This book considers how the post-Cold War democratic revolution has affected international law. Traditionally, international law said little about the way in which governments were chosen. In the 1990s, however, international law has been deployed to encourage transitions to democracy, and to justify the armed expulsion of military juntas that overthrow elected regimes. In this volume, leading international legal scholars assess this change in international law and ask whether a commitment to democracy is consistent with the structure and rules of the international legal system.

Introduction: The spread of liberal democracy and its implication for international law Gregory H. Fox and Brad R. Roth; Part I. The Normative Foundations of a Right to Political Participation: 1. Legitimacy of the democratic entitlement Thomas M. Franck; 2. The right to political participation in international law Gregory H. Fox; 3. Democracy and the body of international law James Crawford; Part II. Democracy and Inter-State Relations: 4. Democratic legitimacy and the recognition of states and governments Sean D. Murphy; 5. Constitutionalism and democratic government in the inter-American system Steven Schnably; 6. Government networks: the heart of the liberal democratic order Anne-Marie Slaughter; Part III. Democracy and the Use of Force: 7. Sovereignty and human rights in contemporary international law W. Michael Reisman; 8. 'You, the people': pro-democratic intervention in international law Michael Byers and Simon Chesterman; 9. Pro-democratic intervention by invitation David Wippman; 10. The illegality of 'pro-democratic' invasion pacts Brad R. Roth; 11. International law and the 'liberal peace' John Owen; Part IV. Democratisation and Conflicting Imperatives: 12. Intolerant democracies Gregory H. Fox and Georg Nolte; 13. Whose intolerance, which democracy? Martti Koskenniemi; 14. Democratic intolerance: observations on Fox and Nolte Brad R. Roth; 15. A defence of the 'intolerant democracies' thesis Gregory H. Fox and Georg Nolte; 16. Democracy and accountability: the criss-crossing paths of two emerging norms Steven R. Ratner; Part V. Critical Approaches: 17. Evaluating democratic progress Brad R. Roth; 18. What kind of democracy does the 'democratic entitlement' entail? Jan Knippers Black; 19. International law, democracy and the end of history Susan Marks.