Making Global Institutions Work

Making Global Institutions Work
Author: Kate Brennan
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 242
Release: 2014-09-19
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1317629620

This book seeks to think differently about what we recognize as "global institutions" and how they could work better for the people who need them most. By so doing, the contributions show that there is a group of institutions that influence enough people’s lives in significant enough ways through what they protect, provide or enable that they should be considered, together, as global institutions. The United Nations, the World Bank, the internet as well as private military and security companies leave a heavy footprint on the social, political and economic landscape of the planet. We are all aware in different ways of the existence of these global institutions but their importance in achieving change in the twenty-first century is often underestimated. In this book, contributors seek to explain what associations exist between change in global institutions and the reduction of poverty and inequality as well as the achievement of security and justice. The work makes sense of processes of change and identifies the most significant obstacles that exist, offering suggestions for future action that will be of interest to students and scholars of global institutions.

Making International Institutions Work

Making International Institutions Work
Author: Ranjit Lall
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 393
Release: 2023-02-23
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1009216287

This book explains why some international institutions succeed and others fail - and what we can do to improve them.

Ideology and International Institutions

Ideology and International Institutions
Author: Erik Voeten
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 260
Release: 2021-01-12
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 069120733X

A new theoretical framework for understanding how social, economic, and political conflicts influence international institutions and their place in the global order Today’s liberal international institutional order is being challenged by the rising power of illiberal states and by domestic political changes inside liberal states. Against this backdrop, Ideology and International Institutions offers a broader understanding of international institutions by arguing that the politics of multilateralism has always been based on ideology and ideological divisions. Erik Voeten develops new theories and measures to make sense of past and current challenges to multilateral institutions. Voeten presents a straightforward theoretical framework that analyzes multilateral institutions as attempts by states to shift the policies of others toward their preferred ideological positions. He then measures how states have positioned themselves in global ideological conflicts during the past seventy-five years. Empirical chapters illustrate how ideological struggles shape the design of international institutions, membership in international institutions, and the critical role of multilateral institutions in militarized conflicts. Voeten also examines populism’s rise and other ideological threats to the liberal international order. Ideology and International Institutions explores the essential ways in which ideological contestation has influenced world politics.

Power in Global Governance

Power in Global Governance
Author: Michael Barnett
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 393
Release: 2004-12-23
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1139444220

This edited volume examines power in its different dimensions in global governance. Scholars tend to underestimate the importance of power in international relations because of a failure to see its multiple forms. To expand the conceptual aperture, this book presents and employs a taxonomy that alerts scholars to the different kinds of power that are present in world politics. A team of international scholars demonstrate how these different forms connect and intersect in global governance in a range of different issue areas. Bringing together a variety of theoretical perspectives, this volume invites scholars to reconsider their conceptualization of power in world politics and how such a move can enliven and enrich their understanding of global governance.

To Reform the World

To Reform the World
Author: Guy Fiti Sinclair
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 369
Release: 2017
Genre: History
ISBN: 0198757964

This book explores how international organizations (IOs) have expanded their powers over time without formally amending their founding treaties. IOs intervene in military, financial, economic, political, social, and cultural affairs, and increasingly take on roles not explicitly assigned to them by law. Sinclair contends that this 'mission creep' has allowed IOs to intervene internationally in a way that has allowed them to recast institutions within and interactions among states, societies, and peoples on a broadly Western, liberal model. Adopting a historical and interdisciplinary, socio-legal approach, Sinclair supports this claim through detailed investigations of historical episodes involving three very different organizations: the International Labour Organization in the interwar period; the United Nations in the two decades following the Second World War; and the World Bank from the 1950s through to the 1990s. The book draws on a wide range of original institutional and archival materials, bringing to light little-known aspects of each organization's activities, identifying continuities in the ideas and practices of international governance across the twentieth century, and speaking to a range of pressing theoretical questions in present-day international law and international relations.

Institutional Design

Institutional Design
Author: David L. Weimer
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 206
Release: 1995-03-31
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780792395034

Policy scientists have long been concerned with understanding the basic tools, or instruments, that governments can use to accomplish their goals. The initial interest in inductively developing comprehensive lists of generic instruments for policy analysis soon gave way to efforts to discover more parsimonious, but still useful, specifications of the elementary components out of which instruments can be assembled. Moving from a generic instrument to a fully specified policy alternative, however, requires the designer to go much beyond the elementary components. Rather than directly specifying some of these details, the designer may instead set the rules by which they will be specified. The creation of these specifications and rules can be thought of as institutional design. This book helps scholars and policy analysts formulate more effective policy alternatives by a better understanding of institutional design. The feasibility and effectiveness of policies depend on the political, economic, and social contexts in which they are embedded. These contexts provide an environment of existing institutions that offer opportunities and barriers to institutional design. A fundamental understanding of institutional design requires theories of institutions and institutional change. With a resurgence of interest in institutions in recent years, there are many possible sources of theory. The contributors to this volume draw from the variety of sources to identify implications for understanding institutional design.

Management of International Institutions and NGOs

Management of International Institutions and NGOs
Author: Eduardo Missoni
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 537
Release: 2013-12-17
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1134580185

International Institutions (IIs), International NGOs (INGOs) and Transnational Hybrid Organizations (THOs) play a hugely important role in the modern world economy. Despite having been studied by scholars from a range of disciplines, these organizations have never before been approached from a management perspective. This ambitious book analyzes the management challenges associated with international cooperation and sheds light on how these organizations have evolved as the political, economic and business environments have changed around them. Covering an admirably broad canvas, the authors pursue two main objectives. Firstly, they explore the main management frameworks developed in the context of the corporate and national public/non-profit organizations and adapt them to the specificity of IIs and INGOs. This leads to the identification of a "tailored" approach to IO management based on their institutional and operational settings, stakeholder groups, core business, staff profile, and financial arrangements. Secondly, they "bring theory into practice" by linking frameworks to several case studies and best practices of organizations currently experimenting with management systems and tools, with case studies including the World Bank and the Gates Foundation. This comprehensive textbook is a must-own resource for students and academics involved with studying and working with international organizations.

International Organizations Revisited

International Organizations Revisited
Author: Dennis Dijkzeul
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Total Pages: 428
Release: 2021-07-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9781800731226

Despite the sustained scholarly attention that the United Nations and international NGOs have received in the twenty-first century, they still remain under-researched from a management studies perspective. This volume brings together rich analyses of these organizations’ functioning, arguing that they are best understood as intermediaries between international decision-making and funding bodies in the developed world and initiatives that take place on the ground, primarily in the Global South. Based on current management research, this follow-up to Rethinking International Organizations (Berghahn, 2002) provides a wealth of both empirical and theoretical insights, along with practical recommendations how these organizations can function more effectively.

The Oxford Handbook of International Organizations

The Oxford Handbook of International Organizations
Author: Jacob Katz Cogan
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 1345
Release: 2016-11-10
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0191652369

Virtually every important question of public policy today involves an international organization. From trade to intellectual property to health policy and beyond, governments interact with international organizations in almost everything they do. Increasingly, individual citizens are directly affected by the work of international organizations. Aimed at academics, students, practitioners, and lawyers, this book gives a comprehensive overview of the world of international organizations today. It emphasizes both the practical aspects of their organization and operation, and the conceptual issues that arise at the junctures between nation-states and international authority, and between law and politics. While the focus is on inter-governmental organizations, the book also encompasses non-governmental organizations and public policy networks. With essays by the leading scholars and practitioners, the book first considers the main international organizations and the kinds of problems they address. This includes chapters on the organizations that relate to trade, humanitarian aid, peace operations, and more, as well as chapters on the history of international organizations. The book then looks at the constituent parts and internal functioning of international organizations. This addresses the internal management of the organization, and includes chapters on the distribution of decision-making power within the organizations, the structure of their assemblies, the role of Secretaries-General and other heads, budgets and finance, and other elements of complex bureaucracies at the international level. This book is essential reading for scholars, practitioners, and students alike.

International Institutions and Power Politics

International Institutions and Power Politics
Author: Anders Wivel
Publisher: Georgetown University Press
Total Pages: 279
Release: 2019-10-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 162616701X

This book moves scholarly debates beyond the old question of whether or not international institutions matter in order to examine how they matter, even in a world of power politics. Power politics and international institutions are often studied as two separate domains, but this is in need of rethinking because today most states strategically use institutions to further their interests. Anders Wivel, T.V. Paul, and the international group of contributing authors update our understanding of how institutions are viewed among the major theoretical paradigms in international relations, and they seek to bridge the divides. Empirical chapters examine specific institutions in practice, including the United Nations, International Atomic Energy Agency, and the European Union. The book also points the way to future research. International Institutions and Power Politics provides insights for both international relations theory and practical matters of foreign affairs, and it will be essential reading for all international relations scholars and advanced students.