International Organizations and Policy Innovation in the Theories of International Relations
Abstract
As evident from the studies of international organizations, several factors can potentially influence the process of policy innovation and claim causality. The collective or individual interest and power of member states, leadership and preferences of staff members, need for resource mobilization, or the intersubjective quality of norms as an intervening mechanism may influence the process of policymaking and change policies. The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the potential causes of policy innovation based on core assumptions of the theories of international relations in order to develop a framework for the analysis of the UNDP’s engagement with the private sector. The section on constructivism in particular conceptualizes the significance of intersubjectivity and CSR norms in shaping international organizations’ policies and strategies.
Keywords
principal-agent bureaucratic culture rational choice institutionalism constructivism norms and intersubjectivity CSR IOsPreview
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Notes
- 2.For an excellent discussion of these theories, see Andreas Hasenclever, Peter Mayer, and Volker Rittberger, Theories of International Regimes (1997).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- 12.John Ruggie puts himself (and Friedrich Kratochwil) in this category and calls it ‘neo-classical constructivism’, which is distinct from other variants in that it offers a ‘set of analytical tools necessary to make sense of intersubjective meanings’ (Ruggie, 1998a, pp. 880–882).For a discussion of the distinctions between the liberal and other variants of constructivism, see also the chapter by Emanuel Adler in the Handbook of International Relations (Carlsnaes et al., 2012, pp. 112–144).Google Scholar