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Globalization and Democracy 205

individuals are free and relatively equal that democratic participation will
be genuinely effective (Held, 1995a : 153 – 6).
International commitments to human rights regime seem, then, to rep-
resent a version of citizenship that is close to Marshall ’ s social democratic
model, with the notable difference that it is a global citizenship, specifying
and granting entitlements to every individual in the world. This raises
obvious questions about differences between the national and the inter-
national level that we already touched on in chapter 2 : how are human
rights to be ensured and enforced in the absence of a world state? Is
international human rights law imposed on non - Western states, and if so,
does that matter if it then protects individuals against state infringement
of their civil and political rights? And if there is no international enforce-
ment of civil rights, what difference does having human rights “ on paper ”
make to the individuals within repressive or neglectful states for whom
they are intended?
Habermas argues that a minimal human rights law is legitimate for
the whole world insofar as it is supported by global consensus. He sees
international law as legitimately becoming a global constitution, as
people express universal indignation at gross violations of human rights
(Habermas, 2001 : 108; 2006: 144). Cosmopolitan law specifi es crimes
against humanity through what is called jus cogens , or “ strong law. Jus
cogens concerns gross violations of fundamental human rights such as
slavery, torture, genocide, and disappearances. Though technically “ crimes
against humanity ” are the province of humanitarian law (or the laws of
war), it is these kinds of violations that most people associate with human
rights issues, and they certainly arouse widespread indignation (though
not necessarily action on the part of the “ international community ” )
wherever they are revealed. As well as in Conventions ratifi ed by states,
gross violations of human rights are also covered by international custom-
ary law – under which such actions are illegal, regardless of whether or
not a state has signed a particular treaty or human rights convention. If
public outrage is the sign of legitimacy, this type of law is undoubtedly
legitimate, though it is especially controversial as it encroaches furthest
on conventional understandings of state sovereignty as the authority to
“ have the last word ” within its territory.
In chapter 2 , we looked at the controversies raised by questions of the
military enforcement of cosmopolitan law in cases of humanitarian inter-
vention. Especially concerning in this respect is the way wealthy, milita-

rized states have used human rights as a justification for overriding state
sovereignty for reasons of Realpolitick rather than to stop gross violations
of human rights (most evidently in the case of war in Iraq). International