Do we need an Earth Constitution?

Guest blog by Jon Cohn: Jon is the Managing Editor of the Great Transition Initiative. He is responsible for coordinating the on-going editorial, production, moderation, and dissemination process. 

The world is a failed state. The people of Earth share risks and a common destiny without a governance system able to mute dangers and pursue ambitions. As global crises mount, the need for a supranational basis for policy and action becomes ever clearer. The question of world government and how to get there—the focus of the Great Transition Initiative’s new GTI Forum, “An Earth Constitution: Has Its Time Come?”—deserves a frank, thoughtful, and deep exploration.

 Scholars, activists, and dreamers long have espoused the idea of a constitutional world federation. As strands of global connectivity stretch and thicken, the vision of a more unified world exerts a strengthening pull. How else, one must ask, can we address the interlocking crises gestating in our interdependent social-ecological system? How else can we advance the democratic ideal and a resilient planet?

 Lacking full legitimacy and reflecting an outdated world order, the United Nations stands as an imperfect and incomplete facsimile of the global political arrangements we need. For much of its history, it has been primarily an arena for adjudicating Great Power politics. Before the UN was established, bolder alternatives were proposed, such as the World Federalist Movement’s call for a democratic world government to prevent war (and its root causes), manage collective affairs, and ensure a more just global order.

 The vision of a world federation faded from the spotlight but did not disappear. Today advocates for a world commonwealth pursue divergent strategies. Some, who believe political pragmatism demands that we build on what we already have, devote their energies to transforming the UN. Others argue that the UN is unreformable and instead advance designs for a new constitutional basis for world government. Still others prioritize bottom-up efforts to generate new political arrangements.

 The Forum’s three panels reflect these different strategies. The first, anchored by an essay by Glen T. Martin of the Earth Constitution Institute, advances the Earth Constitution, which is perhaps the most evolved proposal for a post-UN political order. These authors stress the urgency of acting amidst spiraling crises and make the need for binding world law. As the clock ticks, are gradualist strategies enough?

The second advocates alternative approaches. Some authors stake out a path for democratic world government through reform of the United Nations or the greater integration of democracies; others stress the need to focus on governance, bioregions, or the practical foundation of interstate cooperation. 

The third spotlights inclusive processes on the path to a democratic Earthland. The means matter just as much as the ends, these authors argue. Indeed, success for any new institution or governing structure depends on securing the widespread buy-in of people who see a place for themselves in it and are ready to fight for it.