Legitimacy In Global Governance

As the international community struggles with major issues such as deforestation, it is increasingly turning to sustainable development and market-based mechanisms to tackle environmental problems. Focusing on forestry, this book investigates the legitimacy of global forums and evaluates the quality of global governance in the current era.

Examining the interplay between the domestic, regional and global aspects of the crisis of legitimacy of global governance, this book theoretically questions and empirically analyses the "crises of legitimacy" in global governance with respect to various mechanisms, actors, and issues. It expertly sheds lights on contemporary legitimacy contestations and crises by analysing conceptual, theoretical and empirical aspects of the legitimacy in global governance. The specific issues and case studies collected in this volume survey the evolving nature of legitimacy and legitimization processes in global governance with historical, and theoretical analysis. Perspectives on specific actors and issues provide vital insights for understanding several commonalities and differences of legitimacy crises faced at various global governance mechanisms. Improving the understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of current global governance bodies by showing several legitimacy contestations and crises at global and regional level, this book will be of great interest to scholars of international relations, globalization, international Political Economy, regionalism, and general global governance studies.

Legitimacy is central for the capacity of global governance institutions to address problems such as climate change, trade protectionism, and human rights abuses. However, despite legitimacy's importance for global governance, its workings remain poorly understood. That is the core concern of this volume: to develop an agenda for systematic and comparative research on legitimacy in global governance. In complementary fashion, the chapters address different aspects of the overarching question: whether, why, how, and with what consequences global governance institutions gain, sustain, and lose legitimacy? The volume makes four specific contributions. First, it argues for a sociological approach to legitimacy, centered on perceptions of legitimate global governance among affected audiences. Second, it moves beyond the traditional focus on states as the principal audience for legitimacy in global governance and considers a full spectrum of actors from governments to citizens. Third, it advocates a comparative approach to the study of legitimacy in global governance, and suggests strategies for comparison across institutions, issue areas, countries, societal groups, and time. Fourth, the volume offers the most comprehensive treatment so far of the sociological legitimacy of global governance, covering three broad analytical themes: (1) sources of legitimacy, (2) processes of legitimation and delegitimation, and (3) consequences of legitimacy.

Examining the interplay between the domestic, regional and global aspects of the crisis of legitimacy of global governance, this book theoretically questions and empirically analyses the "crises of legitimacy" in global governance with respect to various mechanisms, actors, and issues. It expertly sheds lights on contemporary legitimacy contestations and crises by analysing conceptual, theoretical and empirical aspects of the legitimacy in global governance. The specific issues and case studies collected in this volume survey the evolving nature of legitimacy and legitimization processes in global governance with historical, and theoretical analysis. Perspectives on specific actors and issues provide vital insights for understanding several commonalities and differences of legitimacy crises faced at various global governance mechanisms. Improving the understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of current global governance bodies by showing several legitimacy contestations and crises at global and regional level, this book will be of great interest to scholars of international relations, globalization, international Political Economy, regionalism, and general global governance studies.

"World Rule is essential reading for scholars, managers, and policy makers interested in the rules that underpin the global economy. Koppell authoritatively and convincingly explains the origins of the dense network of global rules and elucidates their effects on both markets and practices; his theoretical insights into the politics of organizations are profound." Rawi Abdelal, Harvard Business School.

Rules set by global governance organizations affect communities across the world. Such organizations increasingly seek to obtain legitimacy in the eyes of groups beyond their member state elites. This book advances scholarly debate on the politics of legitimacy and legitimation in global governance. It brings together researchers from different subfields of International Relations in order to highlight trends and contradictions in the contemporary politics of legitimacy across areas of sustainable development, humanitarian relief, responsible investment, sustainable fisheries and labour standards. The chapters explore legitimation efforts by various forms of global governance bodies, such as intergovernmental organizations, public–private partnerships and fully private bodies. The book demonstrates that different governance forms beyond the nation state share deep legitimacy challenges and engage in continuous legitimation attempts. Questions on the audiences of such legitimation attempts are particularly pivotal in understanding the politics of legitimacy. Audiences are not predetermined but constituted through interaction between legitimation efforts and the reactions to those of targeted and other groups, mirroring broader global power relations. This book was published as a special issue of Globalizations.

Can the power of the G20 be legitimate? This book examines the politics surrounding the G20’s efforts to act effectively and legitimately and the problems and challenges involved in this activity. Developing a critical constructivist conceptualisation of the G20, the book considers holistically and practically the ways that the G20 develops various forms of power and influence and acts as an apex form of global governance that seeks to be an overall coordinating forum to address global problems. Assessing how debates about the legitimacy of the G20 shaped its operation, Slaughter argues that the G20’s power can be legitimate despite a range of considerable challenges and limits. The book also explores what measures the G20 could take to be more legitimate in the future. Offering a direct and accessible consideration of the politics of legitimacy with respect to the G20, this book will be of interest to those attempting to understand and analyse the G20 as well as to scholars of IR theory, global political economy, global policy, diplomacy and globalisation.