Book Club Session 2 | World Parliament: Governance and Democracy in the 21st Century

• When: Saturday, April 12, 2025
• Time: 12:00 -1:30 pm EDT
• Where: Zoom | Cost: FREE and open to the public

We will be discussing chapters 28 and 29.

About the Book

World Parliament: Governance and Democracy in the 21st Century (2nd edition) by Andreas Bummel and Jo Leinen

For the first time in history, all people worldwide are linked together in a shared civilization that spans the entire Earth. Humanity now has a common destiny. Global challenges such as war, poverty, inequality, climate change, and environmental destruction are overwhelming nation-states and today’s international institutions. Even the best policies are futile if there are no appropriate political structures in place to implement them. Autocracy and nationalism further undermine global collaboration. But the desire for freedom and change is unabated. Following the emergence of democracy in ancient times and its spread to modern states from the 18th century onwards, a third democratic transformation is imminent: expanding democracy to the global scale. Achieving a peaceful, just and sustainable world requires an evolutionary leap forward. The creation of a democratic world parliament is the centrepiece of this project. This book explores the history, relevance and implementation of this monumental idea. The second edition of World Parliament: Governance and Democracy in the 21st Century reflects significant developments since the original publication, in particular the COVID-19 pandemic, autocratization, and the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, and incorporates linguistic improvements, updated content, extensive revisions, and additions throughout the book, expanding its size by approximately one fifth.

About the Authors

Jo Leinen served as a member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2019. He chaired the environmental committee and the committee on constitutional affairs. From 2011 to 2017 he was president of the European Movement, an organization advocating for a democratic and enlarged European Union. From 1997 to 2005 he was presiding the Union of European Federalists that is dedicated to the promotion of European political unity. From 1985 to 1994 he was minister of the environment in the German state of Saarland. He graduated in law and was born in Bisten, Germany, in 1948.

Andreas Bummel is co-founder and director of Democracy Without Borders and of the Campaign for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly. He has dedicated his career to the promotion of global democracy and world federalism. From 1998 to 2018 he was a Council member of the World Federalist Movement, an international NGO that promotes the rule of law, world peace, and federalism. He was trained in business administration, studied law and worked at a management consultancy firm. He was born in Cape Town, South Africa, in 1976.

For more information on current CGS World Citizen Book Club Sessions visit our CGS Book Club page.