International Organizations:
Theory and Practice
Course aims
On completion of this course, students should be able to
• display deeper understanding of the role and significance
of international organizations and international institutions;
• relate the phenomenon of international organization to
current theories of international relations, as well as to
understand general aspects of organizational behavior
and organizational change;
• identify the types and expressions of international
organization in the contemporary world;
• display in-depth knowledge of a particular case of
international organization and/or the organization of a
particular issue area in international relations.
Project work (case study)
The project work has the form of a case study. This
means that you will choose a particular international
organization (not the cases discussed in Barnett &
Finnemore) of the contemporary world, and use this to
illustrate and illuminate problems of international
organization.
The aim of the project work is to develop your
understanding of the role and significance of international
organizations and international institutions, as well as
your independent analytical skills, by connecting relevant
theories and concepts to an empirical case of
international organization.
PBL module: the UN
Seminar 2: The UN (3/10)
•Introduction to Problem Based Learning (PBL) module
•Presentation of the PBL assignment.
•Steps 1-5 in the PBL-process (see below)
Mon – Wed 6-8/10
Individual study (PBL)
Seminar 3: The UN (9/10)
•Reporting back and discussion
•Reflections and feedback
International institutions and order
International anarchy
Anarchy is evenly distributed throughout the international system.
International anarchy
Anarchy is unevenly distributed in the international system;
there are ”islands” of order and cooperation.
International institutions
The ”normative texture” of international relations,
consisting of more or less coalesced bodies of converging
interests, coordinated action, shared values etc.
Four models of world order
_______________________________________________________________
________
No supranational authority
Supranational authority
(horizontal coordination)
(hierarchical steering)
_______________________________________________________________________
No effective
norms and rules
International anarchy
World hegemony
Effective norms
and rules
Global governance
World State
_______________________________________________________________________
International Order
“[A] pattern of activity that sustains the elementary or
primary goals of the society of states, or international
society.”
“A society of states exists when a group of states,
conscious of certain common interests and common
values, form a society in the sense that they conceive
themselves to be bound by a common set of rules in their
relations with one another, and share in the working of
common institutions.”
(Hedley Bull, The Anarchical Society (1977), p. 8 & 13)
International institutions
[E]xplicit arrangements, negotiated among
international actors, that prescribe, proscribe,
and/or authorize behavior.
Behavioral patterns based on international norms
and rules, which prescribe behavioral roles in
recurring situations that lead to a convergence of
reciprocal expectations.
International institutions and organizations
• International organizations are a specific class of
international social institutions …
• Two types of international institutions can be
distinguished: international regimes, and international
organizations.
Internationell organization
”An international organization is an institutional structure
created by agreement among two or more sovereign
states for the conduct of regular political interactions.
IGOs are distinguished from the facilities of traditional
diplomacy by their structure and permanence.”
(Harold K. Jacobson, 1984)
International regimes
International regimes are …
“… sets of implicit or explicit principles, norms, rules, and
decision making procedures around which actors’
expectations converge in a given area of international
relations.”
(Stephen Krasner)
International regimes
• Principles: coherent bodies of theoretical statements
about how the world works
• Norms: general standards of behavior, identify the rights
and obligations of states
• Rules: specific regulations, which operate at a lower level
of generality than principles and norms
• Decisionmaking procedures: specific prescriptions for
behavior, the system of voting, for example, which will
regularly change as a regime is consolidated and
extended
Historical development
Historical examples
• Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine 1815
• International Telegraph Union 1865
• Universal Postal Union 1878
• League of Nations 1919
• International Labour Organization 1919
• International Aviation Commission 1919/ International Civil Aviation
Organization 1944
Conceptualization
Conceptualization
Conceptualization (1):
•IO as instruments (realist analysis …)
•IO as arenas (principal actor analysis)
•IO as actors (by delegation and pooling of authority,
•… or taking on a life of their own …
Conceptualization (2):
•IO as political systems
•IO as bureaucracies
Theories of International Organization
1. Why are international organizations created?
2. How do international organizations shape collective
decision-making processes within them?
3. What are the effects of the decisions and activities of
international organizations on international and
transnational cooperation and thus on the provision o
effective and legitimate global governance?
4. What does the establishment and growth of a wide
variety of international organizations mean for the
broader evolution of international governance?
5. How are international organizations legitimized?
Internationell organization
”An international organization is an institutional structure
created by agreement among two or more sovereign
states for the conduct of regular political interactions.
IGOs are distinguished from the facilities of traditional
diplomacy by their structure and permanence.”
(Harold K. Jacobson, 1984)
ONTOLOGY
EPISTEMOLOGY
Objecivism
Holism
Individualism
Interpretativism
ONTOLOGY
Holism
Individualism
EPISTEMOLOGY
Objecivism
Interpretativism
IO as outcomes of
material
structural conditions
IO understood as
normative structures
(inter-subjective beliefs)
IO as outcomes of
rational choice
IO understood as
constituted by ideologies (and selfunderstandings)
of their makers
Theories of International Organization
Realism:
“International institutions are reflections of the power
distribution in the anarchical system.”
Theories of International Organization
Liberalism:
“International institutions reflect shared interests among
states and represent rational responses to life in an
anarchical system.”
Theories of International Organization
Constructivism:
“International institutions represent shared beliefs and
understandings about how the world hangs together,
collective identity, and standards of rightful action in world
politics; as such they may play a transformative role in
altering state perceptions and behavior”
Logics of actions
• Logic of expected consequences
Action determined by rational calculations of
consequences (interests  choices outcomes)
(Realism, Neo-liberalism/institutionalism)
• Logic of appropriateness
Actions determined by norms and identities,
which suggest appropriate behavior in given
situations (identities/norms choice outcomes
 further identity shifts)
(Constructivism)
Theories of International Organization
Critical theory:
“International institutions are means for domination by
privileged states and the capitalist interests that they
serve; they are strategies to mask power relations and
interests.”
The Politics of International Organizations
Means of
domination
Power
instruments
Cost efficient
devices
International
institutions
Autonomous
actors
Functional
outcomes
1. Why are international organizations created?
2. How do international organizations shape collective
decision-making processes within them?
3. What are the effects of the decisions and activities of
international organizations on international and
transnational cooperation and thus on the provision o
effective and legitimate global governance?
4. What does the establishment and growth of a wide
variety of international organizations mean for the
broader evolution of international governance?
5. How are international organizations legitimized?
David Easton on politics
Politics = the authoritative allocation of values for a society
ENVIRONMENT
O
I
N
U
DEMANDS
P
U
Political
system
SUPPORT
DECISIONS
T
P
U
T
T
Feedback
ENVIRONMENT
ENVIRONMENT
O
I
N
U
DEMANDS
P
U
SUPPORT
Constitutional
and institutional structure
Decision-making
processes
T
DECISIONS
T
P
U
T
Feedback
ENVIRONMENT
DEMANDS
Conversion
Member states’
governments
Intergovernmental
negotiations
Policy programmes
Administrations
Majority
voting
Parliamentary
assemblies
Rational
choice
Information activities
Operations
Interest groups
SOP
Communities of
experts
Bureaucratic
politics
SUPPORT
Acceptance of political institutions
• Coercion
• Tradition
• Apathy
• Pragmatic acquiescence
• Instrumental acquiescence
• Normative agreement
• Ideal normative agreement
International Organization
- as bureaucracy
ENVIRONMENT
O
I
N
U
DEMANDS
P
U
Political
system
SUPPORT
DECISIONS
T
P
U
T
T
Feedback
ENVIRONMENT
Bureaucracy
Features of bureaucracy:
1. Hierarchy (division of
labor and accountability)
2. Continuity (stable
employment, regular
advancement)
3. Impersonality (operating
procedures, guarantees
against arbitrary treatment)
4. Expertise
(professionalism, training,
rational information
handling)
Bureaucratic authority
• Delegated authority
• Moral authority
• Expert authority