Democratic Accountability in a Globalized Confederation

• Author: Craig Forcese/Aaron Freeman
• Pages: 601-615

Democratic Accountability

in

a

Globalized Confederation

This book

has

described

in

detail

the

many rules designed

to

render

feder-

al

governance

in

Canada "democratically accountable."

As we

have defined

it,

democratic accountability

at the

federal level depends

on the

fair

election

of

representatives,

the

primacy

of

these representatives over unelected

offi-

cials,

judicial review

and

oversight

of

both unelected

and

elected

officials,

and a

series

of

detailed rules concerning government ethics, lobbying

and

transparency.

Canada's

federal government does not, however, operate

in

splendid

isolation.

Accordingly, this chapter focuses

on the

implications

of a

chang-

ing

national

and

international

environment

for

democratic accountability.

Specifically,

as

policy-making influence

and

power

is

globalized

in

interna-

tional

venues

and at the

same time decentralized

in

Canada's increasingly

diffuse

federation, what

are the

consequences

for

democratic governance

in

Canada?

A.

THE

INTERNATIONALIZATION

OF

PUBLIC POLICY

Modern

international policy-making involves

an

alphabet soup

of

interna-

tional institutions.

By the end of the

last century, there were around

250

intergovernmental organizations, almost double

the

number that existed

601

11