Democratic Models for International Environmental Institutions: Challenges, Taxonomies, and Citizen Advisory Groups

UNITAR/Yale Conference on Environmental Governance and Democracy

16 Pages Posted: 26 Jul 2008

See all articles by Eric Dannenmaier

Eric Dannenmaier

Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law

Date Written: June 23, 2008

Abstract

This discussion paper was prepared for the May 2008 UNITAR/Yale Conference on Environmental Governance and Democracy and presented to a panel on public participation in international environmental governance. It examines efforts to engage non-state actors more fully in the work of international environmental institutions as a means of making those institutions more responsive to the broader constituencies that they, and their states parties, serve. The paper is concerned not simply with non-state actors as collaborators who support institutional goals and implement institutional projects, but as meaningful participants in deliberative decision-making processes traditionally reserved to states. The paper describes practices of international institutions drawing on data gathered from recent global, European and Inter-American experiences. It offers a basic taxonomy of access mechanisms on the basis of these data and outlines some of the questions researchers might ask as they examine whether these approaches serve to make international institutions more democratic. The paper also highlights one emerging access mechanism - citizen advisory groups - that may hold particular promise. It suggests that this alternative may be one key to building democratic mechanisms in the international context by engaging citizens in direct dialogue about environmental decisions rather than leaving them as passive observers. The paper outlines potential opportunities and challenges of citizen advisory groups, and poses questions which might be asked where citizen advisors are engaged as access points to international institutions.

Keywords: Democracy, Public Participation, Access, International Environmental Law, International Institutions

Suggested Citation

Dannenmaier, Eric, Democratic Models for International Environmental Institutions: Challenges, Taxonomies, and Citizen Advisory Groups (June 23, 2008). UNITAR/Yale Conference on Environmental Governance and Democracy, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1177370 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1177370

Eric Dannenmaier (Contact Author)

Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law ( email )

530 West New York Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202
United States

HOME PAGE: http://indylaw.indiana.edu/people/profile.cfm?Id=287

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
126
Abstract Views
1,078
Rank
404,654
PlumX Metrics