ABSTRACT
Seattle; Washington, D.C.; Prague; Québec City. It is becoming difficult for international economic organizations to meet without attracting crowds of protesters decrying globalization. These protesters are a diverse lot, comingmainly from rich countries, and their coalition has not always been internally consistent. They have included trade unionists worried about losing jobs and students who want to help the underdeveloped world gain them, environmentalists concerned about ecological degradation and anarchistswho object to all forms of international regulation. Some protesters claim to represent poor countries but simultaneously defend agricultural protectionism in wealthy countries. Some reject corporate capitalism, whereas others accept the benefits of international markets but worry that globalization is destroying democracy. Of all their complaints, this last concern is key. Protest organizers such as Lori
Wallach attributed half the success of the Seattle coalition to “the notion that the democracy deficit in the global economy is neither necessary nor acceptable.” For globalization’s supporters, accordingly, finding some way to address its perceived democratic deficit should become a high priority.
