Title: The Green Junta: or, is democracy sustainable?

Authors: Peter Wells

Addresses: Centre for Business Responsibility, Accountability, Sustainability and Society, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK

Abstract: Attempts to achieve significant lasting change at local, national and international levels have foundered on the inability to gain agreement. Consensus between multiple stakeholders, while acceptable at a political level, increasingly seems inadequate to the task of creating sustainable societies. This paper starts with a review of the reasons why drastic, rapid and dramatic change is needed. All the main indicators in terms of global warming, North-South imbalance, oil reserves, water resources, biodiversity, deforestation, population growth and rural-urban shift, globalisation, over-consumption and the distribution of wealth suggest a situation almost in free-fall. The second section then outlines the failure of global governance. The final, speculative, section considers the appeal that may arise from a |strong government for a crowded planet| right-wing agenda.

Keywords: sustainable democracy; liberal capitalism; totalitarianism; militarism; resource competition; global governance; strong government; change; consensus; sustainable society; sustainable development; sustainability.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESD.2007.014204

International Journal of Environment and Sustainable Development, 2007 Vol.6 No.2, pp.208 - 220

Published online: 25 Jun 2007 *

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