False Promise? Non-State Access and Participation in Global Governance

• In Event: Cooperation and Influence in lnternational Regime Complexes

Abstract

Extensive research shows that non-state actors (NSAs) have gained growing access to international organizations (IOs) over time, to the point where most IOs nowadays offer NSAs some type of involvement in policy making. This development has spurred optimism about a democratization of global governance through NSA participation, as well as greater effectiveness as IOs harness the resources of NSAs. Yet, surprisingly, no study to date has examined whether and how institutional access to IOs actually paves the way for rich and meaningful participation by NSAs in IO policy making. This paper offers the first systematic analysis of the relationship between NSA access and participation. Theoretically, we develop conjectures about the relationship between access and participation, as well as factors conditioning this relationship. Empirically, we test these conjectures based on a novel dataset on NSA access and participation in six major global IOs over the time period 1985 to 2017. Our findings carry implications for ongoing debates on the institutional design of IOs, NSA participation in IOs, and democracy in global governance.

Authors

• Carl Vikberg, Stockholm University

• Thomas Sommerer, University of Potsdam

• Jonas Tallberg, Stockholm University