LONDON -- Transparency and accountability are the buzzwords of the age. No gathering of policy experts or seminar on public affairs is complete without demands all round that the institutions of modern government, both national and global, especially global ones, should become more accountable and open and that "democratic deficits," wherever they are alleged to occur, should be made good.
This was the main theme at the recent London meeting of the influential Trilateral Commission, embracing leaders from Europe, the United States and Japan, with other invitees added. The commission focused on the rising volume of claims that organizations like the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank or the World Trade Organization should present their deliberations to the outside world in a more responsive and democratic way.
Reflection on this trend by the commission raised a central question. What do all the demands for more democracy or accountability, when leveled at global institutions of this kind, really mean?