Proposals have been made that the United Nations should adopt the same form of democratic system as used in most of its member states. The theory is beautiful, but the immediate prospect is rather unlikely. Nevertheless, there are some areas in which the basic approach of federalism - that states should be subject to democratically-formulated international law - has great importance.

For example, global flows of money are now far beyond the power of any national authority but the relevant global bodies, such as the World Trade Organisation and the IMF, lack legitimacy. Bringing democratic principles into global economic institutions will make possible a fairer and more prosperous global economy.

Similarly, we face environmental and humanitarian problems on an unprecedented scale, but the United Nations lacks the power to take the actions that we all need.