International Institutions

Required Readings: International Institutions

Required Readings:

  1. “International Organisations” by Shazelina Abidin in International Relations edited by Stephen McGlinchey. https://www.oercommons.org/courses/international-relations/view. CC BY-NC - 7 pages
  2. Kruck, Andreas, and Bernhard Zangl. 2019. “Trading Privileges for Support: The Strategic Co-Optation of Emerging Powers into International Institutions.” International Theory 11 (3): 318–43. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1752971919000101. CC BY
  3. Sections 1, 2, and 3 in Kaufmann, Wesley, Reggy Hooghiemstra, and Mary K. Feeney. 2018. “Formal Institutions, Informal Institutions, and Red Tape: A Comparative Study.” Public Administration 96 (2): 386–403. CC BY

Total Page Count: 39

Introducing the readings:

The unit's readings introduce students to international organizations, their use, and relation to formal and informal institutions. 

Shazelina Abidin's chapter on international organizations explains the difference between international governmental organizations (IGOs) and international non-governmental organizations (INGOs). She also provides a brief discussion about how international organizations have shaped international relations.

Kruck and Zangl's journal article seeks to answer the question: "When and how do international institutions adapt to underlying global power shifts?" They develop a theory of strategic co-optation that centers on how established states will trade institutional privileges for emerging states' institutional support. This article offers a concrete explanation of states behave within international institutions.

Kaufmann, Hooghiemstra, and Feeney's journal article describes how formal (written rules) and informal (cultural norms) institutions at the state/country level affect perceptions of red tape in the private sector. The prevalence of formal and informal institutions at the state/country-level can inform our understanding of them at the international level.

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