(How) can international trade union organisations be democratic?

International trade union organisations, like unions at national level, commonly affirm their commitment to internal democracy. But what does this mean? There exists a vast literature on union democracy, addressing the questions whether democracy in trade unions is desirable; whether it is possible; and if so, how it can be achieved. However, the focus of analysis is almost exclusively at the national (or sub-national) level, with the premise that union members are individual workers. But international unions (like many national confederations indeed) do not have individual workers as members: they are organisations of organisations. What does this imply for our understanding of union democracy? We begin our article by summarising the broader literature on union democracy, then develop an interpretation of international unions as ‘meta-organisations’. We next explore some of the implications for debates on democracy at international level, and end by asking whether theories of deliberative democracy can help in understanding the options for international union democracy.

Strategy of Developments of Justice Under Globalization.

Strategy of Development of Justice work of the researchers from Moscow, St.Petersburgh, Penza, Saratov and Saransk is devoted to the court systems of different countries, including Russia. The authors dead with the problems of functioning of supreme and constitutional courts, peace of justices, court federalism, courts in the integrative international unions. The monograph is supplemented with the results of social and legal monitoring of justice in contemporary world.