Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Orchestrating (Bio-)Diversity: The Secretariat of the Convention of Biological Diversity as an Attention-Seeking Bureaucracy

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
International Bureaucracy

Part of the book series: Public Sector Organizations ((PSO))

Abstract

Conceptualizing international public administrations (IPAs) as attention-seeking bureaucracies which aim to actively feed their policy-relevant information into multilateral decision-making process, the chapter proposes two pathways through which international treaty secretariats may seek to influence international negotiations: (a) secretariats may attempt to supply policy-relevant information to negotiators from the inside via their close cooperation with the chairs of multilateral negotiations; (b) they may attempt to build support for their preferred policy outputs by engaging with and communicatively connecting actors within the broader transnational policy network in order to exert pressure on negotiators from the outside. Taking the secretariat of the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) as an example, these potential pathways of secretariat influence are illustrated and explored empirically. The findings contribute to a growing body of literature that studies the role of national and IPAs as agenda-setters, policy entrepreneurs, or policy brokers at the interface of public policy analysis and PA.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 139.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 179.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 179.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Abbott, K. W., Genschel, P., Snidal, D., & Zangl, B. (Eds.) (2015). International organizations as orchestrators. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Abbott, K. W., & Snidal, D. (2010). International regulation without International Government: Improving IO performance through orchestration. Review of International Organizations, 5(3), 315–344.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arrow, K. J. (1985). The economics of agency. In J. W. Pratt & R. J. Zeckhauser (Eds.), Principals and agents: The structure of business (pp. 37–53). Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barnett, M., & Finnemore, M. (2004). Rules for the World: International organizations in global politics. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bauer, M. W., Conceição-Heldt, E.d., & Ege, J. (2015). Autonomiekonzeptionen internationaler Organisationen im Vergleich. In E.d. Conceição-Heldt, A. Liese, & M. Koch (Eds.), Internationale Organisationen. Autonomie, Politisierung, interorganisationale Beziehungen und Wandel. Politische Jahresschrift Sonderheft 49 (pp. 28–53). Baden-Baden: Nomos.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bauer, M.W., & Ege, J. (2016). Bureaucratic autonomy of International Organizations’ Secretariats. Journal of European Public Policy, 23(7), 1019–1037.

    Google Scholar 

  • Biermann, F., & Siebenhüner, B. (Eds.) (2009). Managers of global change: The influence of international environmental bureaucracies. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carpenter, D. P. (2001). The forging of bureaucratic autonomy: Reputations, networks, and policy innovation in executive agencies, 1862–1928. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carpenter, D. P. (2010). Reputation and power: Organizational image and pharmaceutical regulation at the FDA. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Depledge, J. (2007). A special relationship: Chairpersons and the secretariat in the climate change negotiations. Global Environmental Politics, 7(1), 45–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fernandez, R. M., & Gould, R. V. (1994). A dilemma of state power: Brokerage and influence in the National Health Policy Domain. American Journal of Sociology, 99(6), 1455–1491.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frederickson, H. G., Smith, K. B., Larimer, C. W., & Licari, M. J. (2011). The public administration theory primer. New York: Westview Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gehring, T. (2012). International environmental regimes as decision machines. In P. Dauvergne (Ed.), Handbook of global environmental politics (pp. 51–63). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hawkins, D., Lake, D. A., Nielson, D. L., & Tierney, M. J. (Eds.) (2006a). Delegation and agency in international relations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hawkins, D., Lake, D. A., Nielson, D. L., & Tierney, M. J. (2006b). Delegation under Anarchy: States, international organizations, and Principal-Agent Theory. In D. Hawkins, D. A. Lake, D. L. Nielson, & M. J. Tierney (Eds.), Delegation and agency in international relations (pp. 3–38). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Jänicke, M., Schreurs, M., & Töpfer, K. (2015). The potential of multi-level global climate governance. IASS Policy Brief 2/2015, 2015, Potsdam.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jinnah, S. (2014). Post-treaty politics: Secretariat influence in global environmental governance. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Jörgens, H. (2016). International treaty secretariats as attention-seeking bureaucracies: Cornerstones of a theoretical frame-work. Manuscript. Berlin: Freie Universität Berlin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kolleck, N. (2012). How Corporations wield their power: The discursive shaping of sustainable development. In J. Mikler (Ed.), The handbook of global companies (pp. 134–152). Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kolleck, N. (2014). Innovations through networks: Understanding the role of social relations for educational innovations. Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft, 17(S5), 47–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kolleck, N. (2015). Uncovering Influence through Social Network Analysis: The role of schools in education for sustainable development. Journal of Education Policy, 31, 308–329.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marks, G. (1993). Structural Policy and multi-level governance in the EC. In A. Cafruny & G. Rosenthal (Eds.), The state of the European Community, The Maastricht debates and beyond (Vol. Vol. 2, pp. 391–410). Boulder: Lynne Rienner.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mathiason, J. (2007). Invisible governance: International secretariats in global politics. Bloomfield: Kumarian Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayring, P. (2010). Qualitative Inhaltsanalyse. Grundlagen und Techniken. Weinheim: Beltz.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCubbins, M. D., Noll, R. G., & Weingast, B. R. (1987). Administrative procedures as instruments of political control. Journal of Law, Economics and Organization, 3(2), 243–277.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meuser, M., & Nagel, U. (2009a). Das Experteninterview—konzeptionelle Grundlagen und methodische Anlage1. In S. Pickel, G. Pickel, H.-J. Lauth, & D. Jahn (Eds.), Methoden der vergleichenden Politik- und Sozialwissenschaft. Neue Entwicklungen und Anwendungen (pp. 465–479). Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Meuser, M., & Nagel, U. (2009b). The expert interview and changes in knowledge production. In A. Bogner, B. Littig, & W. Menz (Eds.), Interviewing experts (pp. 17–42). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Ness, G. D., & Brechin, S. R. (1988). Bridging the gap: International organizations as organizations. International Organization, 42(2), 245–273.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olsen, J. P. (2006). Maybe it is time to rediscover bureaucracy. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 16(1), 1–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ostrom, E. (2010). Polycentric systems for coping with collective action and global environmental change. Global Environmental Change, 20, 550–557.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reinalda, B., & Verbeek, B. (Eds.) (1998). Autonomous policy making by international organizations. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schattschneider, E. (1960). The Semisovereign people: A realist’s view of democracy in America. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schreurs, M. A., & Tiberghien, Y. (2007). Multi-level reinforcement: Explaining European Union Leadership in climate change mitigation. Global Environmental Politics, 7(4), 19–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Siebenhüner, B. (2009). The biodiversity Secretariat: Lean Shark in troubled waters. In F. Biermann & B. Siebenhüner (Eds.), Managers of global change: The influence of international environmental bureaucracies (pp. 265–291). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Tallberg, J. (2010). The power of the chair: Formal leadership in international cooperation. International Studies Quarterly, 54(1), 241–265.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, W. (1987). The study of administration. Political Science Quarterly, 2, 197–232.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Workman, S. (2015). The dynamics of bureaucracy in the US Government: How congress and federal agencies process information and solve problems. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the German Research Foundation under Grants JO 1142/1-1 and KO 4997/1-1, FOR # 1745.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Otto-Suhr-Institute of Political Science, Freie Universität Berlin, 21, Ihnestr.,, 14195,, Berlin, Germany

    Helge Jörgens & Barbara Saerbeck

  2. Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, 45, Habelschwerdter Allee, 14195, Berlin, Germany

    Nina Kolleck & Mareike Well

Authors
  1. Helge Jörgens
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Nina Kolleck
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Barbara Saerbeck
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Mareike Well
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. German University of Administrative Sciences, Speyer, Germany

    Michael W. Bauer

  2. Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, München, Germany

    Christoph Knill

  3. Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, München, Germany

    Steffen Eckhard

Copyright information

© 2017 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Jörgens, H., Kolleck, N., Saerbeck, B., Well, M. (2017). Orchestrating (Bio-)Diversity: The Secretariat of the Convention of Biological Diversity as an Attention-Seeking Bureaucracy. In: Bauer, M., Knill, C., Eckhard, S. (eds) International Bureaucracy. Public Sector Organizations. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-94977-9_4

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation