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Drawing on an broad range of source material, Marks examines current debates about the emergence of an international legal norm of democratic governance, ' and considers how proposals for such a norm might be rearticulated to meet some of the concerns they provoke. She also uses these debates to illustrate some more general points about approaches to the study of international law. In doing so, she seeks to defend an approach to international legal scholarship that takes its cue from the tradition of ideology critique.
List of contents
- Introduction
- 1: Preface to a Critique of International Legal Ideology
- 2: International Law and the `Liberal Revolution'
- 3: Limits of the Liberal Revolution I. Low Intensity Democracy
- 4: Limits of the Liberal Revolution II: Pan-National Democracy
- 5: International Law and the Project of Cosmopolitan Democracy
- 6: Afterword: Critical Knowledge
About the author
Susan Marks is a lecturer in law at Cambridge University
Summary
The promotion of democracy is today a familiar feature of foreign policy and an accepted part of the activities of international organizations. Should international law join in this move to promote democratic political arrangements? If so, on what basis, and with which of the many competing conceptions of democracy? Drawing on an eclectic range of source material, the author examines current debates about the emergence of an international legal `norm of democratic governance', and considers how proposals for such a norm might be rearticulated to meet some of the concerns to which they give rise. She also uses these debates to illustrate some more general points about approaches to the study of international law. In doing so, she seeks to defend an approach to international legal scholarship that takes its cue from the tradition of ideology critique.
Additional text
Susan Marks presents a trenchant review of the arguments concerning the emergence of a "norm of democratic governance"...Marks' critique of contemporary writing is exceptionally clear and elegant...it is a sheer delight to read the work of a scholar who approaches her material with humility and a simple determination to engage with it and with her readers. For that alone this book would deserve the highest praise, as a substantial and significant contribution to the contemporary debate. But it also makes a substantial contribution to the literature...there can be no doubt that this book has moved the debate along considerably, and in great style.
