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A closer look at the information provision rationale: Civil society participation in states’ delegations at the UNFCCC

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  • Tobias Böhmelt

Abstract

The previous literature contends inter alia that states may welcome the participation of civil society groups in global environmental governance due to their provision of information. The following research takes this argument as a starting point for a closer examination of its validity within the international climate change regime (UNFCCC) and, specifically, with regard to civil society involvement in states’ negotiation delegations. First, the author theoretically unfolds the information provision argument from a demand, i.e., state perspective along the bureaucratic quality of a country, the salience of a negotiation issue, and regime type. From this foundation, secondly, new data on the composition of states’ negotiation delegations in the UNFCCC is analyzed. The results seem to indicate that the information provision mechanism is unlikely to apply in the context under study. The paper, thus, concludes by providing alternative explanations. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Tobias Böhmelt, 2013. "A closer look at the information provision rationale: Civil society participation in states’ delegations at the UNFCCC," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 55-80, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:revint:v:8:y:2013:i:1:p:55-80
    DOI: 10.1007/s11558-012-9149-6
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    Cited by:

    1. Nicholas Chan, 2021. "Beyond delegation size: developing country negotiating capacity and NGO ‘support’ in international climate negotiations," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 201-217, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Global environmental governance; Climate change negotiations; State delegations; Civil society participation; Information provision; UNFCCC; C01; D7; D8; F51; F53; L31; Q5;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C01 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - General - - - Econometrics
    • D7 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making
    • D8 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty
    • F51 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - International Conflicts; Negotiations; Sanctions
    • F53 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - International Agreements and Observance; International Organizations
    • L31 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - Nonprofit Institutions; NGOs; Social Entrepreneurship
    • Q5 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics

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