Since the end of the cold war, civil society has emerged as an increasingly important actor in global governance. Ranging from networks of local initiatives to professionalised global organisations, civil society organisations are increasingly being recognised as representative of citizens’ interests at the world level. At the same time, especially larger non-governmental organisations have found it hard to demonstrate their accountability, leading to challenges to their legitimacy. These challenges have become particularly more acute with the changing nature of global security issues which has led governments to pursue a stricter agenda of NGO regulation, and a renewed emphasis on their own mandated role in determining policy and making decisions, frequently at the expense of opportunities of democratic participation and fundamental human rights.

The Citizens’ Participation in Global Policy-making project sets out to address the tensions inherent in these trends. It examines the potential for greater citizen involvement in global policy-making on issues of human security through an evaluation of different options for the representation of citizens and their views in different bodies and processes.

The effective representation and participation of citizens in the decision-making processes of global institutions, including those involved in responding to conflict, would introduce a new level of democratic accountability to policies formulated to foster human security, including the potential use of coercive force. Experience from emerging democratic processes at national and regional levels has shown that the introduction of citizens’ representative bodies has significantly contributed to negotiating and resolving contentious issues, reducing the perceived legitimacy of and the de facto recourse to the use of armed force.

As part of the project the One World Trust monitors relevant developments and conducts research on issues of global citizens' representation and conflict prevention, publishing briefings and work in cooperation with others to strengthen the exchanges and knowledge on this issue. The outcomes of the project will be compiled in a final report.

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For more information about this project, please contact Michael Hammer