A Constitution for the Federation of Earth (Session 5)

Is it better to draft a complete plan and ask the world to ratify it, or to keep the plan open to anyone’s rewriting? The closing session met that question head on, with Glen T. Martin taking questions on the commentary and conclusion.

About the Book

A Constitution for the Federation of Earth: With Historical Introduction, Commentary and Conclusion presents the Earth Constitution drafted and adopted by the World Constituent Assemblies between 1968 and 1991, and not yet ratified by any nation, with Glen T. Martin’s commentary on its design: a World Parliament, a world judiciary, enforceable world law and the protection of human rights and the planet’s ecology. The World Citizen Book Club of Citizens for Global Solutions (CGS) read the Constitution over five monthly sessions in 2021.

About the Author

Glen T. Martin is a professor of philosophy at Radford University and president of the World Constitution and Parliament Association, which has promoted the Earth Constitution since the 1970s. He has written widely on world federation, democratic world law and the philosophy of global citizenship.

Discussion Highlights

Martin opened with the next provisional World Parliament, then planned for New Delhi in December 2021 and subject to the pandemic. He gave examples of its work: the first world legislative act, from 1982, prohibited weapons of mass destruction, and later acts built on it. He stressed that the Constitution itself is not provisional. Only the Parliament is, because the text has not yet been ratified by the people and nations of the Earth.

Members asked how the Constitution compares with the roughly 150 world constitutions that have been drafted, whether a text written by earlier generations can feel imposed on people in smaller or poorer countries, how languages would be handled, and whether Esperanto has a role. Martin pointed to ratification by the people as the answer to imposition, and said the World Parliament would decide official languages. The agenda also included choosing the club’s next book.

The World Citizen Book Club meets online on the second Saturday of each month and is open to anyone, whether you have read the book or not. See what the club is reading next.