The One World Trust was established by the British Parliamentary Group for World Government in 1951 and has been working closely with Parliamentarians ever since.
Current Parliamentary oversight is provided by a series of Parliamentary Committees. The effectiveness of the control and oversight of Foreign Affairs exercised by Parliament has been the subject of a series of One World Trust reports under the Parliamentary Oversight Programme.
The One World Trust published in 2006 the book Not in Our Name: Democracy and Foreign Policy in the UK, which looked at the checks and balances between Parliament and the UK government in the formulation and oversight of foreign policy. In December 2007 the One World Trust published the most recent of the three organisations' joint report A World of Difference: Parliamentary Oversight of British Foreign Policy, which focuses on the practical experiences and problems with parliamentary oversight of global security, responses to conflict and scrutiny of UK policy towards the European Union. These, and other key papers are available to download:
Current Parliamentary oversight is provided by a series of Parliamentary Committees. The effectiveness of the control and oversight of Foreign Affairs exercised by Parliament has been the subject of a series of One World Trust reports under the Parliamentary Oversight Programme.
The One World Trust published in 2006 the book Not in Our Name: Democracy and Foreign Policy in the UK, which looked at the checks and balances between Parliament and the UK government in the formulation and oversight of foreign policy. In December 2007 the One World Trust published the most recent of the three organisations' joint report A World of Difference: Parliamentary Oversight of British Foreign Policy, which focuses on the practical experiences and problems with parliamentary oversight of global security, responses to conflict and scrutiny of UK policy towards the European Union. These, and other key papers are available to download:
2006: A role for parliament: political appointments to ambassadorships
| 2006_03_a_role_for_parliament_-_political_appointments_to_ambassadorships.pdf |
2007: parliamentary oversight of the international financial institutions
| 2007_02_parliamentary_oversight_of_the_ifis_-_the_experience_of_the_uk_and_the_world_bank.pdf |
2007: a world of difference: parliamentary oversight of british foreign policy
| 2007_12_a_world_of_difference_-_parliamentary_oversight_of_b.pdf |
2008: A world of difference - summary
| 2008_01_a_world_of_difference.pdf |
2008: oversight and accountability: parliamentary scrutiny of world bank and imf
| parliamentary_scrutiny_of_imf_and_world_bank.pdf |
Democratic oversight of global governance
The UK is a leading player in global governance. Citizens can influence foreign affairs through three main channels:
1. International NGOs
Thousands of non-governmental organisations are active in all aspects of global governance and are engaged in advocacy to service delivery on every issue from aid and animal welfare to xenophobia and zoos. Some of these are members of BOND or can be found through a list of Websites for Working in International Development. Supporting or working for an effective INGO is one way to influence global governance directly.
2. Think tanks and policy centres
International think tanks and policy centres in universities are another way to learn about and influence global policy: for a list of all thinktanks in the UK, see Wikipedia; the main UK foreign policy think tanks; The main think-tanks and research institutes focussing on EU external action and the EU's role in the world, see EU Foreign Policy. For US centres, see here. Centres like this help to shape the thinking and policy in global governance from different political positions.
3. Government and Parliament
The UK and other countries run global governance through thousands of international agencies, such as the International Monetary Fund, UN system, World Health Organisation, World Trade Organisation, etc. Each one of these has a governing body appointed by national governments and, in theory, overseen by national parliaments.
Citizens can have their say by raising issues through MPs on foreign policy committees and All Party Groups on specific countries or issues. There are also international alliances of MPs concerned with different issues, such as the Global Legislators Organisation GLOBE, International Medical Parliamentarians Organization, the Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption (GOPAC) and Inter-Parliamentary Union.
The UK is a leading player in global governance. Citizens can influence foreign affairs through three main channels:
1. International NGOs
Thousands of non-governmental organisations are active in all aspects of global governance and are engaged in advocacy to service delivery on every issue from aid and animal welfare to xenophobia and zoos. Some of these are members of BOND or can be found through a list of Websites for Working in International Development. Supporting or working for an effective INGO is one way to influence global governance directly.
2. Think tanks and policy centres
International think tanks and policy centres in universities are another way to learn about and influence global policy: for a list of all thinktanks in the UK, see Wikipedia; the main UK foreign policy think tanks; The main think-tanks and research institutes focussing on EU external action and the EU's role in the world, see EU Foreign Policy. For US centres, see here. Centres like this help to shape the thinking and policy in global governance from different political positions.
3. Government and Parliament
The UK and other countries run global governance through thousands of international agencies, such as the International Monetary Fund, UN system, World Health Organisation, World Trade Organisation, etc. Each one of these has a governing body appointed by national governments and, in theory, overseen by national parliaments.
Citizens can have their say by raising issues through MPs on foreign policy committees and All Party Groups on specific countries or issues. There are also international alliances of MPs concerned with different issues, such as the Global Legislators Organisation GLOBE, International Medical Parliamentarians Organization, the Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption (GOPAC) and Inter-Parliamentary Union.
Parliamentary Foreign Policy Committees. The following committees have some influence over foreign affairs
- Committee on Arms Export Controls
- Environmental Audit Committee
- EU Energy and Environment Sub-Committee
- EU External Affairs Sub-Committee
- EU Financial Affairs Sub-Committee
- EU Home Affairs Sub-Committee
- EU Internal Market Sub-Committee
- EU Justice Sub-Committee
- EU Select Committee
- European Committee
- European Scrutiny Committee
- Exiting the European Union Committee
- Foreign Affairs Committee
- International Development Committee
- International Relations Committee
- International Trade Committee