Legitimating International Organization

Edited by Dominik Zaum

A substantive theoretical introduction to the topic of legitimation
A diverse range of case studies of regional and international organisations
Engagingly written chapters by leading international scholars and practitioners
First comprehensive examination of the topic of legitimation by international organisations and their member states

Legitimating International Organization

Edited by Dominik Zaum

Description

The legitimacy of international and regional organisations and their actions is frequently asserted and challenged by states and commentators alike. Their authorisations or conduct of military interventions, their structures of decision-making, and their involvement into what states deem to be domestic matters have all raised questions of legitimacy. As international organisations lack the coercive powers of states, legitimacy is also considered central to their ability to attain compliance with their decisions.

Despite the prominence of legitimacy talk around international organisations, little attention has been paid to the practices and processes through which such organisations and their member states justify the authority these organisations exercise - how they legitimise themselves both vis-a-vis their own members and external audiences. This book addresses this gap by comparing and evaluating the legitimation practices of a range of international and regional organisations. It examines the practices through which such organisations justify and communicate their legitimacy claims, and how these practices differ between organisations. In exploring the specific legitimation practices of international organisations, this book analyses the extent to which such practices are shaped by the structure of the different organisations, by the distinct normative environments within which they operate, and by the character of the audiences of their legitimacy claims. It also considers the implications of this analysis for global and regional governance.

Legitimating International Organization

Edited by Dominik Zaum

Part I: Conceptual Questions
1. International Organisations, Legitimacy, and Legitimation, Dominik Zaum
2. Legitimacy and International Organisation: The Changing Ethical Context, Mervyn Frost
3. Regional and Global Legitimacy Dynamics: The United Nations and Regional Arrangements, Paul Williams
Part II: Case Studies
4. Legitimation and the UN Security Council, Jennifer Welsh and Dominik Zaum
5. ECOWAS and the Legitimacy Question: A Normative and Institutional Approach, Alhaji Sarjoh Bah
6. The African Union, Walter Lotze
7. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations: Between Internal and External Legitimacy, Alice Ba
8. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, Jochen Prantl
9. A European Re-invention of Indirect Legitimacy?, Christopher Lord
10. Legitimacy and International Organisations: the Case of the OSCE, Ingo Peters
11. Conclusion, Dominik Zaum

Legitimating International Organization

Edited by Dominik Zaum

Author Information

Dominik Zaum, Reader in International Relations, University of Reading

Dominik Zaum is Reader in International Relations at the University of Reading, and a Senior Research Fellow in Conflict and Fragility at the UK's Department for International Development (DFID). His research focuses on the politics of international organisations, especially the UN, and on the political economy of international peace- and statebuilding efforts. His publications include The Sovereignty Paradox: The Norms and Politics of International Statebuilding (OUP, 2007), The United Nations Security Council and War: The Evolution of Thought and Practice Since 1945 (OUP, 2008), and Political Economy of Statebuilding: Power after Peace (Routledge, 2012).

Contributors:

Alice D. Ba, University of Delaware
Alhaji Sarjoh Bah, Southern African Development Community (SADC)
Mervyn Frost, King's College, London
Christopher Lord, University of Oslo
Walter Lotze, African Union Commission
Ingo Peters, Freie Universität Berlin
Jochen Prantl, National University of Singapore
Jennifer Welsh, University of Oxford
Paul D. Williams, George Washington University
Dominik Zaum, University of Reading