From the destruction of the twin towers on 11 September 2001 to the failure of trade discussions at Cancun in September 2003, issues are raised that not only concern large swathes of the world's population, but can only be adequately resolved by increased coordination and cooperation across borders. How such coordination and cooperation can be achieved, and how and to whom there should be accountability, are the themes of this article. The article is in six parts. The first part sketches the contemporary nature of global politics, the second examines problems and dilemmas of global public policy-making, the third explores how global governance can be strengthened, the fourth sets out the framework of a cosmopolitan polity which would place democratic accountability at its centre, the fifth unfolds a related concept of multilayered citizenship, and the final part explores the underlying cosmopolitan principles of the argument.