The primary mechanism for holding administrative agencies accountable in democratic states has been legislative oversight. The anthropocene presents this model with a serious paradox. Humankind’s ability to disturb ecosystems in fundamental ways creates the need for effective governance responses, which must unavoidably rely on strong administrative capacities. But the forces of globalization--the internationalization of capital and weakening of the Westphalian nation state-- make legislative oversight of administrative action difficult, if not impossible, while aggravating the ecological challenge. Drawing on an analysis of emerging administrative practices of the European Union, this paper describes a model of democratic accountability that does not rely on legislative oversight. Using existing administrative competencies, we assess a deliberative model of transnational democratic accountability that builds upon the functions that intergovernmental organizations already perform tolerably well and that does not rely on new legislative inputs or continuous monitoring by elected officials.
