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Looking beyond States: Openings for international bureaucrats to enter the institutional design process

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  • Tana Johnson

Abstract

Surprisingly little research investigates a stark reality: the vast majority of today’s international intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) were crafted not by states alone, but with participation by international bureaucrats working in pre-existing IGOs. What explains this phenomenon? Drawing on international relations scholarship, this article develops predictions involving the capabilities of states, or a matter’s salience to states. The predictions are tested with a new and original dataset that captures, for the first time, variation in the roles that international bureaucrats play in the institutional design arena. Statistical analyses find that states’ need for expertise, as well as the design negotiations’ distance from high-politics, leave openings for international bureaucrats to enter institutional design processes. The findings enhance our understanding of institutional design, principal-agent relationships, non-state actors, and divisions of labor in contemporary global governance. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013

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  • Tana Johnson, 2013. "Looking beyond States: Openings for international bureaucrats to enter the institutional design process," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 8(4), pages 499-519, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:revint:v:8:y:2013:i:4:p:499-519
    DOI: 10.1007/s11558-013-9166-0
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Tobias Böhmelt & Gabriele Spilker, 2016. "The interaction of international institutions from a social network perspective," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 67-89, February.
    2. Tarald Gulseth Berge & Øyvind Stiansen, 2023. "Bureaucratic capacity and preference attainment in international economic negotiations," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 467-498, July.
    3. Barbara Saerbeck & Mareike Well & Helge Jörgens & Alexandra Goritz & Nina Kolleck, 2020. "Brokering Climate Action: The UNFCCC Secretariat Between Parties and Nonparty Stakeholders," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 20(2), pages 105-127, May.
    4. Katharina Michaelowa & Axel Michaelowa, 2017. "The growing influence of the UNFCCC Secretariat on the clean development mechanism," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 247-269, April.
    5. Klaus H. Goetz & Ronny Patz & Klaus H. Goetz & Ronny Patz, 2017. "Resourcing International Organizations: Resource Diversification, Organizational Differentiation, and Administrative Governance," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 8(s5), pages 5-14, August.
    6. Oscar Widerberg & Frank Laerhoven, 2014. "Measuring the autonomous influence of an international bureaucracy: the Division for Sustainable Development," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 14(4), pages 303-327, November.
    7. Michal Parízek, 2017. "Control, soft information, and the politics of international organizations staffing," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 12(4), pages 559-583, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Institutional design; Bureaucracy; International organizations; Global governance; F50; F53; F55; F59; F60;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F50 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - General
    • F53 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - International Agreements and Observance; International Organizations
    • F55 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - International Institutional Arrangements
    • F59 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - Other
    • F60 - International Economics - - Economic Impacts of Globalization - - - General

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