Reconsidering the state

cosmopolitanism, republicanism and global governance

Steven Slaughter

pp. 183-198

in: Stanvan Hooft, Stan van Hooft, Wim Vandekerckhove (eds), Questioning cosmopolitanism, Berlin, Springer, 2010

Abstract

Cosmopolitan arguments for global forms of democracy and governance have intensified in the last decade because of the increasing impact of transnational interconnections on questions of justice and the inability of states to address global problems in a consistently effective manner. However, despite cosmopolitanism being central to efforts to rethink global governance and despite possessing a strong ethical rationale, questions remain as to how cosmopolitan proposals are going to be realized in practice. This chapter criticizes David Held's praxeological articulation of cosmopolitan democracy and advocates considering the potentially productive role of the state in global governance. It contends that many forms of cosmopolitan thought are too quick to dismiss the state as a potential locus of ethical global governance and that republican arguments for redeveloping the state are an important counterpoint to cosmopolitan thought.