Good functional governance as narrative of political justification
In this project we investigate the emergence and anatomy of the justification narrative of good functional governance. This narrative may count, at least in the realm of international politics, as the most important alternative to strategies of discursive legitimation that centre on democratic procedure and control. In fact, in the current debate over the democratic deficit of international governance some authors claim that international governance can be legitimated without recurrence to parliamentary control, direct citizen involvement, or enhanced accountability of the executive. In particular Giandomenico Majone and Andrew Moravscik promote a functional, output-oriented legitimation of international organizations and the European Union. These institutions are portrayed as technical agencies, equipped by their national principals with a limited mandate of rule-making and implementation. Their independence from everyday politics and their technocratic character are usually regarded as an advantage, rather than a defect. In this view, any further “democratization” or “politicization” of these organizations would be inappropriate and even hazardous because it would expose them to political dynamics and distributive conflict that they are unable to deal with.
The aim of this project is to explore the justificatory narrative of good functional governance in historical perspective. So far, we know very little about its origins and the authors that were influential in its construction. We are planning to trace the history of academic and political literature that was intended to legitimate proposals of international governance to their contemporaries. Our research will unfold in three stages: in a first step, we will analyse the emergence and consolidation of the narrative in the first half of the 20th century; in a second step we will analyse its argumentative building blocks; and in a third step we will relate our insights to the current debate over global governance and strategies of democratization. At the core of this project, therefore, is not just a historiography of ideas of good governance and the functionalist variant of internationalism. Rather, we aim at a more profound and systematic analysis of the central elements of a functional justification of governance which may prove to have been quite robust over time. In this respect we identified a preliminary list of five key themes that seem to be recurring in the functionalist literature on international organisation:
1) Societal modernization and rationalization
2) International interdependence and the need for cooperation
3) Scientific expertise and specialised bureaucracies
4) Due process and the rule of law
5) De-politicization of international cooperation
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People in this project:
- Project director / contact
- Project members
Publications of this project:
- Steffek, Jens; Bendrath, Ralf; Dalferth, Simon; Hahn, Kristina; Piewitt, Martina; Rodekamp, Meike (2010): ‘Assessing the Democratic Legitimacy of Transnational CSOs: Five Criteria’ in: Jens Steffek und Kristina Hahn (Hg.) Evaluating Transnational NGOs – Legitimacy, Accountability, Representation., Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 100-125.
Details - Müller, Franziska; Claar, Simone (2010): 'Spätfolgen mit Langzeitwirkung - Die Auswirkungen der Weltwirtschaftskrise auf Südafrika' Blätter des Informationszentrums Dritte Welt, Nr. 315: 8-10.
Details - Steffek, Jens; Hahn, Kristina (2010): Evaluating Transnational NGOs: Legitimacy, Accountability, Representation, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Details - Steffek, Jens; Hahn, Kristina (2010): ‘Evaluating NGOs: Prospects for Academic Analysis’ in: Jens Steffek and Kristina Hahn (Hg.) Evaluating Transnational NGOs – Legitimacy, Accountability, Representation., Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 258-264.
Details - Steffek, Jens; Hahn, Kristina (2010): ‘Introduction: Transnational NGOs and Legitimacy, Accountability, Representation’ in: Jens Steffek und Kristina Hahn (Hg.) Evaluating Transnational NGOs – Legitimacy, Accountability, Representation., Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 1-25.
Details - Holthaus, Leonie (2010): Regimelegitimität und regionale Kooperation im Golf-Kooperationsrat (Gulf Cooperation Council). Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.
Details - Müller, Franziska (2010): 'Die Finanzkrise im südlichen Afrika', in: Scherrer, Christoph / Thomas Dürmeier / Bernd Overwien (Hg.) Perspektiven auf die Finanzkrise. Opladen: Barbara Budrich, 127-146.
Details - Müller, Franziska (2010): 'Storming, norming, performing: Implications of the financial crisis in the Southern African Development Community' Göttingen Journal of International Law 2(1): 167-190.
Details - Müller, Franziska (2010): 'Verhandelte Geschlechterverhältnisse: Gender als neue Norm in der internationalen Biodiversitätspolitik?' Femina Politica 1/2010, 32-42.
Details - Steffek, Jens; Piewitt, Martina; Rodekamp, Meike (2010): ‘Civil Society in World Politics: How Accountable Are Transnational CSOs?’ Journal of Civil Society, 6(3), 237-258.
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Steffek, Jens (2011): Tales of Function and Form: The Discursive Legitimation of International Technocracy, Normative Orders Working Paper 02/2011.
Details | Link to full text | urn:nbn:de:hebis:30-100080- Steffek, Jens (2010): ‘Explaining Patterns of Transnational Participation: the Role of Policy Fields’ in: Christer Jönsson und Jonas Tallberg (Hg.) Transnational Actors in Global Governance, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 67-87.
Details - Steffek, Jens (2010): ‘Norms, Persuasion and the New German Idealism in IR’ in: Oliver Kessler et al. (Hg.) On Rules, Politics, and Knowledge: Friedrich Kratochwil, International Relations, and Domestic Affairs, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 191-201.
Details - Steffek, Jens (2010): ‘Public Accountability and the Public Sphere of International Governance’ Ethics & International Affairs, 24(1), 45-67.
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