Reflections on International Organisations and International Legitimacy: Constraints, Pathologies, and Possibilities

Abstract

It may appear questionable at first sight to connect international legitimacy and international organisations. However a strong link exists between them. International organisations are the expression, defence, promotion, and projection of a socialised vision of international relations that is key to the claims and gradual implementation of a sense of international legitimacy. As a result, one way to reflect upon global governance — its present situation and what its future is likely to be — is to analyse how international organisations express and contribute to the making of international legitimacy. The paper touches upon three main points. First, it assesses the current legitimacy of international organisations. Second, the paper will examine the contribution of international organisations to international socialisation, which is another word for international or global governance. Thirdly, it attempts to foresee and map some of the key issues around which the future of the international system, international organisations and global governance and the future of their legitimacy will probably revolve.

Too big to be audited? The new world of auditing in international organizations

“…Finally, the consequences of this transformation for safeguarding the integrity and management of resources await further empirical investigation. Contingent and contextual factors may require IOs to try to restore their legitimacy with the public at large or at least to maintain the political and financial support from the largest contributors (Coicaud, ; Torres, ). The increase in auditing services may then be explained as a way through which an organization can control its own compliance with regulation and performance.…”

“…The increasing awareness of international interdependence and transnational problems in the areas of trade, security, environment, or poverty has propelled the creation of transnational institutions at the global level (Held, ; Kahler, ). The increased interdependence of the economies requires greater coordination and IOs are supposed to be able to reduce inequalities among countries, provide multilateral agreements about a number of different issues, and become the stage for the formulation of international laws and norms (Coicaud, ).…”