Global Democracy: The Case for a World Government

by Torbjörn Tännsjö

Is world government the answer to pressing global issues such as war, global injustices and environmental problems? Torbjörn Tännsjö presents the case for this idea.The notion of a sovereign world government has been defended in the past by philosophers such as Bertrand Russell and A.C. Ewing, but has been eclipsed by less radical ideas to do with peaceful cooperation between sovereign states or, at most, through systems of shared sovereignty. Tännsjö argues that such solutions cannot be effective; moreover he argues, in response to philosophers such as Kant and Rawls, that not only is a world government necessary if we want to solve pressing global problems, it is desirable in its own right.Short, simple to read, and focusing on the key arguments, Global Democracy is intended for anyone who wants to start to think about political solutions to global problems, putting them into a perspective that deserves to be taken seriously.The author's royalties on sales of this book are being donated to Oxfam.

168 pages, Paperback

First published August 6, 2008

Reviews

[Michael S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mycket intressant tanke, och som vanligt med Tännsjö argumenterar han mästerligt. Bitvis dock torr som fnöske och rätt krävande att ta sig igenom (men bör inte heller sträckläsas utan vinner på tankepauser).

[Petra · Rating 2 out of 5]

The two stars I give this book I give it because it was entertaining to read. After a number of discussions with a teacher about our different views on a world government he asked me to read this book and to write a review about it. All I can say is that I had a number of good laughs while reading it and a lot of criticism to give when writing about it. Looking at it from my perspective the author is making a lot of assumptions and logical mistakes in his arguments making the whole book far from qualitatively well done. Worth adding, I haven't read anything else from this author, but I heard that he has written a lot of books that are much better, so it might very well be a good idea to read some other of his books.