Rethinking Global Democracy in Brazil

Markus Fraundorfer is Lecturer in Global Governance at the University of Leeds.

• 1. Introduction / 2. Democratising Global Governance / 3. Brazil and the Purchase of Drugs / 4. Brazil and Food Security / 5. Brazil and Open Government / 6. Brazil and Internet Governance / 7. Conclusion / Bibliography / Index

In Rethinking Global Democracy in Brazil, Fraundorfer finds reasons for hope that multilateral institutions will do a better and more evenhanded job at tackling pressing global problems by sharing power with civil society organizations and affected local communities. Fraundorfer closely examines four recent cases in which such interactions took place, all involving Brazil: the development of the World Health Organization–backed international drug purchase facility called Unitaid; the promulgation of rights-based doctrines by the UN’s Committee on World Food Security; the establishment of the eight-nation pro-transparency Open Government Partnership; and the NETmundial global meeting, a one-off effort to advance ethical Internet governance. During the reign of Lula’s Workers’ Party, Brazil served as a fascinating laboratory for these democracy-expanding innovations. Brazilian representatives, including Amorim, possessed the expertise and credibility to play leading roles in all four international exercises. To his credit, Fraundorfer recognizes that such experiments are extremely fragile, typically entail only voluntary commitments, produce more doctrinal posturing than policy implementation, and depend on the goodwill of progressive governments—which is currently in short supply.