we're the democratic world federalists

By John O. Sutter
President, Democratic World Federalists

On 11 February 2005, the Board of Directors of the World Federalists of Northern California, which a year before had incorporated as a public benefit, educational organization in California, took on the new, and hopefully lasting name of Democratic World Federalists.

WHO ARE WE AND WHAT ARE WE WORKING FOR?

We, the Democratic World Federalists, are working for Democratic World Federation and have many honorable antecedents to follow. In 1944 Student Federalists were already calling for a Federal World Government. In October 1945 many civic American leaders issued the Declaration of Dublin, N.H.,which promoted a world federal government. In 1947 some far-seeing men and women from many countries formed the World Movement for World Federal Government, as a global body, which later was renamed World Association for World Federation, before being shortened to World Federalist Movement.

In 1992 we named our quarterly publication Toward Democratic World Federation. In 1997 the W.F.A. amended its Goals and Beliefs to declare that to achieve its goal a democratic federal world government was required. Reflecting the growing consensus about what we should be working for, it is essential that we do not shy away from calling ourselves Democratic World Federalists.

Our office is in San Francisco, the city where the finishing touches were put on the United Nations Charter in 1945, and where we hosted the XXIInd World Congress of the W.F.M. in 1995. California is also the state where in 1949 United World Federalists led by California President Alan Cranston and Executive Director Robert Walker convinced the State Legislature to pass the first of several state resolutions calling for the United States to participate in a world federal government.

But, befitting, an organization working for a government for all humanity, we've discarded geographic limitations and opened ourselves to World Federalists from anywhere. By the end of our first year, we had Supporters -- many of them distinguished World Federalists -- from Hawaii to Massachusetts and from Oregon to Florida, as well in Canada and several European countries. We've had nationals from Australia, Canada, China, Germany, India, Spain, Switzerland, and Vietnam working in our office or on our governing board.

Many groups have been working to bring the rule of law to the people of the world. Debates have occurred over how this should come about. Some advocate strengthening the United Nations with its General Assembly and Security Council, which had been modeled somewhat after the League of Nations with its Assembly and Council. Some have advocated creating international institutions to deal with specific international problems. Some have proposed producing a popular assembly as a step in democratizing the U.N. Some have proposed developing regional federations, from which a world federation may evolve. Some have advocated holding a world constitutional convention to produce a world federal government. Some have even drafted constitutions for the world community and government.

We invite anyone to become a Supporter who considers him/herself a World Federalist and believes that it is essential to popularize the concept of a Democratic World Federation if the Earth and humanity are ultimately to survive. Not only those who may feel isolated from any organized group are welcome as Supporter of the Democratic World Federalists, but also those who feel themselves to be World Federalists while also supporting other groups with tangentially related interests.

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