ABSTRACT
A theory of the world polity—as distinct from a theory of international politics or, more broadly, international relations—is needed to help us deal with the central predicament of the human species: the failure to develop systems of governance to keep pace with the expanding power of humans to alter the natural world. Clearly, the contemporary world polity is predominantly a nation-state system. The entire human population is organized into territorially demarcated units of community self-protection and welfare. Just as concepts of legitimacy and justice are central to many theories about domestic politics and are the subjects of much of the discourse in political philosophy, so such normative concepts are appropriate to a theory of the world polity—both analytically and prescriptively. Explicit criteria of the good polity can provide a basis for a comparative evaluation of historical configurations of world politics and for an assessment of the costs and benefits of contemporary political developments and statecraft.
