Are global governance institutions and regimes powerful?

Global governance definition 1:

“The loose framework of global regulation that constrains conduct; international organisations and law; transnational organisations and frameworks; and shared principles”

Baylis, Smith and Owens 2023

Global governance definition 2:

“The sum of the informal and formal ideas, values, norms, procedures and institutions that help all actors”

Weiss and Wilkinson 2014

Power definition:

“The ability of a political actor to achieve it’s goals”

Baylis, Smith and Owens 2023

Liberal perspective of GGs?

Institutions are more powerful than states

Institutions are beneficial for states and global politics

Realist perspective?

GGs cannot constrain states

Marxist perspective?

GGs cannot constrain capitalism

Constructivist and post-structuralist perspective?

GGs are not completely powerless but are constrained to a certain type of power

P1: Liberal perspective?

• GGs are independent of states and can therefore effectively constrain them. Organisations at the regional and global level ensure that all states follow a similar agenda on global issues

• E.g only 4 states do not follow the Paris Agreement

• Ikenberry argues that GGs legitimise/make more acceptable American hegemony when the US abides by their norms

P2: Liberal perspective?

• States allow GGs to meet and have input on the norms that are then agreed upon the world/region

• States’ legitimacy is increased by membership of GGs as they receive more input on their own legislation

• GGs are powerful because they contribute to and legitimise the agendas of all their member states

• GGs can reduce anarchy as they encourage states to cooperate and find common solutions. More democratic than one state coercing all others

P3: Realist perspective?

• GGs have some power, but cannot always constrain states - they instead reproduce the values of certain powerful, often Western, states. This means a particular set of norms is generally accepted that benefits the West

• E.g IMF voting rights are skewed towards G7 countries

• E.g WTO focusses most heavily on goods and services rather than agriculture and labour, two industries that are not prominent in most Western states

P3: realist perspective citation?

GG organisations are “inadequate to dealwith a growing array of global players and challenges”

Ikenberry 2010

P4: marxist perspective?

• GGs are unable to constrain capitalism, which damages global politics

• GGs reproduce capitalist norms which best serves states with neoliberal economic policies - i.e US

• E.g 2003 Iraq War happened in spite of UN and international war. This is a result of US greed to secure new oil sources, fuelled by capitalism

P4: marxist perspective citation?

“Financial markets exercised an ever more powerful constraint on the freedom of national governments”

Maiguashca 2003

P5: constructivist / post-structuralist perspective?

• GGs are not completely powerless, but they are restricted to only a certain type of power

• Somewhat autonomous - the sum is bigger than the parts - in some areas more powerful than states

• ‘Right is might’ - power belongs to the strongest actors in the system allowing them to dictate global norms and accepted practises, legitimise actors, and (occasionally) punish states who go against the rules

• Overall creates more contestation than cooperation

• However, the ‘liberal’ norms GGs promote do not benefit solely the West and GGs have had successful initiatives in the rest of the world

• E.g UN peacekeeping in Liberia and Sierra Leone, World Bank South Asian Water Initiative

P5: constructivist / post-structuralist perspective citation?

The GG system generates “winners and losers” and “can’t serve all interests at once”

Hurd 2022