Global governance (or world governance) comprises institutions that coordinate the behavior of transnational actors, facilitate cooperation, resolve disputes, and alleviate collective-action problems. Global governance entails making, monitoring, and enforcing rules. Within global governance, a variety of types of actors – not just states – exercise power.
In contrast to the traditional meaning of governance, the term global governance is used to denote the regulation of interdependent relations in the absence of an overarching political authority.James N. Rosenau, "Toward an Ontology for Global Governance", in Martin Hewson and Thomas Sinclair, eds., Approaches to Global Governance Theory, SUNY Press, Albany, 1999. An example of this is the international system, or relationships between independent states.
The concept of global governance began in the mid-19th century. It became particularly prominent in the aftermath of World War I, and more so after the end of World War II. Since World War II, the number of international organizations has also increased significantly. The number of actors involved in governance relationships—such as states, non-governmental organizations, firms, and epistemic communities—has also increased significantly.
Various terms have been used for the dynamics of global governance, such as complex interdependence, international regimes, multilevel governance, global constitutionalism, and ordered anarchy.
Definition The term global governance is broadly used to designate all regulations intended for organization and centralization of human societies on a global scale. Global governance has also been defined as "the complex of formal and informal institutions, mechanisms, relationships, and processes between and among states, markets, citizens and organizations, both inter- and non-governmental, through which collective interests on the global plane are articulated, rights and obligations are established, and differences are mediated".
Traditionally, government has been associated with governing, or with political authority, institutions, and, ultimately, control. Governance denotes a process through which institutions coordinate and control independent social relations, and that have the ability to enforce their decisions. However, governance is also used to denote the regulation of interdependent relations in the absence of an overarching political authority, such as in the international system.James Rosenau, "Toward an Ontology for Global Governance", in Martin Hewson and Timothy J. Sinclair (eds.), Approaches to Global Governance Theory (Albany, NY: State University of New York, 1999). Some scholars refer to this as the development of global public policy.
The definition is flexible in scope, applying to general subjects such as global security or to specific documents and agreements such as the World Health Organization's Code on the Marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes. The definition applies whether the participation is bilateral (e.g. an agreement to regulate usage of a river flowing in two countries), function-specific (e.g. a commodity agreement), regional (e.g. the Treaty of Tlatelolco), or global (e.g. the Non-Proliferation Treaty).
In the light of the unclear meaning of the term global governance as a concept in international politics,Thomas G. Weiss and Rorden Wilkinson (2014), "Rethinking Global Governance? Complexity, Authority, Power and Change", International Studies Quarterly, 58: 1, pp. 207-215 some authors have proposed defining it not in substantive, but in disciplinary and methodological terms. For these authors, global governance is better understood as an analytical concept or optic that provides a specific perspective on world politics different from that of conventional international relationsK.Dingwerth and P.Pattberg, "Global Governance as a Perspective on World Politics", (2006) Global Governance vol. 12:198. theory. Thomas G. Weiss and Rorden Wilkinson have even argued that global governance has the capacity to overcome some of the fragmentation of international relations as a disciplineThomas G. Weiss and Rorden Wilkinson 920140, "Global Governance to the Rescue: Saving International Relations?", Global Governance, 20: 1, pp. 19-36 particularly when understood as a set of questions about the governance of world orders.Thomas G. Weiss and Rorden Wilkinson (2019), Rethinking Global Governance, Cambridge: Polity.
Other authors conceptualized global governance as a field of practice in which diverse stakeholders, such as public, private, and supra-governmental actors can compete for influence about issues that are not bound to national boundaries. This conceptualization allows to better understand the principles of exclusions of specific stakeholders from the negotiation field as some actors lack the economic, social, cultural and symbolic resources required to gain enough influence.
History The League of Nations (founded in 1920), the predecessor of the United Nations, was one of the first organizations to promote global governance.
While attempts of intergovernmental coordination of policy-making can be traced back to ancient times, comprehensive search for effective formats of international coordination and cooperation began after the end of World War I. It was during that post-war period that some of the still existing international institutions (or their immediate predecessors) were founded. Among thinkers who made major contributions to the period discussions on the goals and forms of international governance and policy coordination were J.M. Keynes with his "The Economic Consequences of the Peace" and G. Cassel with his works on the post-war development of the global monetary system.
The dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 marked the end of a long period of international history based on a policy of balance of powers. Since this historic event, the planet has entered a phase of geostrategic breakdown. The national-security model, for example, while still in place for most governments, is gradually giving way to an emerging collective conscience that extends beyond the restricted framework it represents.Blin, Arnaud; Marin, Gustavo; "Rethinking Global Governance"
In the 20th century, the risks associated with nuclear fission raised global awareness of environmental threats. The 1963 Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty prohibiting atmospheric nuclear testing marked the beginning of the globalization of environmental issues. Environmental law began to be modernized and coordinated with the Stockholm Conference (1972), backed up in 1980 by the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties.Di Mento, Josep; The Global Environment and International law, University of Texas Press; 2003; p 7. The Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer was signed and ratified in 1985. In 1987, 24 countries signed the Montreal Protocol which imposed the gradual withdrawal of CFCs.
Methods The "cooperative problem-solving arrangements" of global governance may be formal. In that case they take the shape of laws or formally constituted institutions for a variety of actors (such as state authorities, intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), private sector entities, civil society actors) to manage collective affairs.Pawel Zaleski Global Non-governmental Administrative System: Geosociology of the Third Sector, [in:] Gawin, Dariusz & Glinski, Piotr [ed.]: "Civil Society in the Making", IFiS Publishers, Warszawa 2006. They may also be informal (as in the case of practices or guidelines) or ad hoc entities (as in the case of coalitions).
Global governance can be roughly divided into four stages: agenda-setting (or global goal-setting); policymaking, implementation and enforcement, and evaluation, monitoring, and adjudication.
Global goal-setting A "new central approach in global governance" is global goal-setting. Governance of this kind is based on goals that are not legally binding, allow flexibility for each country, and do not come with strong institutional arrangements. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
The Sustainable Development Goals (to be achieved during the years 2015 to 2030) are one example of global goal setting. They were "expected to have a major impact on the United Nations System" which is a key actor within the global governance concept. Previously, another attempt at "global governance by goal-setting" were the Millennium Development Goals from the year 2000 to 2015. Even earlier examples of global goal-setting include the "Plan of Action of the 1990 World Summit for Children" and the "first Development Decade that dates as far back as 1961".
However, results from a meta-analysis found that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) had so far (as of 2023) failed to integrate the system of global governance and to bring international organizations together. By and large, the SDGs have not become a shared set of connecting goals, and their uptake in global governance has been limited. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License The SDGs are not taken up by a enough of the international organizations. Instead, international organizations cherry-pick only those SDGs that best fit their interest. In particular, they often cherry-pick SDG 8 (on decent work and economic growth), SDG 9 (on industry and innovation), and SDG 12 (on consumption and production).One of the SDGs, Sustainable Development Goal 16 on "peace, justice and strong institutions", has a target and indicator regarding global governance (to be achieved by 2030). The wording of this Target 16.8 is: "Broaden and strengthen the participation of developing countries in the institutions of global governance."United Nations (2017) Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 6 July 2017, Work of the Statistical Commission pertaining to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (A/RES/71/313) Indicator 16.8.1 is used to measure this target by monitoring the "proportion of members and voting rights of developing countries in international organizations".Ritchie, Roser, Mispy, Ortiz-Ospina. "Measuring progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals." (SDG 16) SDG-Tracker.org, website (2018) Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License A UNDP report of 2024 reported that this indicator had made no progress since 2015: "No significant changes in these countries' voting rights were registered since 2015 at any of the international economic institutions".UNDP, UNODC, and OHCHR (2024). Global Progress Report on Sustainable Development Goal 16 Indicators. At the Crossroads: Breakdown or Breakthrough for Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.
Orchestration Orchestration in global governance is defined as a form of soft and indirect steering characterized by a reliance on voluntarily recruited intermediaries. It fills governance deficits by complementing existing regimes and approaches. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License In other words, orchestration is an indirect mode of governance whereby an actor (e.g. an international organization or a national government) mobilizes one or more intermediaries to take influence on a certain target group. Three orchestration activities are agenda setting, coordination, and support. For example, the five regional commissions of the United Nations Economic and Social Council have carried out these activities (to varying degrees) as part of their role as orchestrators for the Sustainable Development Goals.
Intergovernmental treaty secretariats