RELEASED: Mar. 25, 2004

DANVILLE, KY—A Centre professor has written a new book that looks at the changing face of international institutions.

Democratizing Global Politics, co-written by Nayef Samhat, N.E.H. Associate Professor of Government and International Studies at Centre, and University of Louisville professor Rodger Payne, argues that international institutions are becoming increasingly democratized.

International institutions such as the World Trade Organization and the Global Environmental Facility, used as case studies in the book, have long been criticized as being secretive and not particularly democratic. Democratizing Global Politics finds that in response to the criticism of these and other organizations, international institutions are beginning to open up the decision-making process to additional political and social actors.

"Let's find ways in which we can reform existing institutions so that the voices and concerns of individuals affected by decisions at the global level can be accounted for," says Samhat, who has taught at Centre since 1996. "There's a real potential for change."

As a graduate student at Northwestern University, Samhat struck up a friendship with Payne, who was teaching there. They decided to work on the book two years ago.

"It was a very smooth collaboration," says Samhat, who has particular expertise in international relations theory and international political economy.

The 192-page book is published by the State University of New York Press. To order a copy of the book, contact the Centre Shoppes at (859) 238-5370 or visit http://www.amazon.com/.

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