences, for democratic States, of the presence of undemocratic States in the international community? In a different connection, how should a democracy behave towards a party which is not democratic and whose aim is to abolish democracy? What attitude should a democratic State adopt towards undemocratic States?
Boutros Boutros-Ghali
Chairperson of the International Panel
on Democracy and Development
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