In addition to NIGD's Discussion Papers, we also issue Working Papers and Reports. Below, we have listed Discussion Papers issued in English.

To see our Discussion Papers issued in other languages, click HERE .

The Global Debt Campaign: What are the next steps?

NIGD Discussion Paper 4/2007

Teppo Eskelinen and Katarina Sehm Patomäki

This publication is the result of a project Attac Finland and NIGD conducted in  2006. The aim of the project was to map and analyze the different streams of proposals within civil society for solving the debt problem. Further, we wished to see if and how these proposals differed. And thirdly and most importantly, we aimed at  raising discussions on ways forward in developing new, solid, and forceful global  campaigns for solving the debt problem.

This paper includes contributions by Saul Banda, Taoufik Ben Abdallah, Jorge  Marchini, Lidy Nacpil, Odour Ong’wen, and Oscar Ugarteche, all  leading figures in the Southern debt movements.

The global debt campaign: what are the next steps.
A Finnish version of the Discussion Paper, Globaalin velkaliikkeen seuraavat askeleet, is available on Attac Finland's website.

Political Parties and Global Democratization - Lessons from the Past and Future Prospects

NIGD Discussion Paper 1/2006

Katarina Sehm Patomäki and Marko Ulvila

Has the time come to set up global political parties?

What else can be done to democratise the world order through party politics? These are some of the questions addressed in this Discussion Paper by the Network Institute for Global Democratisation (NIGD).

In 2005-2006 NIGD conducted four dialogues on four continents and requested expert papers on the topic of political parties and global democratisation.

The rich set of analysis, opinions and experiences are summarised in this Discussion Paper.

The authors are NIGD associates based in Finland.

Political Parties and Global Democratisation - Lessons from the Past and Future Prospects

Partidos Políticos y Democratización Global - Lecciones del Pasado u Perspectivas Futuras
NIGD Discussion Paper 2/2006 (Spanish translation of Discussion Paper 1/2006)

Rajnitik dal evam bhoomandaliya loktantrikaran

NIGD Discussion Paper 3/2006 (Hindi translation of Discussion Paper 1/2006)

We, the Peoples of the World Social Forum

NIGD Discussion Paper 2/2002

Laura Nisula and Katarina Sehm-Patomäki (eds)

The World Social Forum has been said to bear the potential of being the most significant political event of this century. Over a remarkably short period it has become the venue where political movements from every geographical direction representing every possible interest and passion meet to network and combine energies.

The formation of a global civil society brings with it a lot of hope.

But what is the World Social Forum? How does the process work? What does it aim at? What does its future look like? And how did it all begin?

This Discussion Paper is meant for everyone - both those who have and those who have not (yet!) participated in the World Social Forum. Firstly, we enter the process of the WSF itself and then secondly, let personal accounts by WSF participants highlight and explain the importance of the Forum. This Paper builds on material mainly from the southern half of our World. However, because of the enormous scale, diversity and nature of the WSF as an ongoing process, and in accordance with its Charter of Principles, no one can claim to speak on its behalf or to describe it fully. The process is too vast and too diverse to be neatly put between two covers and any account claiming or attempting to do that will remain partial, at its best.

We hope to raise awareness of the WSF process and to evoke the reader's interest in participating in future editions of the WSF. We have tried to communicate the spirit and energy of the WSF to everyone who feels his or her calling to democratize the world. This paper remains at a very practical level and hopes to provide a valuable addition to the vast literature on issue-specific texts.

Draft Treaty on Global Currency Transactions Tax

NIGD Discussion Paper 1/2002

Heikki Patomäki

The currency transactions tax (CTT) has evolved from a mere campaign tool into a serious issue on the global political agenda. The draft Treaty aims at taking the process a step further.

The emancipatory potential of the CTT (the "Tobin tax") depends on the ways it will be realised. The aim of James Tobin's original proposal was to stabilise markets and create autonomy for states. Many others have focussed on teh tax as a global fund-raising device. If appropriately organised, a CTT regime can also establish some democratic control over global financial markets.

Constraints for Global Democracy?

NIGD Discussion Paper 1/2001

Katarina Sehm Patomäki (ed)

This discussion paper identifies constraints for global democracy and ways of overcoming them. Vaughan Carter says that the new world order will require a different way of thinking about constitutionalism and democracy, which is no longer confined to the nation state. Hence, a creation of a right to democracy in international law would not only raise the spectre of Western dominance but it is also underpinned by an outmoded rationale. The European experience indicates that this new way of thinking operates at a higher or "meta" constitutional level through a plurality of international and regional,along with national legal orders, thus upsetting classic conceptions of legal jurisdiction and political sovereignty. The European situation illustrates how a metaconstitution may actually promote greater accountability. Vaughan Carter throws the ball to international lawyers to transpose the principles to the global arena to create a more inclusive, equitable and accountable new world order.

We have all heard about the protests against global corporatism, the Bretton Woods institutions etc. These protesters share a common ground in that they all oppose ways in which the present system of globalization works. Many groups fight for labour rights while others protect minorities. Some want to erase third world debt and other groups protect the environment. But what do they support? Do they share a common vision? Is there any way for them to find a common tune? Or should they even be aiming for this? Adam Lent proves the equation of interests by linking the economic to the political. Out of the four ideologies he identifies in his paper, the vision of Global Democracy seems to be the most plausible. Global democracy acknowledges the need to develop the economy and the polity without creating inconsistencies and contradictions, which could make one or the other crash down. Global Democracy acknowledges that the benefits of global commerce can only be spread effectively under the peaceful conditions created by a fully democratic system of governance.

Finally, Charter 99, outlines the fundamental principles for a new world order of global democracy. Charter 99 calls for the creation of effective mechanisms to hold every agency of actual world government to account.