World government

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Theories of international integration

A number of scholars have theorized as to how a world government might come into being peacefully. Two general schools of thought on this are functional and regional integration. According to the functional school, world government would arise through all the nations of the world gradually establishing international bodies to deal with particular issues (trade, communications, health, etc.)—these bodies would slowly grow in power, and, having succeeded their parent states in terms of importance, finally be federated to form one world government. According to the regional school, the formation of a world government would be preceded by the formation of regional governments in different parts of the world, these regional governments later joining together to form one world government. As described above, both forms of integration are currently active and growing in scope.

Related Topics:
Trade - Communication - Health

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Both these schools of thought see the peaceful establishment of a world government as a slow and gradual process, which will take decades, if not centuries. However, others argue that a world government could come about very quickly, through an agreement between all the nations of the world. Such a view was quite popular in the idealism of the post-World War II era (one famous proponent being Garry Davis), but by the end of the 1950s had been revealed to be quite unrealistic, at least in the climate of the times. Although there is no reason theoretically why it could not happen, the practical rules of politics (especially in today's world) make the sudden establishment of such a body highly unlikely, and the gradual route holds much more promise. Many who see the establishment of a world government as desirable still hold out hope.

Related Topics:
World War II - Garry Davis - 1950s - Politics

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Of course, both possibilities can operate. Just as human society has evolved in progressively larger units of cohesion despite many setbacks—and while pushed forward rapidly at times by the results of occasional calamities and/or ingenuity and opportunity, many have proposed that this tendency toward stronger coordination, yet with decentralized control, is an inevitable path. The United States government, for example, did not come immediately into being (nor, its advocates would argue, at the expense of individuality). The states of the union were initially quite resistant to the idea of supplying any resources to the national government (if they supported one at all). However, certain events such as impending war with Great Britain drew its constituent elements closer to each other along another global trend, self-determination. Although self-determination may seem the opposite of unification, federalists (whether national or international) argue that it is actually a prerequisite to true unification (though empires have undoubtedly achieved some measure of standardization and unification). Once "liberated" to sufficiently govern their own affairs, states can associate with others in balanced relationships which allow mutual benefit. However, such a unification brought about by war as the United States experienced was not sufficient to weld its constituent elements firmly together. The Articles of Confederation deliberately created a weak federal government, dedicated to the independence of the states, without even the power to raise troops in wartime. Despite this, the loose coallition was able to defeat the greatest military power of its day. However, some in Congress were unsatisfied with this, and considered the central government too weak. They thought that it might not be able to respond efficiently to serious crises in future. Therefore, the "Founding Fathers" of the (federal) United States devised a system which prevented the national government being ineffectual without undue interference in the affairs of the states. However, the civil war shattered this equilibrium, with the federal government waging war against break-away states.

Related Topics:
Self-determination - Federalists - Articles of Confederation - Founding Fathers - Federal - A system - Civil war

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Parallels have been drawn to the current state of weak world governance (through the United Nations and other related regional or international institutions) with the United States' Articles of Confederation. In the current system of the United Nations, many have argued that this present system gives too much weight to state sovereignty and too little to cohesive action. For example, any of 5 permanent members of the Security Council can veto any matter brought before it (not only security matters). The World Parliament (the General Assembly), it is argued, hardly represents the people, since it is not elected by the people in a separate election for international governance (and in many cases, the governments currently choosing the representatives are unelected themselves). Furthermore, the representation is not proportional in any manner to population (unlike most bicameral legislatures, including the United States House of Representatives), and their decisions are not in any way binding (besides expressing opinion). Moreover, the participating nations admitted into the United Nations General Assembly are in many cases oppressive dictatorships not accountable to their own people (perhaps parallel to the southern states of the U.S. before the Civil War not allowing black people basic economic or political freedoms such as the right to vote). The World Court, likewise, is severely limited in its powers in being able to adjudicate in matters not agreed to be brought before it by both parties, or if the parties are not states. Even those belonging to permanent member countries have argued that such sovereignty only begets anarchy in getting things accomplished (especially during the Cold War). While federalists are equally wary of the dangers of over-centralization, they argue that many aspects of the United Nations system (or a new system) should be sufficiently strengthened to allow effective action, whether dealing with security or auxiliary issues argued to be related to security.

Related Topics:
Articles of Confederation - United Nations - Security Council - Bicameral legislatures - United States House of Representatives - Cold War

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(Besides federalism, some internationalists point to the model of a commonwealth for the future patterning of a world government which can offer another type of balance between national and international control.)

Related Topics:
Federalism - Commonwealth

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Some people ask for election of the United Nations Secretary-General by the citizens (world presidentialism).

Related Topics:
United Nations Secretary-General - Presidentialism

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