ABSTRACT
Social movements have been crucial historical catalysts of democratizing processes within countries. Their work has led to the political enfranchisement of women and other excluded groups, to the legal articulation and protection of democratic rights such as free speech and assembly, and to the promotion of state structures that help ensure greater public access and accountability (Markoff 1996; Tarrow 1998; Tilly 1984). Given their importance to the emergence of large-scale political democracy, we can expect that social movements and the organizations that promote them will be central to the contemporary efforts to democratize global institutions. Democratization at the global level suggests that global institutions must be more transparent, more accountable to citizens, and more open to varying forms of citizen access and participation. Indeed, a key theme in the massive protests at global trade and financial meetings has been the demand for greater transparency and accountability – that is, democracy – in these organizations. As is also true in the historic record, states have resisted social movements – often violently – and they have generally adopted only narrow reforms that serve to quell mass protests without introducing meaningful changes (Gamson 1990).
