Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-16T13:22:06.477Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The dilemma of informal governance with outside option as solution

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 February 2015

Daniel Verdier
Daniel Verdier*
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The efficiency-oriented part of the literature on informal governance points to institutional costs as a reason for governments to prefer to cooperate with each other through commitments that are not binding. Left unexplained is what I call the dilemma of informal governance: how informal governance copes with the problem of cheating, to which formal governance has traditionally provided the solution. I show that like-mindedness, the current solution to the dilemma, is convincing but underspecified. Working from a model of governance encompassing the three time-honored dimensions of obligation, precision, and delegation, I analytically explore two other solutions, one that fails, information transmission, another that works, outside option, which I borrow from the power-oriented part of the literature on informal governance. A key finding is that informal governance, despite being neither self-enforceable nor informative, is sustainable for mild Prisoner’s Dilemma (PD) types in the presence of outside options. I illustrate the model findings by tracing an historical correlation between power polarization and formalism in the design of security regimes.

Keywords

informal governancesecurity regimesoutside optionobligationprecisiondelegation
Type
Original Papers
Information
International Theory , Volume 7 , Issue 1 , March 2015 , pp. 195 - 229
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abbott, Kenneth W., and Snidal, Duncan. 2000. “Hard and Soft Law in International Governance.” International Organization 54(3):421–456.Google Scholar
Abbott, Kenneth W., Keohane, Robrt O., Moravcsik, Andrew, Slaughter, Anne-Marie, and Snidal, Duncan. 2000. “The Concept of Legalization.” International Organization 54(3):401–419.Google Scholar
Appadorai, Arjun, and Gillingham, John. 1981. “Non-Alignment: Some Important Issues.” International Studies 20(1–2):3–11.Google Scholar
Bebler, Anton. 1975. “Security Aspects of Non-Alignment.” International Studies 14(2):289–302.Google Scholar
Boese, Wade. 2003. “The Proliferation Security Initiative: An Interview with John Bolton.” Arms Control Today, December 2003, p. 37.Google Scholar
Bowie, Christopher J., Hafta, Robert P. Jr., and Mullins, Robert E. 2003. “Future War: What Trends in American’s Post-Cold War Military Conflicts Tell us about Early 21st Century Warfare.” Northrop Grumman Analysis Center Papers. Accessed October 20, 2014. http://www.northropgrumman.com.Google Scholar
Dehousse, Renaud. 1997. “Regulation by Networks in the European Community: The Role of European Agencies.” Journal of European Public Policy 4(2):246–261.Google Scholar
Downs, George W., and Rocke, David M. 1995. Optimal Imperfection! Domestic Uncertainty and Institutions in International Relations. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Downs, George W., Rocke, David M., and Barsoom, Peter N. 1996. “Is the good news about compliance good news about cooperation?” International Organization 50(3):379–406.Google Scholar
Eilstrup-Sangiovanni, Mette. 2009. “Varieties of Cooperation: Government Networks in International Security.” In Networked Politics: Agency, Power, and Governance, edited by Miles Kahler, 194–227. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Fang, Songying, and Ramsay, Kristopher W. 2010. “Outside Options and Burden Sharing in Nonbinding Alliances.” Political Research Quarterly 63:188–202.Google Scholar
Fearon, James D. 1997. “Signaling Foreign Policy Interests.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 41(1):68–90.Google Scholar
Galbraith, Jean. 2003. “The Bush Administration’s Response to the International Criminal Court.” Berkeley Journal of International Law 21(3):683–702.Google Scholar
Gillingham, J. 1991. Coal, Steel, and the Rebirth of Europe, 1945–1955: The Germans and French from Ruhr Conflict to Economic Community. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Gruber, Lloyd. 2000. Ruling the World: Power Politics and the Rise of Supranational Institutions. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Guzman, Andrew T., and Meyer, Timothy L. 2010. “International Solf Law.” Journal of Legal Analysis 2(1):171–225.Google Scholar
Helleiner, Eric, Pagliari, Stefano, and Zimmermann, Hubert. 2010. Global Finance in Crisis: The Politics of International Regulatory Change. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Hershberg, James G. 2007. “‘High-Spirited Confusion’: Brazil, the 1961 Belgrade Non-Aligned Conference, and the Limits of an ‘Independent’ Foreign Policy during the High Cold War.” Cold War History 7(3):373–388.Google Scholar
Johns, Leslie. 2012. “Courts as Coordinators: Endogenous Enforcement and Jurisdiction in International Adjudication.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 56(2):257–289.Google Scholar
Johns, Leslie. 2014. “Depth versus Rigidity in the Design of International Trade Agreements.” Journal of Theoretical Politics 26(3):468–495.Google Scholar
Johns, Leslie, and Pelc J, Krzysztof. 2009. “Forth Depth versus Rigidity in the Design of International Trade Agreements.” Journal of Theoretical Politics.Google Scholar
Johnston, Alastair I. 1999. “The Myth of the ASEAN Way? Explaining the Evolution of the ASEAN Regional Forum.” In Imperfect Unions: Security Institutions over Time and Space, edited by Helga Haftendorn, Robert O. Keohane, and Celeste A. Wallander, 287–324. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Josselin, Daphné. 2009. “Regime Interplay in Public-Private Governance: Taking Stock of the Relationship Between the Paris Club and Private Creditors Between 1982 and 2005.” Global Governance 15(4):521–538.Google Scholar
Kahler, Miles, and Lake, David A. 2009. “Economic Integration and Global Governance: Why So Little Supranationalism?” In The Politics of Global Regulation, edited by Walter Mattli, and Ngaire Woods, 242–276. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Keohane, Robert O. 1984. After Hegemony: Cooperation and Discord in the World Political Economy. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Keohane, Robert O. 2001. “Governance in a Partially Globalized World.” American Political Science Review 95(1):1–14.Google Scholar
Keohane, Robert O., and Nye, Joseph S. 1974. “Transgovernmental Relations and International Organizations.” World Politics 27(1):39–62.Google Scholar
Kerwer, Dieter. 2006. “Governing Financial Markets by International Standards.” In New Modes of Governance in the Global System: Exploring Publicness, Delegation and Inclusiveness, edited by Koenig-Archibugi, Mathias, and Michael Zu(e)rn, 77–100. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Kleine, Mareike. 2013. “Knowing your Limits: Informal Governance and Judgement in the EU.” Review of International Organizations 8(2):245–264.Google Scholar
Koremenos, Barbara. 2005. “Contracting Around International Uncertainty.” American Political Science Review 99(4):549–565.Google Scholar
Koremenos, Barbara. 2008. “When, What, and Why do States Choose to Delegate?” Law and Contemporary Problems 71(1):151–192.Google Scholar
Koremenos, Barbara, Lipson, Charles, and Snidal, Duncan. 1999. “The Rational Design of International Institutions.” International Organization 55(4):761–799.Google Scholar
Krasner, Stephen D. 1991. “Global Communications and National Power: Life on the Pareto Frontier.” World Politics 43(3):336–366.Google Scholar
Lipson, Charles. 1991. “Why are some International Agreements Informal?” International Organization 45(4):495–538.Google Scholar
Lipson, Michael. 2005/2006. “Transgovernmental Networks and Nonproliferation: International Security and the Future of Global Governance.” International Journal 61(1):179–198.Google Scholar
Milgrom, Paul R., and Roberts, John. 1992. Economics, Organization and Management. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Mitzen, Jennifer. 2013. Power in Concert: The Nineteenth-Century Origins of Global Governance. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Mosley, Layna. 2009. “Private Governance for the Public Good? Exploring Private Sector Participation in Global Financial Regulation.” In Power, Interdependence, and Nonstate Actors in World Politics, edited by Helen V. Milner, and Andrew Moravcsik, 126–146. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Muthoo, Abhinay. 1999. Bargaining Theory with Applications. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Patrick, Stewart. 2010. “‘The Mission Determines the Coalition’: The United States and Multilateral Cooperation after 9/11.” In Cooperating for Peace and Security, edited by Bruce D. Jones, Shepard Forman, and Richard Gowan, 20–44. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Peters, Ingo. 1999. “The OSCE and German Policy: A Study in How Institutions Matter.” In Imperfect Unions: Security Institutions Over Time and Space, edited by Helga Haftendorn, Robert O. Keohane, and Celeste A. Wallander, 195–222. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Raustiala, Kal. 2002–2003. “The Architecture of International Cooperation: Transgovernmental Networks and the Future of International Law.” Virginia Journal of international Law 43(2):2–92.Google Scholar
Reinhardt, Eric. 2001. “Adjudication without enforcement in GATT disputes.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 45(2):174–195.Google Scholar
Rosendorff, B. Peter, and Milner, Helen V. 2001. “The Optimal of International Trade Institutions: Uncertainty and Escape.” International Organization 55(4):829–858.Google Scholar
Shaffer, Gregory C., and Pollack, Mark A. 2010. “Hard vs. Soft Law: Alternatives, Complements, and Antagonists in International Governance.” Minnesota Law Review 94(3):706–799.Google Scholar
Shaffer, Gregory C., and Pollack, Mark A. 2011. “Hard versus Soft Law in International Security. University of Minnesota Law School.” Legal Studies Research Paper Series. Research Paper No. 11–13.Google Scholar
Schroeder, Paul W. 1994. The Transformation of European Politics, 1763–1848. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Shanker, Thom. 2001. “White House Says the U.S. Is Not a Loner, Just Choosy.” New York Times, July 31.Google Scholar
Slaughter, Anne-Marie. 2004. A New World Order. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Snyder, Glenn H. 1984. “The Security Dilemma in Alliance Politics.” World Politics 36(4):461–495.Google Scholar
Sobel, Russell S. 1994. “The League of Nations Covenant and the United Nations Charter: An Analysis of Two International Constitutions.” Constitutional Political Economy 5(2):173–192.Google Scholar
Speyer, Bernhard. 2009. “Governing Global Financial Markets – Basel I and II: The Role of Non-State Actors.” In Global Governance and the Role of Non-State Actors, edited by Gunnar Folke Schuppert, 101–116. Baden-Baden: Nomos.Google Scholar
Steinberg, Richard H. 2002. “In the Shadow of Law or Power? Consensus-Based Bargaining and Outcomes in the GATT/WTO.” International Organization 56(2):339–374.Google Scholar
Stone, Randall W. 2011. Controlling Institutions: International Organizations and the Global Economy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Thompson, Alexander. 2006. “Coercion through IOs: The Security Council and the Logic of Information Transformation.” International Organization 60(1):1–34.Google Scholar
Vabulas, Felicity, and Snidal, Duncan. 2013. “Organization Without Delegation: Informal Intergovernmental Organizations (IIGOs) and the Spectrum of Intergovernmental Affairs.” Review of International Organizations 8(2):193–220.Google Scholar
Verdier, Pierre-Hugues. 2009. “Transnational Regulatory Networks and Their Limits.” Yale Journal of International Law 34(1):114–172.Google Scholar
Victor, David G. 2011. Global Warming Gridlock: Creating More Effective Strategies for Protecting the Planet. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Voeten, Erik. 2001. “Outside Options and the Logic of Security Council Action.” American Political Science Review 95(4):845–858.Google Scholar
von Stein, Jana. 2008. “The International Law and Politics of Climate Change: Ratification of the United Nations Framework Convention and the Kyoto Protocol.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 52(2):243–268.Google Scholar
Wallander, Celeste A., and Keohane, Robert O. 1999. “Risk, Threat, and Security Institutions.” In Imperfect Unions: Security Institutions over Time and Space, edited by Helga Haftendorn, Robert O. Keohane, and Celeste A. Wallander, 21–47. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Waltz, Kenneth N. 1979. Theory of International Politics. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.Google Scholar
Whytock, Christopher A. 2005. “A Rational Design Theory of Transgovernmentalism: The Case of E.U.–U.S. Merger Review Cooperation.” Boston University International Law Journal 23(1):1–53.Google Scholar