ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the connections between RIOs, legitimacy and democracy. It argues that the regional level and RIOs have peculiarities which make them an interesting object of study within the debate about legitimacy and democracy beyond the nation state. The common interest can involve economic issues such as growth and the distribution of wealth, but as Tholen points out, it may also involve the strengthening of democracy itself as the main objective. It focuses on the political dimension of democracy, and on the representation of citizens in the exercise of political power. This contribution can be seen, as a bridge between the conceptual discussion in the preceding chapters and the qualitative analysis of the effective legitimacy of RIOs in the later chapters. This volume deals with different aspects of the legitimacy/democracy issue in regional governance and offers qualitative analyses of different RIOs in different regions of the world.
