World Rule - by Jonathan Gs Koppell Paperback

Book Synopsis

Dilemmas from climate change to financial meltdowns make it clear that global interconnectedness is the norm in the twenty-first century. As a result, global governance organizations (GGOs)-from the World Trade Organization to the Forest Stewardship Council-have taken on prominent roles in the management of international affairs. These GGOs create and promulgate rules to address a host of pressing problems. But as World Rule reveals, they struggle to meet two challenges: building authority despite limited ability to impose sanctions and maintaining legitimacy while satisfying the demands of key constituencies whose support is essential to a global rulemaking regime.

Through a novel empirical study of twenty-five GGOs, Jonathan GS Koppell provides a clearer picture of the compromises within and the competition among these influential institutions by focusing attention on their organizational design. Analyzing four aspects of GGO organization in depth-representation and administration, the rulemaking process, adherence and enforcement, and interest group participation-Koppell describes variation systemically, identifies patterns, and offers explanations that link GGO design to the fundamental challenge of accountability in global governance.

Review Quotes

"A serious and important contribution to the understanding of the growing emergence of world government. . . . This is an essential read for followers of international relations theory."--Choice-- "Choice"

"Jonathan Koppell's World Rule is essential reading for scholars, managers, and policy makers interested in the rules that underpin the global economy. Koppell authoritatively and convincingly explains the origins of the dense network of global rules and elucidates their effects on both markets and practices. His theoretical insights into the politics of organizations are profound."

--Rawi Abdelal, Harvard Business School

"This ambitious book puts the broad universe of international rulemaking into perspective--from Internet names to banking regulation to international trade. Koppell makes a sensitive argument for the importance of accountability in all manner of organizations that make international decisions and regulations. His detailed accounts of specific international standards form the foundation for a compelling argument that legitimacy and accountability are at the heart of international governance."

--Ian Hurd, Northwestern University

"This study of 'global governance organizations' is very important--both in analytical and policy terms. It targets an increasingly complex, interdependent institutional domain that weaves public, private and nongovernmental sectors together in ways that have been largely invisible to and confounding for students of public organizations. As unique as it is forward looking, this book brings a wide-ranging, powerful, conceptual, and empirical approach to expansive and problematic institutional phenomena. No one in the profession is more aptly situated in experience and conceptual acuity to advance our understanding and policy humility concerning 'world rule.' A must for students of complex organizations and public policy."

--Todd LaPorte, University of California, Berkeley

About the Author

Jonathan GS Koppell is Director of the School of Public Affairs at Arizona State University where he also holds the Lattie and Elva Coor Presidential Chair. He is the author of The Politics of Quasi-Government: Hybrid Organizations and the Dynamics of Bureaucratic Control and was for ten years on the faculty of the Yale School of Management.