The global politics paradigm: guide to the future or only the recent past?. Issue 1 (28th March 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Keohane, Robert O.
• Is Part Of: International theory. Volume 13:Issue 1(2021)
• Page Start: 112
• Page End: 121
• Publication Date: 2021-03-28
• Subjects: global governance, -- international institutions, -- Constructivism, -- Realism, -- cooperation theory, -- multilateralism; International law -- Philosophy -- Periodicals; World politics -- Periodicals; International relations -- Periodicals; Law -- Philosophy -- Periodicals; 327.05
• DOI: 10.1017/S1752971920000445
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1752-9719

Abstract

Abstract: Michael Zürn's A Theory of Global Governance is a major theoretical statement. The first section of this essay summarizes Zürn's argument, pointing out that his Global Politics Paradigm views contestation as generated endogenously from the dilemmas and contradictions of reflexive authority relationships. Authoritative international institutions, he maintains, have difficulty maintaining their legitimacy in a world suffused with democratic values. The second section systematically compares Zürn's Global Politics Paradigm with both Realism and Cooperation Theory, arguing that the three paradigms have different scope conditions and are therefore as much complementary as competitive. The third section questions the relevance of Zürn's argument to contemporary reality. Great power conflict and authoritarian populism in formerly democratic countries generate existential threats to multilateralism and global institutions that are more serious than Zürn's legitimacy deficits.