Populist Challenges to International Organizations

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

Recent years have witnessed a surge in populist mobilization against international organizations (IOs). From the Trump administration in the US and the Fidesz party in Hungary to Brexit advocates in the UK, the Duterte government in the Philippines, and the new Bolsonaro regime in Brazil, populist parties and politicians have challenged core organizations of the liberal international order. While scholars in Comparative Politics and International Relations are paying increasing attention to this backlash against IOs, we still have insufficient knowledge about some of the most fundamental questions involved. What factors drive the surge of populist contestation of IOs? What is the impact of populist challenges on the international order, for instance, in terms of state retreats from IOs? How distinct are the current populist mobilizations against IOs from other contestation of political institutions domestically and internationally, historically and today? This panel engages with these issues comparatively, exploring populist challenges across a broad range of countries and IOs. Using novel data, innovative methods, and diverse theoretical starting points, the papers assess a variety of sources and consequences of populist contestation of IOs. Together, the papers on the panel push the frontiers of knowledge on populism and international cooperation.

Sub Unit

• DIVISION 17: International Collaboration

Chair

• Jon C. W. Pevehouse University of Wisconsin, Madison

Discussants

• Mark Copelovitch University of Wisconsin, Madison

• Michael R. Tomz Stanford University

Individual Presentations

• Populist Opposition to International Courts: Sovereignty or Liberalism? - Erik Voeten, Georgetown University; Juan Antonio Mayoral, University of Copenhagen; Anton Strezhnev, University of Pennsylvania; Mikael Rask Madsen, Uni. of CPH

• Comparing Elite and Public Opinion on the Legitimacy of Global Governance - Lisa Maria Dellmuth, Stockholm University; Jan Aart Scholte, University of Gothenburg; Jonas Tallberg, Stockholm University; Soetkin Verhaegen, Stockholm University

• Hello, Goodbye: When do States Withdraw from International Organizations? - Inken von Borzyskowski, Florida State University; Felicity Vabulas, Pepperdine University