Anarchy and Sovereignty

Collective Action Problems

• The bigger the group, the smaller the incentive to participate

• Free riders

Solving Collective Action Problems

• Altruism (or non-material benefits)

• Side payments

• Exclusion

• Enforcement

Tragedy of the Commons

• Positive utility is individual

– Negative utility is shared

• Externality without regulation

• The international commons

Assumptions of the Commons

• No central authority

• Equal access

• Equal effects

• Imperfect markets

How Can We Solve Commons Problems?

• State control

• Privatization

• Mutual coercion

• Moral suasion, or change in values

Do IOs Matter?

• Should we have them at all?

• Do they accomplish what we want them to?

• Three general answers:

– Liberal

– Realist

– Critical

The Liberal Answer

• Yes, they matter

– And in a good way

• Efficiency and common goals

• Functionalism and institutionalism

The Realist Answer

• No, they don’t matter

– IR is all about states and power

• IOs can be used as a tool of state power

• Note the same as saying that we shouldn’t have them

The Critical Answer

• Yes, they matter

– But in a bad way

• From a number of different perspectives

– Feminist

– Marxist

– Neoconservative

How Do We Create IOs?

• Exclusion from benefits

• Side payments

• International coercion

• Hegemony

• Moral suasion/Ethics

International Governance, or Global Governance?

• Intergovernmentalism versus supranationalism

• States versus international society

• Political cooperation versus technical cooperation

• Example of the European Union

IOs and Global Governance

• What should the role of IOs in global governance be?

– Help states to cooperate more effectively

– Help pave the way to more centralized global governance

– Nothing