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In this chapter, we trace the emergence of institutional approaches in IR theory, outline three important areas of research on international institutions, and suggest promising directions for future research. The review demonstrates that rational choice institutionalism, historical institutionalism, and normative institutionalism, as developed in the study of domestic institutions, have constituted sources of inspiration in IR theory. At the same time, the relative absence of formal institutions in the international realm has encouraged IR scholars to theorize more subtle institutional forms and influences, with general implications for institutional analysis in political science.

Most literature on international cooperation focuses on the phase leading up to the signing of a treaty, while neglecting the dynamics of bargaining in the aftermath of an international agreement. Reviewing existing literature, we find that bargaining theory deals almost exclusively with the pre-agreement phase and that the enforcement and management schools in the study of compliance are predominantly static in their orientation. We present a framework for analysing the dynamics of compliance bargaining — which can be understood as a process of bargaining between the signatories to an agreement already concluded, or between the signatories and the international institution governing the agreement, which pertains to the terms and obligations of this agreement — and explore compliance bargaining in the EU in light of this framework. Specifically, the EU case illustrates third-party, as opposed to self-help, enforcement and points to sources of bargaining power in compliance bargaining.

Public criticism of the superpowers came to be a prominent feature of Sweden's 'active neutrality' by the late 1960s. This article analyzes the Soviet reactions to Swedish criticism (a) of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, and (b) of the US intervention in Vietnam, 1967-75. Soviet responses to Sweden's explicit and harsh condemnation of the invasion of Czechoslovakia were delayed and muted due to the ongoing Swedish election campaign. Yet the 1968 experience appears to have had an indirect impact on the Soviet view of Swedish criticism of US warfare in Vietnam. After 1968 Soviet commentaries on Sweden's Vietnam posture were restrained and ambiguous. A number of conceivable explanations are discussed. First, there were components of the Swedish criticism which were likely to arouse suspicions among Soviet leaders, based on their traditional view of Sweden. Second, the domestic politics behind Sweden's external behavior on the Vietnam issue apparently caused concern in Moscow. And finally, Soviet attitudes to the Vietnam War itself were ambiguous. In conclusion, similarities and differences between Soviet and US reactions to Sweden's public criticism of the superpowers are noted.

"Organizing European Space looks at the phenomenon of the sovereign state and the question of alternative ways of organizing Europe politically and economically. Combining perspectives from the different disciplines of the authors - political science, history and geography - it provides a comprehensive introduction to 'Europe' or European space as we understand it today." "The book explores four different ways of organizing space in Europe: state, union, region and network. It reviews the origins, resilience and adaptability of the sovereign state historically, before looking at the implications of the contradictory processes of integration and fragmentation, or globalization and regionalization, present today. A key concept developed throughout the book is that of networks, especially with respect to the European Union, and the relationship between regions, networks and cities, a relationship long traditional to Europe's political organization." "Organizing European Space will be essential reading for all students of contemporary Europe seeking a deeper understanding of the modern state and the complexity of changing notions of identity, organization and territoriality inherent in Europe in the past or in the future."--Jacket.

Once the exclusive preserve of member states, international organizations have become increasingly open in recent decades. Now virtually all international organizations at some level involve NGOs, business actors and scientific experts in policy-making. This book offers the first systematic and comprehensive analysis of this development. Combining statistical analysis and in-depth case studies, it maps and explains the openness of international organizations across issue areas, policy functions and world regions from 1950 to 2010. Addressing the question of where, how and why international organizations offer transnational actors access to global policy-making, this book has implications for critical issues in world politics. When do states share authority with private actors? What drives the design of international organizations? How do activists and businesses influence global politics? Is civil society involvement a solution to democratic deficits in global governance?

AbstractPast decades have witnessed a shift in international cooperation toward growing involvement of transnational actors (TNAs), such as nongovernmental organizations, multinational corporations, and philanthropic foundations. This article offers a comprehensive theoretical and empirical account of TNA access to IOs. The analysis builds on a novel data set, covering formal TNA access to 298 organizational bodies from fifty IOs over the time period 1950 to 2010. We identify the most profound patterns in TNA access across time, issue areas, policy functions, and world regions, and statistically test competing explanations of the variation in TNA access. The central results are three-fold. First, the empirical data confirm the existence of a far-reaching institutional transformation of IOs over the past sixty years, pervading all issue areas, policy functions, and world regions. Second, variation in TNA access within and across IOs is mainly explained by a combination of three factors: functional demand for the resources of TNAs, domestic democratic standards in the membership of IOs, and state concerns with national sovereignty. Third, existing research suffers from a selection bias that has led it to overestimate the general importance of a new participatory norm in global governance for the openness of IOs.