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3 - Viewing Governance from Below

from PART I - THEORY AND BACKGROUND

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 September 2016

Michael Byron Nelson
Affiliation:
Wesleyan University, Connecticut
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Summary

It may seem odd to focus on African states. If we want to understand global economic governance, why not focus on states that have the most power and influence to control and shape it? African countries are mostly poor, have little military potential (with the exceptions of South Africa and Egypt), and usually are regarded as marginal to the interests of the rest of the world. Nevertheless, it is clear that they send delegates to WTO subcommittee meetings and UN conferences hoping to affect these institutions and their member states. Indeed, the promise of international institutions – to level the international playing field, promote democracy in international relations, and facilitate the world's development needs – deserves thorough examination. And one means of doing this is to examine what global governance looks like from below.

Choosing African states as the analytical focus can teach us a lot about global governance. First, as Christopher Clapham notes, these “bottom” states are different. In the case of Africa, numerous differences may (or may not) matter, including culture, political history, and economic policy. Second, their interactions with domestic populations and other international actors may be correspondingly different. An important example of this is the structurally and historically determined relationship between Africa and the European Union. Examining such relations also can reveal the strategies and actions of “strong” states. How do they cope with how others use and challenge the institutions they helped to create? Third, the perspective provides a view on the system from “those least able to resist it,” those who often have to make do with the system as it is. By way of contrast, a top-down perspective (focusing on the United States and the European Union, for instance) forces us to question the very structure itself. Those stronger actors’ interests too frequently determine the nature of the system and the rules of the game, although they too can face real constraints. Thus, the African perspective gives us a unique vantage point for considering the existing structures of global governance. This structural position combined with the advanced development of some (not most) areas of international law allows us to make effective analogies to the domestic legal system.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2016

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