Participatory Governance in the WTO: How Inclusive Is Global Civil Society?

摘要

Drawing on a database containing all available attendance lists of civil society organizations (CSOs) in World Trade Organization (WTO) politics, the article seeks to investigate the inclusiveness of civil society in the international trade regime. The research question is developed in the context of normative literature which argues for the inclusion of civil society in international politics as a remedy for its democratic deficit. By addressing political equality as a core value of democracy, the question of the inclusiveness of global civil society emanates. Literature objects to the inclusiveness of global civil society contesting equal representation. Business interests and societal interests of developed countries are assumed to dominate non-governmental interest representation in the WTO. The article examines the extent to which these objections hold true by evaluating the regional and sectoral distribution of CSOs that participated in WTO's public outreach programmes between 1996 and 2007.