Does an increase in the number of democratic countries all over the world automatically lead to democratic relations among countries?

There is a government of India, a government of the United States of America, and so on. But there is no government of the world. No government can pass any law that will apply to all the people of the world.

There is no single world government, but there are many institutions in the world that perform partially the functions of such a government.  These organisations cannot command countries and citizens in a way a government can, but they do make rules that put limits on what governments can do.

Consider these points:

Who makes laws and rules to govern the seas that do not fall within the boundaries of any one country? Or who takes steps to control environmental degradation that threatens all the countries together. The United Nations (UN) has evolved many Conventions on these questions that are now binding on most countries of the world. The UN is a global association of nations of the world to help cooperation in international law, security, economic development and social equity.

What happens when a country attacks another country in an unjust manner? The UN Security Council, an organ of the UN, is responsible for maintaining peace and security among countries. It can put together an international army and take action against the wrongdoer.

Who lends money to governments when they need it? The International Monetary Fund (IMF) does so. The World Bank also gives loans to the governments.

So, there are many institutions at the world level that perform some of the functions that a world government would perform. But we need to know just how democratic these organisations are. The yardstick here is whether each of the countries has free and equal say in the decisions that affect them.

Everyone of the 193 member countries of the UN has one vote in the UN General Assembly. It meets in regular yearly sessions under a president elected from among the representatives of the member countries. General Assembly is like the parliament where all the discussion takes place. In that sense the UN would appear to be a very democratic organisation. But the General Assembly cannot take any decision about what action should be taken in a conflict between different countries.

The fifteen-member Security Council of the UN takes such crucial decisions. The Council has five permanent members – US, Russia, UK, France and China. Ten other members are elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms. The real power is with five permanent members. The permanent members, especially the US, contribute most of the money needed for the maintenance of the UN. Each permanent member has veto power. It means that the council cannot take a decision if any permanent member says no to that decision. This system has led more and more people and countries to protest and demand that the UN becomes more democratic.