The Campaign for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly (CUNPA) was formed in 2007 by Democracy Without Borders[1] (formerly Committee for a Democratic UN).

[12] UWF enjoyed some success in the postwar period, as 23 state legislatures passed bills supporting the organization's goals, but McCarthyism prompted many prominent members to resign lest Senator Joseph McCarthy ruin their careers.

[15] A Trilateral Commission report notes that the shift from a world led by the two rival Soviet- and U.S.-led blocs meant a general diffusion of power.

"[21] A "new diplomacy" seemed to be taking shape in which NGOs and governments cooperated to create new global institutions such as the International Criminal Court.

"[24] The Campaign for a Democratic United Nations (CAMDUN), the International Network for a United Nations Second Assembly (INFUSA), and the Global People's Assembly Movement (GPAM), began circulating UNPA proposals around 1995, and other organizations, such as One World Trust, began publishing analyses of how to proceed in the current political situation.

"[40] According to Stefan Marschall, the post-World War II years, particularly the 1980s and 1990s, saw tremendous growth in parliamentary assemblies, with more than 40 established since 1949.

However, many global organizations, such as the UN and WTO, still lack a parliamentary assembly and "have been heavily criticized for what is supposed to be an institutional deficit.

CUNPA advocates initially giving the UNPA advisory powers and gradually increasing its authority over the UN system.

[54] Erskine Childers and Sir Brian Urquhart endorsed this approach in their 1994 book, Renewing the United Nations System.

[61] The IPU's Second World Conference of Speakers of Parliament adopted a resolution stating, "We would greatly welcome more substantive interaction and coordination with the United Nations, and call upon the world body to resort more frequently to the political and technical expertise which the IPU together with its Member Parliaments can provide.

"[66] An article in the Asian-Pacific Law & Policy Journal notes that precedents for this idea include the British Parliament, French Estates-General, U.S. Congress, and the European Parliament, which are all systems in which, over time, power shifted to directly elected officials: "In the past, fledgling democracy has always had to compromise with the realities of power and evolve step-by-step, where possible.

"[61] Herbert W. Briggs points out that while a UNPA could be established as a UNGA subsidiary body without any changes to international law, granting it the power to pass binding legislation would require UN Charter amendment or a new treaty.

The United Nations System spent more than $1.8 billion of public money in 2005[82] and its own auditors have pointed out that it lacks adequate internal controls to protect against waste, fraud and mismanagement.

[83] Strauss asserts that by holding hearings, issuing reports, and passing resolutions, the UNPA could exercise oversight over other UN bodies.

[26] In a September 2007 press release, MEP Graham Watson expressed his hope that "in an era where the UN's mandate has grown exponentially the UNPA would act as a watch-dog on its activities, monitoring its decision-making deadlines, its accountability and transparency".

[20] London Mayor Ken Livingstone promised that, "a more democratic United Nations as envisaged by this campaign will strengthen the accountability and legitimacy of the UN.

According to Roche, globalization has tended to increase the power of the executive branch while marginalizing the legislative branch; for instance, U.S. Presidents since George H. W. Bush have been given fast track authority to negotiate trade agreements, subject to a "yea or nay" scrutiny by the U.S. Congress on the negotiated deal.

[84] A Property and Environment Research Center report argues that changes in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development are another example of how international regulation removes checks and balances between the branches of government: "The OECD was created by a 1961 treaty, ratified by the U.S. Senate, to help achieve economic growth.

[87] In the past, bodies such as the United Nations Commission on Human Rights were criticized for being dominated by abusive regimes.

Citizens are often known to express lofty globalist sentiments when questioned on general principles, and to surrender them when costs or trade offs are concerned.

"[93] A 1995 United Nations University report claimed, "it is difficult to see how the Parliamentary Assembly would be able to pay for the salaries and travel of what could be over 1,000 representatives; this proposal could increase the duplication and waste that already exist within multilateral bodies.

"[94] A UNPA might begin as an inter-parliamentary institution–an assembly of parliamentarians from their respective countries' legislatures–and then change to a directly elected body.

Beginning with the European Common Assembly's founding in 1952, MEPs were appointed by each of the Member States' national parliaments; in 1979, direct election was instituted.

[95] Canadian diplomat and politician Douglas Roche, in his book The Case for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly, analyses the tradeoffs between the two choices.

[84] Roche explains that a UNPA based on existing parliamentarians may be easier to establish, because it avoids several hurdles, such as decisions on electoral cycles, a universally acceptable electoral body, legitimacy of elections, and so on: "A body comprising national parliamentarians has the 'stamp of approval' built-in.

"[84] National parliamentarians also generally have staff and money, which could ease the funding issues associated with forming a new world parliamentary assembly.

Delegates to a directly elected UNPA, on the other hand, would have more time to devote to the global assembly, since its members would not be occupied with duties relating to their membership in their national legislature.

But who would argue that Nauru should have as much power ... as China?There are several alternate proposals for apportionment of votes among member nations: Schwartzberg's weighted voting formula takes into account population (the democratic/demographic principle), contribution to the UN budget (the economic principle), and share of the total membership.

The idea of weighting countries' votes according to their financial contribution to the organization is not unprecedented, as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and other Bretton Woods institutions use this method.

He proposes criteria that an election must meet to be considered valid, such as minimum participation rates that initially could be set as low as 20%, and gradually increased.