Defining International Organizations

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The University of Texas at San Antonio, One UTSA Circle, San Antonio, TX 782499/5/2013 1

International Organizations

PLO 3513 Fall Term 2013

Thursday, 8:30-9:45 am

Week 2: Defining international organizations

Dr. Matthias Hofferberth [email protected]


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teaching philosophy of this class

We will not make you drink,

but we will help you!


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Session plan

1. International organizations, everyday knowledge & expectations

2. Defining organization

3. Defining international

4. Bringing it together: studying international organizations

5. Conclusion


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Once more:

any questions?


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1. IOs, everyday knowledge & expectations

International organizations in everyday knowledge

Constant mentioning of IOs in the media:

decisions covered/commented on extensively

United Nations, WTO, NAFTA, etc. at least

some level of familiarity; humanitarian IOS

sometimes enjoying a great presence

notion of disappointment as IOs are not living up to expectations

Open question: what really are your expectations towards IOs?


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Expectations towards international organizations:

complex governance challenges as reality of our modern world

realization that states alone cannot solve these challenges

international politics as much the domain of states as it is of IOs

IOs expected to be active AND

effective in almost all policy areas,

from A as in abortion law

to Z as in zoology


7/22The University of Texas at San Antonio, One UTSA Circle, San Antonio, TX 782499/5/2013 7


First grounding some numbers & facts

UN budget appropriation for 2012-2013: $5,152.299.600

EU budget for 2007: $120,700.000.000

Texas budget appropriation for 2012-2013: $187,516.500.000

UN: app. 50,000 employees worldwide

EU: app. 25,000 employees

Ford Motor Company: app 246.000 employees

Walmart: app. 2,055.000 employees

IOs present in everyday lives / easy to forget how limited they are




Discussing international organizations academically:

specification / demarcation of a field for analysis & inquiry

construction / development of vocabulary usable to describe field

classification of individual cases within this field

we need to define

international organization




Wikipedia: An organization is a social entity that hasa collective goal and is linked to an external environment

Aspects of defining organization:

autonomous: a single & independent compartment

relational: related / linked to a broader context

functional: designed / institutionalized for a particular task

permanent: created to last rather than ad hoc physical: a real-world representation




Differentiating organizations, institutions & regimes:

institutions as sets of routinized and shared practices & behavior,

not formally organized or necessarily recognized as such, which

influences the behavior of other actors (Keohane 1989)

institutions a much broader concept then organizations including

things like the institution of friendship, regular lunch meetings, etc

regimes as implicit or explicit principles, norms, rules and

decision-making procedures around which actors expectations

converge in a given area of international relations (Krasner 1983)

regimes focused on specific issue-area & without actor quality




Defining organizations in legal terms:

established / created through the legal act of incorporation &

through the formal intergovernmental agreement such as a treaty

IOs as subject of domestic / international law institutionalization

of a legal personality / separate legal body

organizations based on and guided by

legal norms & rules




Defining organizations in political terms:

organizations serve diverse functions & are thus attractive by

allowing for governance / centralization of collective activities

Influence & effect of organizations on the

environment: not a one way street / organizationmight affect its creators in unintended ways

organizations depend on rules & norms and

influence behavior to be rule-conforming

organizations have resources at their disposal

once again: emphasis on designated task




need to define & relate terms stating the obvious before that:national bias reaffirmed & reproduced in the very terminology

international

domestic /

nationalintergovernmental

supranationalnon-governmental

transnational




national / domestic: anything that not relates to cross-borderactivities & involves only the sovereign nation state

in a globalized world, less & less political decisions are domestic only

intergovernmental: anything that happens between two sovereign

states & is not intended to go beyond their sovereignty

in this sense, organizations are considered as toolsor arenas




supranational:anything that goes beyond the state / creates a newlevel of agency which is situated above constituting member states

EU law breaking national law

non-governmental / transnational: anything that is beyond the state:

consequence of increased internationalization of societies / new actors

everything which is not created by international law, treaty ordecision of intergovernmental organization yet acts across borders


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IOs & three different images:

organization as tools of nation states: based on

relative power & interests of member states,

organization are influenced & instrumentalized for national ends

organization as arenas for nation states:

ideas & interests competing in an open

playing field while states still act

organizations as actors independent from nation states:identity & action of organization beyond the influence

of its member states, sometimes acting against their will


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Structuring & organizing the world of IOs:

IO membership: from particular to global

IO purpose / responsibility: from problem-specific to universal

IO functions: from informational to operational

IO authority: from voluntary to binding


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4. Bringing it together: studying international organizationsuniversal

responsibility

problem-specific

responsibility

particular

membership

global

membership


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5. Conclusion

IOs as pieces AND actors of global governance: created & maintained by nation states & dependent on their interests

emergence of independent agency / IOs might go against the will of their creators

Final answer to that depends on theoretical preferences

Next session: IR theories I: (Neo-)Realism & IOs

Mandatory readings:Mearsheimer, John J. 1994/1995: The False Promise of International Institutions,in: International Security, 19: 3, 5-49.


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Th U i i f T S A i O UTSA Ci l S A i TX 782499/5/2013 22

Thanks for class participation,

please get started on the wiki

& see you next week!

Defining International Organizations

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