Silent coup How corporations overthrew democracy

Silent Coup purports to examine how corporations are overthrowing democracy globally. Four primary sections focus on the use of international arbitration to undermine sovereignty, the enrichment of corporations through foreign aid, the creation of corporate governed places, and the protection of corporate interests through private security. Although the authors argue that they uncovered something new, an extensive literature covering most of these issues already exists. The first section brings attention to the ICSID, a World Bank dispute-settlement body that has received little public attention. The authors show that corporations can use this body to challenge domestic policy of states. The authors mention that they cataloged the cases before the ICSID, but they do not present any of the data. The other sections of the text fail to really show that corporations harm democracy. For example, the authors cover special economic zones and how corporations abuse them. However, all major examples are in nondemocratic countries: Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar (also known as Burma), and China. It appears that the authors are for sovereignty when a state makes policies they like and against it when it makes policies they do not like. Summing Up: Optional. General readers. --Kevin Buterbaugh, Southern Connecticut State University