Individual Agency and Policy Change at the United Nations
Individual Agency and Policy Change at the United Nations

Author: Ingvild Bode

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2015-03-24

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 131761514X

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This book highlights how temporary international civil servants play a crucial role in initiating processes of legal and institutional change in the United Nations system. These individuals are the “missing” creative elements needed to fully understand the emergence and initial spread of UN ideas such as human development, sovereignty as responsibility, and multifunctional peacekeeping. The book: Shows that that temporary UN officials are an actor category which is empirically crucial, yet usually neglected in analytical studies of the UN system. Focussing on these particular individual actors therefore allows for a better understanding of complex UN decision-making. Demonstrates how these civil servants matter, looking at what their agency is based on. Offering a new and distinctive model, Bode seeks to move towards a comprehensive conceptualisation of individual agency, which is currently conspicuous for its absence in many theoretical approaches that address policy change Uses three key case studies of international civil servants (Francis Deng, Mahbub ul Haq and Marrack Goulding) to explore the possibilities of this specific group of UN individuals to act as agents of change and thereby test the prevailing notion that international bureaucrats can only act as agents of the status quo. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of international organizations and the United Nations.

Historical Institutionalism and International Relations
Historical Institutionalism and International Relations

Author: Thomas Rixen

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2016-05-27

Total Pages: 249

ISBN-13: 0191085154

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This book applies the analytical approach called Historical Institutionalism (HI)- so far mostly used within comparative politics-to the field of International Relations (IR). It provides an introduction to HI concepts and makes an argument for why it is particularly well-suited for understanding current developments within international institutions. In particular, it helps us to understand the combination of change and stability that together form the dynamics of institutional development over time. It is the first book to collect original, empirical research applying historical institutionalism to international institutions. The chapters cover a range of institutions important to IR, including the development of European Union competition policy, the global politics of financial reform after the 2008 crisis, the institutional development of the World Health Organization, membership reforms in the League of Nations and the United Nations Security Council, and civil society access to intergovernmental organizations. The concluding chapter discusses the relationship of HI to other institutionalist approaches and the role of HI in future IR research.

Research Handbook on the European Union and International Organizations
Research Handbook on the European Union and International Organizations

Author: Ramses A. Wessel

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published:

Total Pages: 715

ISBN-13: 1786438933

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Over the years, the European Union has developed relationships with other international institutions, mainly as a result of its increasingly active role as a global actor and the transfer of competences from the Member States to the EU. This book presents a comprehensive and critical assessment of the EU’s engagement with other international institutions, examining both the EU’s representation and cooperation as well as the influence of these bodies on the development of EU law and policy.

Making International Institutions Work
Making International Institutions Work

Author: Ranjit Lall

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2023-02-23

Total Pages: 393

ISBN-13: 1009216287

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This book explains why some international institutions succeed and others fail - and what we can do to improve them.

Studies of IMF Governance
Studies of IMF Governance

Author: Ruben Lamdany

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2009-07-27

Total Pages: 390

ISBN-13: 1589068637

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The papers in this volume draw on background work done in preparation for the study Governance of the IMF: An Evaluation, Independent Evaluation Office, International Monetary Fund, May 28, 2008 (available at http://www.ieo-imf.org). This compilation presents in one collection the most recent work to date on the subject of governance of the IMF and contributes to the ongoing dialogue on how best to strengthen the governance of this important global institution. Good governance can contribute to the IMF’s legitimacy by ensuring appropriate voice and representation for the membership, by allowing the Fund to fulfill its mandates effectively and efficiently, and by facilitating accountability for relevant stakeholders. Three main conclusions follow from the studies in this volume. First, to strengthen its legitimacy and effectiveness, the Fund needs greater, higher level and more transparent involvement of member country authorities in its governance. Second, the Board needs to play a stronger role in strategy development and oversight, which requires a shift away from the day-to-day business of the organization. Finally, there are significant accountability gaps that need to be addressed if the IMF is to remain effective and regain legitimacy.

Taiwan’s COVID-19 Experience
Taiwan’s COVID-19 Experience

Author: Ming-Cheng M. Lo

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2024-06-21

Total Pages: 319

ISBN-13: 1040085679

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This book explores and develops the ongoing conversation about how Taiwan navigated through the COVID-19 pandemic. Emphasizing the themes of governance and governmentality, it moves the foci of the discussion from COVID policies to the social and political orders undergirding the statecraft of pandemic management. Furthermore, it analyzes how the pandemic fostered a historical moment at which new forms of governance and governmentality were beginning to take root. It also situates Taiwan’s precarious nationhood in its global context, thereby challenging a prevalent methodological nationalism – the assumption that the nation is a natural unit of analysis whose borders are more or less unquestioned – and contributing to decolonizing Western theories with perspectives from the Global South. Presenting rich original materials on the legal and public debates, individual reflections, and grassroots campaigns during COVID, this book will be essential reading for students and scholars of Taiwan's governance and social health policy, as well as medical anthropology and sociology.

Reforming the United Nations
Reforming the United Nations

Author: Joachim Müller

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2021-05-25

Total Pages: 399

ISBN-13: 9004461108

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Reforming the United Nations - Fit for Purpose at 75? - examines the efforts of Secretary-General, António Guterres, to improve the aging organisation. Priorities centred on development, peace, and management. The reform was respectable but did not address fundamental problems.