Discussing the Democratic Deficit and Potential Reforms within the WTO

This essay critically examines the 'democratic deficit' of the World Trade Organization (WTO), a member-driven organization regulating international trade. It explores accusations of undemocratic practices, where critics argue that negotiations and trade agreements undermine member countries' democratic processes through pre-determined policy priorities. The essay discusses the restrictions imposed on national governments, leading to reduced incomes, limited public information, and decreased participation in decision-making. It analyzes arguments related to the WTO's internal processes, including the lack of transparency in negotiations and the influence of powerful nations. The essay also delves into the impact of agreements like TRIPS, which are criticized for undermining human rights. It concludes by proposing reforms such as returning to GATT's original goals and increasing the participation of developing countries to make the WTO more democratic and equitable. The essay provides a detailed analysis of the issues and potential solutions to address the WTO's democratic deficit.

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INSTITUTIONAL AFFILIATION(S)
SOCIAL SCIENCE

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Some scholars have accused the World Trade Organization (WTO) of having a
'democratic deficit'. Discuss what this means. Can it be reformed to become more
democratic, and if so, how?
Introduction
World Trade Organization (WTO) is a member-driven organization that requires
meeting several concerns and expectations of legitimate and democratic governance. The
WTO headquarters is situated in the shores of Lake Geneva and was once a club liable for
serving as a forum where negotiations and trade disputed were settled, also called as General
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The WTO regulates protectionism and serves as a
forum for settles trade disputes and making trade negotiations. It can also be said that WTO is
an international agreement that establishes a series of trade rules in international trade and
commerce among 153 member nations. Since ages, the trade grew dramatically and the WTO
played a significant role in global economic growth and development. However, many
scholars believe that WTO does not act in the interest of each member. Critics argue that
negotiations and trade agreements indirectly undermine member countries democratically
through pre-determined policy priorities (Aaronson and Abouharb ). The democratic deficit
in WTO has brought significant political activism consequences for allegiant political
behaviour forms and laws which requires an ultimate reformation to democratization.
Critical Discussion
Restrictions made upon series of policies available to national governments are
generally recommended as a way through which failures or time-related issues can be
coordinated. However, restrictions made on the policies can impose significant drawbacks
which can be ignored by members. Under such circumstances, citizens get reduced incomes,
government hands remain tied and the public is less informed about political matters besides

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avoiding collective participation in decision-making processes. This further makes private
returns lower due to less political information. This mechanism then results in micro-
foundations of an idea known as 'democratic deficit' which induces lower participation within
political agendas. Furthermore, fiscal policy restrictions tend to lessen redistribution by
inducing lower political data acquisition by poorer voters. According to Larcinese, The WTO
limits its barriers to trade and commerce so that individual member nations could impose on
international goods and services. Many member countries often choose to impose restrictions
all by themselves based on the spectrum of policies that their country is allowed to make such
implementation. For instance, some of the countries are allowed to delegate their choice on
non-elected members such as central banks by acquiring super-majorities for making
alterations in the status quo or include policy dimensions directly in the constitution by
adopting authoritative rules to alter the discretion of member representatives.
The arguments related to the democratic deficit in WTO can be grounded upon two
major strands. Firstly, it can be argued that material in the WTO rules is not similar to the
outcomes of WTO. The WTO rules unduly restrict regulatory functions of States that become
challenging if the rules undermine states' ability to impose laws that can offer democracy to
the people. The second argument can be related to its component related to the democratic
deficit in its internal processes. Very less democratic inputs have been made by the State's
decision to become a member of WTO even though every decision made for binding WTO
obligations can impact people's livelihood. Joseph argues that in both the case, people are
rarely informed about the negotiation processes or about trade agreements, standards and
accession decisions which are traded by technocrats in confined places. Moreover, the
negotiating teams often represent a narrow sense of interest and may not be skilled enough to
appreciate non-trading impacts due to trade deals such as impacts on human rights and health.
Even Paterson claims that during making inspections, no controversies arise as all the major

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decisions in WTO are taken by consensus among members and any independent judiciary can
determine whether a breach of contract has taken place or not and what law enforcement
needs to be taken. It can also be argued that the inter-state decisions made in WTO are
generally undemocratic. Moreover, powerful nations can easily block any initiative taken by
linking it with outside issues related to trade preferences such as bilateral trade agreements,
security, aid and loans.
One of the omnipresent criticisms regarding international institutions and governing
bodies is that they lack democratic legitimacy as the government is not conducted by the
citizenry. As compared to democratic systems at an international level, the democratic deficit
remains prevalent significantly. According to Mitchell and Sheargold, “The concept of a
“democratic deficit” is that an institution or government that is ostensibly democratic is
falling short of fulfilling key principles of democracy" (p.14). Indeed, the most common issue
in international law can be compared with the term associated with an organization that does
not believe in representing its citizens adequately. Although an international institution like
WTO is based on the principle related to sovereign equality where its membership is open to
member countries only, it is often underlined as a democratic deficit. Assuming that every
member nation act in the interest of their major populations, the system still excludes several
minority groups in the states and NGOs from the institutions. It is also criticized for denying
smaller or less powerful states, not to consent while forming laws that bind or participate in
the processes related to international customs and laws due to political pressures. Therefore,
Joseph claims that such undoubted trade ethos represented by major players in WTO
negotiations and exclusion of non-trade interests like environmental and human rights, it is
arguable that WTO is democratically deficit which can significantly impact nontrade areas
also. To be democratic and fair to every member nation, it needs to be reformed critically and
ensure that democracy and legitimacy are given more priority than political prejudice.

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From a realistic perspective, WTO's most pressing democratic deficit issue is
confronted with an accountability mechanism that cuts across output and inputs. While
assessing eventual attempts made by WTO to remain open with the public, the record seems
very debatable in literature. Moreover, WTO has lately involved many civil society groups
and Ministerial negotiations besides providing documents which were restricted initially. To
be democratic, WTO here requires making negotiations in public so that every representative
is ensured that the proposed policy is preferable and is according to the constitutional rights.
However, it can also be noted that making public bargains can encourage representatives
positioned as overly aggressive negotiators and may increase breakdowns of the negotiations
gradually. Therefore, Elsig suggests that the process of legalization can implement
democracy in the WTO more productively and strengthen the protectionist forces via trade
interest which will then decrease the likelihood of liberalization in the future. An increase in
politician's participation in technological negotiations can not only slow the entire negotiation
process but also lead to ineffective outcomes because of lesser knowledge on the core
material. Here, the developing countries can reap benefits from the institution by making
WTO more development-oriented (Elsig). Concerning the present issues faced by WTO, the
growing consensus believes that the effective outcomes among developing countries must be
the central agenda that can further broaden the international community strongly.
To become more democratic, WTO can return to the roots of GATT and target
discriminatory protectionism only instead of branching itself into the realm of basic standards
like in SPS and TRIPS agreements. Concerning TRIPS, it can be said that its inclusion can
promote research and development besides involving the technological transformation. But
then, it can prove difficult while justifying extraordinary protections provided to a single set
of members or individuals like corporate rights, and intellectual property rights in comparison
with other necessary rights like human rights within the present international system. TRIPS

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has been criticized for undermining human rights allegedly such as the impact on essential
drug prices and rights to adequate supply in healthcare. Therefore, TRIPS in the WTO
agreement is a clause that restricts trade rather than making trade liberalization among
member nations (Joseph). Perhaps, instead of TRIPS, a greater defence can be provided to
WTO decisions and negotiations with the help on inward measures that are designed to
protect populations as compared to another outward measure that aims in protecting
individuals or change the behaviour of international bodies.
Conclusion
The above essay reveals that although WTO rules member states to make them
advanced in democratic rights, particularly in giving access to information, political
participation and trade processes, some of the scholars accuse WTO of having a democratic
deficit. With deliberate intentions, the WTO system has made governments advanced and
improved with some indirect processes, however, some of the scholars find that WTO policy
restrictions became common in the realm of fiscal policies. Many countries, particularly the
less powerful ones are more prone to trade implications rather than benefitting from it as
most of the decision-making power remains in the hands of powerful bodies. This requires a
critical transformation in the policies mentioned in the WTO so that it can become a more
democratic organization. Removing impactful agreements from the WTO policies such as
TRIPS and SPS and rooting back to its initial intentions i.e. GATT is recommended in the
above essay. Other than this, WTO can also be more diplomatic and open towards developing
nations so that they become technologically equal and help in forming a stronger community.

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Works Cited
Aaronson, Susan Ariel and M Rodwan Abouharb . Unexpected Bedfellows: The GATT, the
WTO and Some Democratic Rights. 2010.
<https://www.wti.org/media/filer_public/b6/da/b6daa7e7-2ff7-4986-88df-
ae8727b6a4c5/sa-working-paper-nccr-2.pdf>.
Elsig, Manfred. “The World Trade Organization's Legitimacy Crisis: What Does the Beast
Look Like?” Journal of World Trade 41.1 (2009): 75-98.
Joseph, Sarah. “Democratic deficit, participation and the WTO.” The World Trade
Organization and Human Rights. UK: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, 2009.
Larcinese, Valentino. Policy Restrictions, Democratic DeÖcit and Redistribution. 2009.
<http://www.lse.ac.uk/government/Assets/Documents/pdf/research-groups/pspe/
working-papers/PSPE-WP3-09.pdf>.
Mitchell , Andrew D and Elizabeth Sheargold. “Global Go Global Governance: The W
ernance: The World Trade Organization ganization's Contribution s Contribution.”
ALBERTA LAW REVIEW 46.4 (2009): 1-22.
Paterson, Bill. Democratic Deficits and Manufacturing Legitimacy at the World Trade
Organization. 2010.
<https://www.academia.edu/1586737/Democratic_Deficits_and_Manufacturing_Legit
imacy_at_the_World_Trade_Organization>.