IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ehl/lserod/109882.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Hybrid institutional complexes in global governance

Author

Listed:
  • Abbott, Kenneth W.
  • Faude, Benjamin

Abstract

Most issue areas in world politics today are governed neither by individual institutions nor by regime complexes composed of formal interstate institutions. Rather, they are governed by “hybrid institutional complexes” (HICs) comprising heterogeneous interstate, infra-state, public–private and private transnational institutions, formal and informal. We develop the concept of the HIC as a novel descriptive and analytical lens for the study of contemporary global governance. The core structural difference between HICs and regime complexes is the greater diversity of institutional forms within HICs. Because of that diversity, HICs operate differently than regime complexes in two significant ways: (1) HICs exhibit relatively greater functional differentiation among their component institutions, and hence suffer from relatively fewer overlapping claims to authority; and (2) HICs exhibit greater informal hierarchy among their component institutions, and hence benefit from greater ordering. Both are systemic features. HICs have characteristic governance benefits: they offer good “substantive fit” for multi-faceted governance problems and good “political fit” for the preferences of diverse constituents; constrain conflictive cross-institutional strategies; and are conducive to mechanisms of coordination, which enhance substantive coherence. Yet HICs also pose characteristic governance risks: individual institutions may take on aspects of problems for which they are ill-suited; multiple institutions may create confusion; HICs can amplify conflict and contestation rather than constraining them; and the “soft” institutions within HICs can reduce the focality of incumbent treaties and intergovernmental organizations and forestall the establishment of new ones. We outline a continuing research agenda for exploring the structures, operations and governance implications of HICs.

Suggested Citation

  • Abbott, Kenneth W. & Faude, Benjamin, 2022. "Hybrid institutional complexes in global governance," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 109882, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:109882
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/109882/
    File Function: Open access version.
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gordon,David J., 2020. "Cities on the World Stage," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107192331, December.
    2. Felicity Vabulas & Duncan Snidal, 2020. "Informal IGOs as Mediators of Power Shifts," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 11(S3), pages 40-50, October.
    3. Ostrom, Vincent & Tiebout, Charles M. & Warren, Robert, 1961. "The Organization of Government in Metropolitan Areas: A Theoretical Inquiry," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 55(4), pages 831-842, December.
    4. Miles Kahler, 2016. "Complex governance and the new interdependence approach (NIA)," Review of International Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(5), pages 825-839, September.
    5. Stein, Arthur A., 1982. "Coordination and collaboration: regimes in an anarchic world," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 36(2), pages 299-324, April.
    6. Mattern, Janice Bially & Zarakol, AyÅŸe, 2016. "Hierarchies in World Politics," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 70(3), pages 623-654, July.
    7. Pratt, Tyler, 2018. "Deference and Hierarchy in International Regime Complexes," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 72(3), pages 561-590, July.
    8. Faude, Benjamin & Fuß, Julia, 2020. "Coordination or conflict? The causes and consequences of institutional overlap in a disaggregated world order," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, pages 268-289.
    9. Faude, Benjamin, 2020. "International institutions in hard times: how institutional complexity increases resilience," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 108663, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    10. Thomas Gehring & Benjamin Faude, 2014. "A theory of emerging order within institutional complexes: How competition among regulatory international institutions leads to institutional adaptation and division of labor," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 9(4), pages 471-498, December.
    11. Phillip Y. Lipscy, 2015. "Explaining Institutional Change: Policy Areas, Outside Options, and the Bretton Woods Institutions," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 59(2), pages 341-356, February.
    12. Julia Morse & Robert Keohane, 2014. "Contested multilateralism," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 9(4), pages 385-412, December.
    13. Shanks, Cheryl & Jacobson, Harold K. & Kaplan, Jeffrey H., 1996. "Inertia and change in the constellation of international governmental organizations, 1981–1992," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 50(4), pages 593-627, October.
    14. Jessica F. Green, 2013. "Order out of Chaos: Public and Private Rules for Managing Carbon," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 13(2), pages 1-25, May.
    15. Peter Cihon & Matthijs M. Maas & Luke Kemp, 2020. "Fragmentation and the Future: Investigating Architectures for International AI Governance," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 11(5), pages 545-556, November.
    16. Oliver Westerwinter & Kenneth W. Abbott & Thomas Biersteker, 2021. "Informal governance in world politics," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 1-27, January.
    17. Fioretos, Orfeo, 2011. "Historical Institutionalism in International Relations," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 65(2), pages 367-399, April.
    18. Felicity Vabulas & Duncan Snidal, 2013. "Organization without delegation: Informal intergovernmental organizations (IIGOs) and the spectrum of intergovernmental arrangements," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 8(2), pages 193-220, June.
    19. Bernhard Reinsberg & Oliver Westerwinter, 2021. "The global governance of international development: Documenting the rise of multi-stakeholder partnerships and identifying underlying theoretical explanations," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 59-94, January.
    20. Michelle Betsill & Navroz K. Dubash & Matthew Paterson & Harro van Asselt & Antto Vihma & Harald Winkler, 2015. "Building Productive Links between the UNFCCC and the Broader Global Climate Governance Landscape," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 15(2), pages 1-10, May.
    21. Lake, David A., 1996. "Anarchy, hierarchy, and the variety of international relations," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 50(1), pages 1-33, January.
    22. Benjamin Faude, 2020. "Breaking Gridlock: How Path Dependent Layering Enhances Resilience in Global Trade Governance," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 11(4), pages 448-457, September.
    23. Nye, Joseph S., 2014. "The Regime Complex for Managing Global Cyber Activities," Scholarly Articles 12308565, Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
    24. Hamish van der Ven & Steven Bernstein & Matthew Hoffmann, 2017. "Valuing the Contributions of Nonstate and Subnational Actors to Climate Governance," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 17(1), pages 1-20, February.
    25. Faude, Benjamin, 2020. "Breaking gridlock: how path dependent layering enhances resilience in global trade governance," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 103927, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    26. Kreuder-Sonnen, Christian & Zürn, Michael, 2020. "After fragmentation: Norm collisions, interface conflicts, and conflict management," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, pages 241-267.
    27. Raustiala, Kal & Victor, David G., 2004. "The Regime Complex for Plant Genetic Resources," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 58(2), pages 277-309, April.
    28. Abbott, Kenneth W. & Green, Jessica F. & Keohane, Robert O., 2016. "Organizational Ecology and Institutional Change in Global Governance," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 70(2), pages 247-277, April.
    29. Kenneth W. Abbott & Céline Kauffmann & Jeong-Rim Lee, 2018. "The contribution of trans-governmental networks of regulators to international regulatory co-operation," OECD Regulatory Policy Working Papers 10, OECD Publishing.
    30. Hoffmann, Matthew J., 2011. "Climate Governance at the Crossroads: Experimenting with a Global Response after Kyoto," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195390087.
    31. Liliana B. Andonova, 2010. "Public-Private Partnerships for the Earth: Politics and Patterns of Hybrid Authority in the Multilateral System," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 10(2), pages 25-53, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bernhard Reinsberg & Oliver Westerwinter, 2021. "The global governance of international development: Documenting the rise of multi-stakeholder partnerships and identifying underlying theoretical explanations," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 59-94, January.
    2. Fuß, Julia & Kreuder-Sonnen, Christian & Saravia, Andrés & Zürn, Michael, 2021. "Managing regime complexity: Introducing the interface conflicts 1.0 dataset," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Global Governance SP IV 2021-101, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    3. Oliver Westerwinter, 2021. "Transnational public-private governance initiatives in world politics: Introducing a new dataset," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 137-174, January.
    4. Matias E. Margulis, 2021. "Intervention by international organizations in regime complexes," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 871-902, October.
    5. C. Randall Henning, 2019. "Regime Complexity and the Institutions of Crisis and Development Finance," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 50(1), pages 24-45, January.
    6. Charles B. Roger & Sam S. Rowan, 2022. "Analyzing international organizations: How the concepts we use affect the answers we get," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 597-625, July.
    7. Oliver Westerwinter & Kenneth W. Abbott & Thomas Biersteker, 2021. "Informal governance in world politics," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 1-27, January.
    8. Jon CW Pevehouse & Timothy Nordstrom & Roseanne W McManus & Anne Spencer Jamison, 2020. "Tracking organizations in the world: The Correlates of War IGO Version 3.0 datasets," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 57(3), pages 492-503, May.
    9. Henning Schmidtke, 2019. "Elite legitimation and delegitimation of international organizations in the media: Patterns and explanations," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 14(4), pages 633-659, December.
    10. Benjamin Faude, 2020. "Breaking Gridlock: How Path Dependent Layering Enhances Resilience in Global Trade Governance," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 11(4), pages 448-457, September.
    11. Susanne Lütz, 2021. "Global–Regional Realignments in Trade, Finance and Development: Introduction to the Special Issue," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 12(S4), pages 5-13, May.
    12. repec:bla:glopol:v:8:y:2017:i::p:85-95 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Lasse Folke Henriksen & Stefano Ponte, 2018. "Public orchestration, social networks, and transnational environmental governance: Lessons from the aviation industry," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 12(1), pages 23-45, March.
    14. Eugénia C. Heldt & Patrick A. Mello & Anna Novoselova & Omar Ramon Serrano Oswald, 2022. "Persistence Against the Odds: How Entrepreneurial Agents Helped the UN Joint Inspection Unit to Prevail," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 13(2), pages 235-246, May.
    15. Jean-Frédéric Morin, 2020. "Concentration despite competition: The organizational ecology of technical assistance providers," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 75-107, January.
    16. Thomas Hale, 2020. "Catalytic Cooperation," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 20(4), pages 73-98, Autumn.
    17. Stephen, Matthew D., 2020. "China's new multilateral institutions: A framework and research agenda," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Global Governance SP IV 2020-102, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    18. Marcel J. Dorsch & Christian Flachsland, 2017. "A Polycentric Approach to Global Climate Governance," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 17(2), pages 45-64, May.
    19. Benjamin Faude & Michal Parizek, 2021. "Contested multilateralism as credible signaling: how strategic inconsistency can induce cooperation among states," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 843-870, October.
    20. Klaus H. Goetz & Ronny Patz & Bernhard Reinsberg, 2017. "Trust Funds as a Lever of Influence at International Development Organizations," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 8(s5), pages 85-95, August.
    21. Justus Dreyling, 2021. "Institutional Complexity and Opportunity Structures: Weaker Actor Influence in International Intellectual Property Regulation," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 12(S4), pages 37-46, May.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    regime complex; informal institutions; transnational institutions; institutional diversity; functional differentiation; informal hierarchy; institutional fit; Springer;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Y80 - Miscellaneous Categories - - Related Disciplines - - - Related Disciplines

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:109882. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: . General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/lsepsuk.html .

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: LSERO Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/lsepsuk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service hosted by the Research Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis . RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.