The United Nations democracy agenda : a conceptual history / Kirsten Haack.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Haack, Kirsten, author.

Series:

Manchester International Relations

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United Nations--History.

United Nations.

Democracy--History--20th century.

Democracy.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (168 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Manchester : New York : Manchester University Press, 2011.

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

This book provides a critical, conceptual-historical analysis of democracy at the United Nations, detailed in four 'visions' of democracy: civilization, elections, governance and developmental democracy. 'I know it when I see it' were the famous words of US Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart on defining obscenity. It is with the same conviction and (un)certainty that liberal peacebuilders and democracy promoters have used democracy to achieve both the immediate goals of peacekeeping and the broader, global mission of the UN. Today, democracy may have gained an international dimension, yet its success as an organizational practice depends on how it has been defined. Drawing on political theory and democratization scholarship, the book questions the meaning of this well-'known' idea. It analyses the way in which the UN, through its Secretary-General, relevant agencies and organizational practices, have thought about, conceptualized and used democracy. The book shows that while the idea of democracy's 'civilizing' nature has played a prominent part in its use by the UN, an early focus on sovereignty and self-determination delayed the emergence of the democracy agenda until the 1990s. Today, a comprehensive democracy agenda incorporates not only elections but a broad range of liberal-democratic institutions. Despite this, the agenda is at an impasse, both practically and philosophically. The book questions whether an extension of the UN democracy agenda to include 'developmental democracy' is feasible.

Contents:

Democracy ideas and practices

Framing democracy : the democratic continuum

Democracy under a veil : civilisation

Lifting the veil over democracy : elections

Extending democracy I : governance

Extending democracy II : developmental democracy

The future of UN democracy.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 28 Apr 2026).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781781703212

1781703213

9781847794550

1847794556

OCLC:

818847511