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Why governments have failed on global trading

By Richard Stanton - posted Friday, 8 September 2006


The solution to the problem is relatively simple.

Governments represent the interests of a wide variety of stakeholders ranging from average citizens to transnational capital. But the democratic process allows them to remain in government only when they are elected by a majority of citizens. They are not elected by a majority of corporations, nor a majority within a farm lobby, nor by environmental action groups. But all these stakeholders play a crucial role in forming the opinions of the individual citizen.

If governments are to represent the interests of citizens in world fora such as the WTO, they must first represent themselves more transparently to citizen stakeholders rather than acting as the representatives of global capital.

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In this the French appear to be acting more transparently on behalf of their citizens and farmers than any other developed country.

For Australia, the collapse of the Doha Round along with the possibility that Australian citizens might have supported all types of issues that lead to a reduction in poverty in developing countries was lost in the government’s rhetoric that it was a lone voice, unable to act due to the power wielded by the EU and the US.

But this is a ridiculous proposition that undermines the whole idea of informed citizenship.

Two months after the collapse of the Doha round, the Australian Government is still locked into a no-win game, attempting to persuade a now cynical nation that it can re-ignite the talks when the Cairns Group meets in Queensland on September 20-22.

Good luck.

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About the Author

Richard Stanton is a political communication writer and media critic. His most recent book is Do What They Like: The Media In The Australian Election Campaign 2010.

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Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

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