A/HRC/27/51 7. The above-mentioned commitments are central to the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and essential to achieving a just international order. In that context, the Independent Expert is exploring the adverse impacts of military expenditures on the enjoyment of human rights, and the possibilities of reducing military budgets and redirecting resources to the post-2015 development agenda. He is convinced that a democratic international order presupposes a commitment to a democratic domestic order, and that an international equitable order can best be achieved when the right to development is promoted. Such a world order cannot be achieved unless domestic and international priorities are changed. One way to change those priorities is to make economic and social rights enforceable in the courts of all countries, and to make decisions regarding those rights reviewable by regional courts as well as, perhaps, an international court of human rights. Budget and fiscal transparency are necessary tools to prevent the hijacking of the international order by the international military-industrial complex,8 which seeks endless profits through the production and sale of weapons and thereby fuels conflict worldwide, hindering negotiation and peaceful solution of disputes.9 However, transparency is not enough. Balanced spending for economic and social rights will only be achieved through the rule of law. 8. The United Nations has adopted countless resolutions reflecting that understanding shared by think tanks and civil society alike. Nevertheless, in spite of accurate diagnoses, there has been little progress in redirecting military expenditures toward peaceful industries. Indeed, one of the challenges faced by the present mandate is precisely how to transform the “ethically obvious” into the politically feasible. The present report on the links between disarmament and development and on the urgent need to reduce military expenditures worldwide can be seen as a preliminary report only, since the problem is endemic and strategies to solve it have hitherto failed. The Independent Expert intends to continue examining this vast issue as a component of the overall strategy to overcome obstacles to the establishment of a just international order. 9. Other crucial elements of all the Independent Expert’s reports to date include a pertinent discussion of democracy and self-determination, which are closely related, both having individual and collective dimensions, as well as national and international implications. The ideal of direct democracy, including the power of legislative initiative of citizens and control of issues through genuine consultation and referenda has been partially achieved only in few countries. The prevalent model of representative democracy is not perfect and needs improvement. Representative democracy deserves the predicate “democratic” only if and when parliamentarians genuinely represent their constituents. Elected members of parliament hold the trust of the electorate and must proactively inform the latter of relevant developments that impact on decision-making, including on the allocation of national budgets for the military, education and health care. They must be committed to inquiring into what the voters need and want. In other words, representatives are accountable to the citizens, must act transparently and regularly consult with their constituency, since they are not plenipotentiaries, but represent the people with a mandate limited in time and scope, which must be administered in good faith and not in usurpation of power. 8 9 6 See http://jonathanturley.org/2014/01/12/perpetual-war-and-americas-military-industrial-complex-50years-after-eisenhowers-farewell-address/. See Rebecca U. Thorpe, The American Warfare State: The Domestic Politics of Military Spending (Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 2014).