International Organizations and the ‘Emerging Right to Democratic Governance’

Recent events in Niger, Venezuela and Myanmar are just some of the situations that bring into question the role of international organizations in protecting and promoting democracy. By examining underexplored practice, the present article considers the role of regional and universal organizations in adopting pro-democratic measures. Novel insights are drawn from the evolution in the au’s approach to ‘unconstitutional changes of Government’, the practice under the oas’s ‘special’ Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, and the unsc’s recent involvement in situations concerning the subversion of democracy. The article demonstrates that international organizations have come to perform a significant role in protecting and promoting democracy through the adoption of sanctions and the suspension of rights of membership. The authorisation and use of force appears to remain the prerogative of the UN Security Council, including to protect and promote democracy, despite certain developments at the regional level.