 Given that existing international law-making processes are not even weakly democratic, and that there is no realistic prospect that they will become so anytime in the foreseeable future, why should they be regarded as binding on democratic states in the absence of their consent or democratic incorporation into their own legal systems? The problem of integrating international and democratic governance is one of the most serious challenges facing us today, and it is echoed in similar challenges confronting regional governmental blocs, such as the European Union, that assert authority over their constituent democratic member states.