Global Governance, Good Governance And The Rule Of Law

Since the End of Cold War,the whole world has undergone great changes and the practice of global governance has been considerably promoted.While on the other hand,this promotion per se,as part of the whole global process,cannot be viewed as advanced,or even progressive.On the contrary,efforts have been made in this paper to clarify the present state of affairs of the process of globalization,to elaborate on the theories and theses of globalization and global governance,and to examine the position and function of global governance and the rule of law in the world history.As a result,this paper consists in not only the discussion on the compatibility of global governance and the rule of law,and in the exacting of the necessity of this compatibility.In other words,it is intended in this paper to reflect on the development of global governance on its practical and theoretic levels via the rule of law,and to point out the way in which the global governance tackles with questions like the best possible life for human beings,as well as the best possible way of governance.As far asâ… am concerned,since the Cold War,new features and changes have appeared concerning the relationship between law/ the rule of law and global governance,which means that global governance is not only compatible with the rule of law,but also indispensable.These new features manifest themselves at least on the two following respects.First,global governance has changed from some loose assertion to an imagination of global order with concrete institutional forms,the bearer of which is the institutions of global governance.Therefore,when thinking about and reflecting on the validity of these institutions of global governance,people should be clear about the nature of the rules on which these institutions of global governance rely,in what sense can they be called law,and the relationship between these rules and norms and national and international laws.The second feature is the recognition of the contestability of the purpose and value of global governance and globalization and the emphasis on the protection of different values in global governance via laws.Global governance per se is a normative assertion and the institutional form and goal of global governance are defined by those who have made this assertion.To a large extent,it is based on the significance world of the west.In other words,this assertion of global governance put more emphasis on particularization,pluralism and the fundamental function of western values in global governance.While these aims and coercive functions of this system of global governance on non-western world are maintained by the different institutions,mechanisms and rules in this system.On the other hand,global governance is not unchangeable.Once confronted with non-westem world and multiple cultures,the other world will have different cognition and assertion of the normative significance of global governance.With the fist feature as a basis,we come to know that the contemplation on the nature of rules is not only contemplation on legal concepts,but also contemplation on the rule of law.This contemplation suggests that the awareness of the absolute and arbitrary power of the state and the nature of law in nation-states can lead to the theory of the rule of law,while the theory of the rule of law is also applicable on the international and global levels.The latter dimension is mainly devoted to the limitation of global absolute power and the normative requirement of the rules on which the institutions of global governance(as global power institutions) rely.This sort of thinking inevitably has its moral as well as political connotations and different agents and significance worlds have different understandings and interpretation of this. This is the reason why people have various opinion concerning the rich connections between the rule of law and good governance.To think about global governance and globalization via the concept of the rule of law,the requirements made by the rule of law of the institutions of global governance should receive due attention.On the plane of the institutions of global governance,the rule of law means that it should have a multilateral basis,and that various agents should participate into it.It also means the proper allocation and division of power among different institution of global governance,the limitedness of the power of the legislature,and the integrity of the jurisdiction.The above-mentioned aspects also determine the fact that nation-states are indispensabIe in global governance. Nation-state is a level of governance and it is an important part too.As one kind of agents,nation-states are the source of the validity of the institutions of global governance.The degrees of participation of different states into global governance are different and their claims to sovereignty are not equal,either.On the other hand,the rule of law as a principle of global governance should be taken into consideration.The equality of sovereignty in the international rule of law should be given due attention.With the above-mentioned thinking as a basis,the concept of global governance is discussed in the second chapter of this paper.The present concept of global governance is a kind of "global governance without a global government" and it is also different from the modes of global governance of hegemony,unilateralism and world government."Global governance without a world government" is widely accepted and it is to a large extent equaled to global governance.It is not only an empirical description of the governance experience in the process of globalization, and it is also a normative assertion.The source of its political conception is the transition from government to governance,which means that nation-states and governments can no longer solve global problems single-handedly.As a multi-layered governance and a network of powers,"global governance without a world government" emphasizes the importance of common purpose and global issues to the connection of different governance levels and agents.Pluralist agents are essential to global governance,while nation states and institutions of global governance are also important agents.There are discussions on the direction of globalization and on the acceptability of the prospective order of global governance,and these are background for the change and reform of the roles played by institutions of global governance and nation states.It is held in this paper that it is more acceptable for global governance to fade into a legal order and this is the only way to guarantee real good governance. Therefore,chapter three of this paper dwells on the compatibility and necessity of governance and the rule of law on a national order.Good policy is an important part of good governance and also a prerequisite of national good governance.Some of the standards of good governance are also standards for the internal reform of the institutions of global governance.What's more important,good policy and the relationship between the rule of law and the national government of the state are not the whole content of the rule of law,and they also show the possibility of the compatibility of the rule of law and global governance.The theory of formal rule of law is then discussed and with this as a foundation,the content of the rule of law as a principle of global governance has been discussed.Chapter four endeavors to point out that under the premise of the rule of law as a principle of global governance,the concept of law and the rule of law are integrated in global governance.The theory of formal rule of law provides us with a new perspective and certain criteria for the understanding of the relationship between international law and domestic law via its emphasis on the inner quality or the "internal morality" of law.Under the reflection on the origination of global laws, discussion has been made in this chapter on the relation between the participation of nation states and global governance.Different nation states participate differently in global governance and their claims to sovereignty are unequal.Therefore,the rule of law,as a principle for global governance,should include into it the principle of equal sovereignty.Chapter five is devoted to the discussion of the roles of institutions of global governance.One of the subjects of global governance is institution of global governance stemming from various intergovernmental organizations.Important questions include how to look at the nature of institutions of global governance from a multilateral perspective,why the constitutionalization of global governance is related to the rule of law as a principle of global governance,etc.The allocation of the roles of UN and WTO should accord to the requirements of the rule of law.As judicial institutions are an indispensable part,it is proposed that the decision-makers in global governance should adhere to the principle of due procedure,and that the goal of these decision-makers is to keep peace rather than conflicts.Chapter six is the conclusion of this paper.It is held in this paper that the conception of the global rule of law should at least consists of the theoretic elements of the theory of formal rule of law and the principle of equal sovereignty.Compared with other conceptions in the history of legal conceptions,this one is more appropriate. It is proposed that this conception of the rule of law is not necessarily neutral morally or politically,and it is only insisted that the requirements of this conception are necessary for a legal order and "good governance" pursued by global governance and globalization.