A peculiar phenomenon afflicts global governance: while individuals make countless personal contr... more A peculiar phenomenon afflicts global governance: while individuals make countless personal contracts with others and even with their states, a global-level set of contracts between citizens and international organizations remains conspicuously absent. This is despite the fact that a significant amount of international policymaking impacts on citizens across the globe on a daily basis. For example, international organizations have developed policies to address a wide range of global issues such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), terrorism, nuclear proliferation and trade liberalization, but ordinary citizens are largely excluded from participating in the global governance of these issues. There is effectively no global-level social contract involving international agencies, nation-states and citizens. This deficiency contributes to legitimacy problems in global-level policymaking that limit the effectiveness of both policy processes and their outcomes. It is being addresse...
ABSTRACT The political strategy of forum shopping is an under-researched but highly relevant conc... more ABSTRACT The political strategy of forum shopping is an under-researched but highly relevant concept for understanding the dynamics of global governance. Forum shopping involves actors seeking to realise their policy objectives within preferred policy arenas on the basis of an arena’s particular governing characteristics. We examine the forum shopping behaviour of the key states, business and non-governmental groups in regard to three policy issues: labour standards, intellectual property rights, and chemicals regulation. Our preliminary analysis is centred around the questions of why actors forum shop, the circumstances in which forum shopping enables actors to succeed in promoting their interests, and the impact of forum shopping on the effectiveness of global governance. Our cases suggest an arena’s membership, issue mandate, decision making procedures and enforcement capacity are the key characteristics that shape actors’ arena preferences. Another important implication is that a multi-arena global governance system comprised of duplication and overlap in issue mandate (rather than large multilateral single issue arenas) may be beneficial for advancing actors’ policy agendas. The overarching goal of the article is to spark more systematic research into the often practiced but under-theorised phenomenon of forum shopping. Policy Implications• Global governance is achieved through action in multiple arenas, which provide different opportunities for political action. An arena’s membership, issue mandate, decision making procedures and enforcement capacity should be taken into account by policymakers in assessing appropriate arenas for advancing their goals.• Entrepreneurial actors take advantage of ‘strategic inconsistencies’ in the characteristics of international policy arenas in order to progress or block the development of proposals through incremental decisions.• Policymakers must be alert to the likely use of forum shopping by other actors, including business actors and NGOs, which may advance or stymie the development of policy agendas in one arena via action in alternative arenas.
Private initiatives in the fields of taxation and investment are emerging to ensure corporations ... more Private initiatives in the fields of taxation and investment are emerging to ensure corporations pay their fair share in taxes and that investments are socially and ecological sustainable. New global standards organisations (GSOs) have formed to govern corporate behaviour with examples including Fair Tax Mark, UN Global Compact, the Equator Principles, the UN Principles of Responsible Investment (UNPRI), Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) and others. Research into these new, private, taxation and investment GSOs can build on studies of well-established organisation such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO). While new GSOs must necessarily tailor themselves to their own sectoral requirements, they must also take into account and respond today to an established and well-accepted global architecture for private standard setting. This includes positioning themselves with regard to the ISEAL Alliance which set...
A peculiar phenomenon afflicts global governance: while individuals make countless personal contr... more A peculiar phenomenon afflicts global governance: while individuals make countless personal contracts with others and even with their states, a global-level set of contracts between citizens and international organizations remains conspicuously absent. This is despite the fact that a significant amount of international policymaking impacts on citizens across the globe on a daily basis. For example, international organizations have developed policies to address a wide range of global issues such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), terrorism, nuclear proliferation and trade liberalization, but ordinary citizens are largely excluded from participating in the global governance of these issues. There is effectively no global-level social contract involving international agencies, nation-states and citizens. This deficiency contributes to legitimacy problems in global-level policymaking that limit the effectiveness of both policy processes and their outcomes. It is being addresse...
ABSTRACT The political strategy of forum shopping is an under-researched but highly relevant conc... more ABSTRACT The political strategy of forum shopping is an under-researched but highly relevant concept for understanding the dynamics of global governance. Forum shopping involves actors seeking to realise their policy objectives within preferred policy arenas on the basis of an arena’s particular governing characteristics. We examine the forum shopping behaviour of the key states, business and non-governmental groups in regard to three policy issues: labour standards, intellectual property rights, and chemicals regulation. Our preliminary analysis is centred around the questions of why actors forum shop, the circumstances in which forum shopping enables actors to succeed in promoting their interests, and the impact of forum shopping on the effectiveness of global governance. Our cases suggest an arena’s membership, issue mandate, decision making procedures and enforcement capacity are the key characteristics that shape actors’ arena preferences. Another important implication is that a multi-arena global governance system comprised of duplication and overlap in issue mandate (rather than large multilateral single issue arenas) may be beneficial for advancing actors’ policy agendas. The overarching goal of the article is to spark more systematic research into the often practiced but under-theorised phenomenon of forum shopping. Policy Implications• Global governance is achieved through action in multiple arenas, which provide different opportunities for political action. An arena’s membership, issue mandate, decision making procedures and enforcement capacity should be taken into account by policymakers in assessing appropriate arenas for advancing their goals.• Entrepreneurial actors take advantage of ‘strategic inconsistencies’ in the characteristics of international policy arenas in order to progress or block the development of proposals through incremental decisions.• Policymakers must be alert to the likely use of forum shopping by other actors, including business actors and NGOs, which may advance or stymie the development of policy agendas in one arena via action in alternative arenas.
Private initiatives in the fields of taxation and investment are emerging to ensure corporations ... more Private initiatives in the fields of taxation and investment are emerging to ensure corporations pay their fair share in taxes and that investments are socially and ecological sustainable. New global standards organisations (GSOs) have formed to govern corporate behaviour with examples including Fair Tax Mark, UN Global Compact, the Equator Principles, the UN Principles of Responsible Investment (UNPRI), Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) and others. Research into these new, private, taxation and investment GSOs can build on studies of well-established organisation such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO). While new GSOs must necessarily tailor themselves to their own sectoral requirements, they must also take into account and respond today to an established and well-accepted global architecture for private standard setting. This includes positioning themselves with regard to the ISEAL Alliance which set...
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