Unit 3d global governance

The basic definitions:
What is global governance?
Global governance is a complex process of political interaction and decision making at the global level aimed at solving problems that affect more than one state or region when there is no power of enforcing compliance. States and governments remain the most significant institutions for decision making but intergovernmental and supranational bodies can also operate. Decisions are made by a system of horizontal and vertical interactions between officials in different levels of government working with counterparts from other states.

The key features of global governance

Polycentrism- Despite the UN’s overarching role within the modern global governance system, global governance is multiple rather than singular, having different institutional frameworks and decision-making mechanisms in different issue areas.

Intergovernmentalism- States and national governments retain considerable influence within the global governance system, reflecting international organisations’ general disposition towards consensual decision-making and their weak powers of enforcement.

Mixed actor involvement- In addition to states and international organisations, global governance embraces NGOs, TNCs and other institutions of global civil society, the blurring of the public/ private divide meaning that the distinction between the state and civil society in domestic politics is absent in global decision-making.

Multilevel processes- Global governance operates through interaction between groups and institutions at various levels (municipal, provincial, national, regional and global), with no single level enjoying predominance over the others.

Deformalization- Global governance tends to operate through norm-based and informal international regimes rather than through formal and legally constituted bodies.

I have taken them definitions out of the following book- Global Politics Andrew Haywood it is a must have for unit 3d and unit 4d as it covers everything. The whole concept of global governance is hard to get your head around but it is worth noting that global governance is most commonly associated with global economic governance. The reason for this is because the economy is seen as the most important factor in society in terms of standards of living etc thus having a strong economy is seen as imperative. The WTO and the world bank etc are examples of global economic governance.

Finally for the you need to know the approaches to global governance and in particular global economic governance:


Realist view: The realist stance on global economic governance is shaped by mercantilism (mercantilism is based on the idea that strong nation-states had the opportunity to create a world economy by using a state's military power to ensure local markets and supply sources were protected) and the belief that the world economy is essentially an arena of competition amongst states and each seeking to maximise its wealth and relative power.

Liberal view: The liberal position on global economic governance is based on faith in the market and in untrammelled competition. Most liberals accept the need for economic governance as long as it promotes, rather than restricts, openness and free competition.

I will be taking unit3d and 4d next summer also so i am only a student so i am not as knowledgeable as a teacher or people who have completed A2 but feel free to talk any time if stuck.