ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the long and multifaceted resistance tradition in the West contributes to inaction by focusing on stopping, rather than using, coercion. Robert Dahl's two impediments to democracy in the United States are impediments to progress not only at the national level but at the global level as well. At the global level, we need delegates of nations who can negotiate and coordinate with one another to produce action. That action will require coercion, which should be as legitimate as possible. The process of negotiation adds democratic value by drawing out the reasons and justifications advanced by the different parties. A political theory of democratic action should not neglect the goals of resistance theory. Every means of approximating relatively legitimate coercion has its underside. In a more heavily interdependent world, a democracy needs more collective power to solve the growing number of collective action problems.
