Organizing Transnational Accountability

Organizing Transnational Accountability PDF

Author: Christina Garsten

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published: 2008-01-01

Total Pages: 293

ISBN-13: 1848442726

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In the expanding academic literature on accountability, there remains significant ambiguity about the scope and content of this concept. Boström and Garsten have performed an invaluable service to scholars by providing a fresh focus on how accountability is actually organized in practice. Their intelligently edited collection pulls together a range of disciplinary perspectives on the new organizational settings and instruments engaged with accountability norms. This volume is an excellent contribution both to organizational theory and wider research on transnational governance. Michael Mason, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK This book adds a multi-disciplinary organizational perspective to the theoretical analysis of political accountability and argues for a broadening of the conventional understanding of the concepts of responsibility and accountability. There is increasing pressure for accountability, driven by such factors as the globalization of markets, media reports of corporate misconduct, environmental destruction and the violation of human rights. In response, this book focuses on the development of accountability tools and techniques as well as on the organizational arrangements and political struggles behind such endeavours. This unique study theorizes the emerging accountability and corporate social responsibility movement at the transnational level. It focuses on an increasingly recognized aspect of transnational organizational life, which is often mentioned in recent literature, yet sparsely analysed. Organizing Transnational Accountability will be an important and invaluable read for researchers, policymakers and students of social anthropology, sociology, organization theory, political science and critical accounting at graduate levels and above.

The Struggle for Accountability

The Struggle for Accountability PDF

Author: Jonathan A. Fox

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 1998-08-19

Total Pages: 588

ISBN-13: 9780262561174

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After a history of funding environmentally costly megaprojects, the World Bank now claims that it is trying to become a leading force for sustainable development. For more than a decade, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and grassroots movements have formed transnational coalitions to reform the World Bank and the governments that it funds. The Struggle for Accountability assesses the efforts of these groups to make the World Bank more publicly accountable. The book is organized into four parts. Part I describes the NGOs and grassroots movements that are the book's central focus. Part II presents case studies of four projects that provoked the emergence of transnational advocacy coalitions: Indonesia's Kedung Ombo dam, the Mt. Apo geothermal plant in the Philippines, Brazil's Planaforo Amazon development project, and the remarkable campaign of Ecuador's indigenous people to influence national economic policy that led to their participation in the design of a development loan. Part III looks at the origins and politics of reform in four areas of broader World Bank policy: the rights of indigenous peoples, involuntary resettlement, water resources, and the World Bank's institutional reforms that are supposed to encourage public accountability. In the last section, the editors discuss issues of accountability within transnational coalitions and assess the impact of advocacy campaigns on World Bank projects and policies. Contributors L. David Brown, Jane G. Covey, Jonathan A. Fox, Andrew Gray, Margaret E. Keck, Deborah Moore, Antoinette Royo, Augustinus Rumansara, Leonard Sklar, Kay Treakle, Lori Udall, David A. Wirth.

Altered States

Altered States PDF

Author: Valerie Sperling

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2009-05-25

Total Pages: 389

ISBN-13: 1139478184

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Is globalization good for democracy? Or has it made our governing institutions less accountable to citizens? Located at the intersection of international relations and comparative politics, this book explores the effects of globalization on national governance. Under what circumstances do the transnational forces that embody globalization encourage or discourage political accountability? Among the transnational forces discussed in the book are the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, multinational corporations, the United Nations, private military contractors, peacekeepers, the European Court of Human Rights, and several transnational social movements. Using in-depth case studies of situations in which these transnational institutions interact with national governments and citizens, Valerie Sperling traces the impact of economic, political, military, judicial, and civic globalization on state accountability and investigates the degree to which transnational institutions are themselves responsible to the people whose lives they alter.

International Organizations and Democracy

International Organizations and Democracy PDF

Author: Thomas D. Zweifel

Publisher: Swiss Consulting Group, Inc.

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 413

ISBN-13: 1588263924

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?Zweifel?s persuasive and highly relevant book is a significant contribution to the literature on IO governance.? ?Edward McMahon, University of VermontDo international organizations represent the interests of the global citizenry? Or are they merely vehicles for the agendas of powerful nations and special interests? Thomas Zweifel explores this increasingly contentious issue, deftly blending history, theory, and case studies.Zweifel?s analysis covers both regional organizations (e.g., the EU, NAFTA, NATO, the AU) and such global institutions as the United Nations, the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization. With international organizations becoming perhaps the most appropriate?if not the only?forum for tackling myriad transnational challenges, his systematic study of how these organizations function is central to the study of both international relations and democracy in the 21st century.Thomas D. Zweifel, CEO of the Swiss Consulting Group, is also adjunct professor at Columbia University?s School of International and Public Affairs. Previously, he served as director of global operations for the Hunger Project.Contents: The Democratic Deficit of International Organizations. An Approach to Transnational Democracy. A Brief History of International Organization. The United Nations. The World Bank. The International Monetary Fund. The World Trade Organization. The European Union. From OAU to African Union. Other Regional Organizations: NAFTA, NATO, and ASEAN. Global Citizenship?

NGO Accountability

NGO Accountability PDF

Author: Lisa Jordan

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2012-05-04

Total Pages: 271

ISBN-13: 1136560424

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As the fastest growing segment of civil society, as well as featuring prominently in the global political arena, NGOs are under fire for being 'unaccountable'. But who do NGOs actually represent? Who should they be accountable to and how? This book provides the first comprehensive examination of the issues and politics of NGO accountability across all sectors and internationally. It offers an assessment of the key technical tools available including legal accountability, certification and donor-based accountability regimes, and questions whether these are appropriate and viable options or attempts to 'roll-back' NGOs to a more one-dimensional function as organizers of national and global charity. Input and case studies are provided from NGOs such as ActionAid, and from every part of the globe including China, Indonesia and Uganda. In the spirit of moving towards greater accountability the book looks in detail at innovations that have developed from within NGOs and offers new approaches and flexible frameworks that enable accountability to become a reality for all parties worldwide.

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO)

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) PDF

Author: Craig N. Murphy

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2009-01-13

Total Pages: 157

ISBN-13: 1135975965

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The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is the first full-length study of the largest nongovernmental, global regulatory network whose scope and influence rivals that of the UN system. Much of the interest in the successes and failures of global governance focuses around high profile organisations such as the United Nations, World Bank and World Trade Organisation. This volume is one of few books that explore both the International Organization for Standardization's (ISO) role as a facilitator of essential economic infrastructure and the implication of ISO techniques for a much wider realm of global governance. Through detailing the initial rationale behind the ISO and a systematic discussion of how this low profile organization has developed, Murphy and Yates provide a comprehensive survey of the ISO as a powerful force on the way commerce is conducted in a changing and increasingly globalized world.

Evaluating Transnational NGOs

Evaluating Transnational NGOs PDF

Author: J. Steffek

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2010-04-14

Total Pages: 271

ISBN-13: 0230277985

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Critics question the representativeness of NGOs, the democratic quality of their internal procedures, and their accountability to the wider public. This volume, written jointly by academics and practitioners, clarifies the issues at stake and controversially discusses proposals for reform.

Creating Credibility

Creating Credibility PDF

Author: Lloyd David Brown

Publisher: Kumarian Press

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 201

ISBN-13: 1565492633

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In many countries, civil society organizations (CSOs) are more trusted by the general public than businesses and government. Business leaders might maximize their profits at the expense of the business or its customers, and government officials might use their power for their own gain, but CSOs depend on their good reputations and performance in order to mobilize resources. They have fewer opportunities to convert resources into self-interested uses. Recent experience suggests, however, that civil society leaders can also be guilty of self-interested behavior, even though the rewards may be less dramatic than they are in other sectors. This is especially a concern as CSOs become more influential in national and international affairs. Without legitimacy in the eyes of the public and other key actors, CSOs cannot effectively function in the transnational arena. Civil society expert L. David Brown provides approaches to assessing and enhancing the legitimacy and accountability of CSOs, allowing them to reach their full potential in contributions to governance and problem-solving. Creating Credibility is an essential text for anyone concerned with understanding the challenges to civil society legitimacy and finding ways CSOs can respond to these challenges.

Responsibility of International Organizations

Responsibility of International Organizations PDF

Author: Maurizio Ragazzi

Publisher: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers

Published: 2013-07-04

Total Pages: 515

ISBN-13: 9004256083

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In December 2011, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the International Law Commission's articles on the responsibility of international organizations, bringing to conclusion not only nearly ten years of reflection by the Commission, governments and organizations on this specific topic, but also decades of study of the wider subject of international responsibility, which had initially focused on State responsibility. Parallel to this reflection by the Commission, diplomats and public officials, the body of international case-law and literature on the many facets of the topic has steadily been growing. Responsibility of International Organizations: Essays in Memory of Sir Ian Brownlie contributes to the body of international literature by collecting a broad spectrum of different and sometimes differing perspectives from well-known experts in the field, ranging from the bench to the Commission, academia, and the world of in-house counsel. The book is also a memorial to the renowned Sir Ian Brownlie, himself a former Chairman of the International Law Commission who, as a leading scholar and practitioner, greatly contributed to the reflection on international responsibility, including the responsibility of international organizations. Edited by Maurizio Ragazzi, a former pupil of Sir Ian, the book is an ideal companion to International Responsibility Today, a collection of essays on international responsibility which the same editor presented in 2005 in memory of Oscar Schachter, and to which Sir Ian Brownlie had contributed. The essays collected in Responsibility of International Organizations: Essays in Memory of Sir Ian Brownlie, conveniently grouped by the editor under broad areas for the reader's benefit, will be relevant not only to all those interested in this specific subject but also, more generally, to all those engaged in the field of international law and the law of international organizations.