Who is the global sovereign?

“The ultimate subject and sovereign ruler of the world is the transnational corporation,” writes Professor McMurtry (Canada) in his article, entitled “The FTAA and the WTO: The Meta-Program for Corporate Rule” (Znet, April 2001).

This opinion breaks with existing theory of sovereignty, according to which national governments (or nations or states or the people of  territorial states) are the sovereigns. Sovereign means highest authority or power. Saying that there is a “sovereign ruler of the world” is tantamount to saying that there is a “global sovereign”. While the United States (or its government or people) may be a “hegemon” in the world (i.e., a leader of nations), the US government or any other government is not the global sovereign, in McMurtry’s opinion. In his opinion, there is a “sovereign ruler” above the US government or above any other government or people, namely, “the transnational corporation.”

McMurtry is critical of this situation. While he observes that there is, in effect, a global sovereign, he is not happy with that. In other words, the global sovereign diagnosed by McMurtry as being the effective global sovereign may not be the legitimate global sovereign. If the “transnational corporation” is the effective, but not legitimate, global sovereign, that raises the important question: Is there actually a legitimate global sovereign? Or, is there none? And if there is one, who is it? Note that this is not an empirical question, but rather a normative one. WS scholar Professor Bornschier writes about the fact that world-systems create their own doctrines of legitimacy – an empirical observation. In contrast, the problem of who, if anyone, is the legitimate global sovereign is a problem of normative theory. Phrasing the question differently, it reads: Who ought to be the global sovereign, if anyone? If not “the transnational corporation”, who else?

I collected various possible statements about “effective” and “legitimate” “global sovereign”. See the attached table (one page, htm format).

With greetings from Canada, Gernot Kohler

Title: Who is the global sovereign

Who is the global sovereign?

Table of alternative opinions

 

I collected various possible statements about “effective” and “legitimate” “global sovereign”, using the following definitions:

(1) effective global sovereign = highest effective global power/authority

(2) legitimate global sovereign = highest legitimate global power/authority (legitimate= the one who has the legal and/or moral right to be the ruling power/authority)

 

Alternative Views concerning “Who is the Global Sovereign?”
By Gernot Kohler.  Note: This is a collection of alternative statements; individual statements may contradict each other. Please note that I disagree with many of the statements. I am merely listing possible statements.
	(1) highest effective global authority	(2) highest legitimate global authority
A. There is no global sovereign	None. There is global anarchy, chaos	Nobody can claim to be the highest legitimate global authority
B. There is a global sovereign	Alternative views on who is the “effective” global sovereign	Alternative views on who is the “legitimate” global sovereign
	a. USA = effective hegemon = effective global sovereign b. global corporations  (e.g., McMurtry: “the transnational corporation”)  c.global financial powers above the nation-states (e.g., Marcos)  d. global capitalism (in the sense of a system or process)  e. global ecosystem, Gaia  f. other	(1) might makes right à USA. is the rightful hegemon and legitimate global sovereign (2) economic power makes right àglobal corporations are the legitimate global sovereign  (3) economic success generates global legitimacy  (4) the market is the highest source of global legitimacy  (5) the global or multinational proletariat is the highest source of global legitimacy  (6) the global or multinational civil society is the highest source of global legitimacy  (7) democratic process (majority rule, minority protection) generates global legitimacy  (8) human rights are the highest source of global legitimacy  (9) global rule of law is the legitimate global authority  (10) actual obedience by people generates global legitimacy  (11) appeal to Bible, Koran,Marx generates global legitimacy  (12) God (Christian, Jewish, Moslem) is the highest legitimate global authority  (13) other