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1. Dysfunctional Institutions, Social Trust, and Governance in Areas of Limited Statehood

Author:
Thomas Risse and Tanja A. Börzel
Publication Date:
07-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Collaborative Research Center (SFB) 700
Abstract:
Areas of limited statehood where the state is absent or dysfunctional are rarely ungoverned or ungovernable spaces. The provision of rules and regulations as well as of public goods and services – governance – does not necessarily depend on the existence of functioning state institutions. How can this be explained? This article makes two claims. First, we identify functional equivalents to state institutions that fail to govern hierarchically. Second, we focus on informal institutions based on social trust that are endogenous to areas of limited statehood. Personalized social trust among community members enables actors to overcome collective action problems, enhancing the legitimacy of governance actors. The main challenge in areas of limited statehood, which are often characterized by social heterogeneity and deep social and cultural cleavages (particularly in post-conflict societies), is to move from personalized to generalized trust in “imagined communities” despite dysfunctional state institutions. We argue that generalized trust in areas of limited statehood crucially depends on inclusive social identities as an enabling condition for effective and legitimate governance.
Topic:
Governance, Community, Statehood, and Social Identities
Political Geography:
Global Focus

2. Governance Without a State?: Policies and Politics in Areas of Limited Statehood

Author:
Thomas Risse
Publication Date:
10-2011
Content Type:
Book
Institution:
Columbia University Press
Abstract:
Governance discourse centers on an “ideal type” of modern statehood that exhibits full internal and external sovereignty and a legitimate monopoly on the use of force. Yet modern statehood is an anomaly, both historically and within the contemporary international system, while the condition of “limited statehood,” wherein countries lack the capacity to implement central decisions and monopolize force, is the norm. Limited statehood, argue the authors in this provocative collection, is in fact a fundamental form of governance, immune to the forces of economic and political modernization. Challenging common assumptions about sovereign states and the evolution of modern statehood, particularly the dominant paradigms supported by international relations theorists, development agencies, and international organizations, this volume explores strategies for effective and legitimate governance within a framework of weak and ineffective state institutions. Approaching the problem from the perspectives of political science, history, and law, contributors explore the factors that contribute to successful governance under conditions of limited statehood. These include the involvement of nonstate actors and nonhierarchical modes of political influence. Empirical chapters analyze security governance by nonstate actors, the contribution of publicprivate partnerships to promote the United Nations Millennium Goals, the role of business in environmental governance, and the problems of Western state-building efforts, among other issues. Recognizing these forms of governance as legitimate, the contributors clarify the complexities of a system the developed world must negotiate in the coming century.
Topic:
International Relations, Political Theory, and History
Political Geography:
Global Focus
Publication Identifier:
9780231521871
Publication Identifier Type:
ISBN

3. The Emergence of a European Community of Communication: Insights from Empirical Research on the Europeanization of Public Spheres

Author:
Thomas Risse and Marianne van de Steeg
Publication Date:
08-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Kolleg-Forschergruppe (KFG)
Abstract:
A European public sphere emerges out of Europeanized national public spheres if the following two phenomena are verified. First, if and when the same (European) themes are discussed at the same time with similar frames of reference, meaning structures, and patterns of interpretation across the various media sources. Second, if and when a transnational community of communication emerges in which speakers and listeners recognize each other as legitimate participants in a discourse that frames the issues at stake as common European problems. We present empirical evidence from other scholars and two case studies of our own, namely Eastern enlargement and the sanctions against the Austrian ÖVP/FPÖ-government. The main finding is that at least when European issues are discussed, that a European public sphere is constituted and re-constituted through the discursive connections and debates across borders.
Topic:
Civil Society, Democratization, Regional Cooperation, and Mass Media
Political Geography:
Europe

4. Diffusing (Inter-) Regionalism: The EU as a Model of Regional Integration

Author:
Thomas Risse and Tanja A. Börzel
Publication Date:
09-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Kolleg-Forschergruppe (KFG)
Abstract:
The European Union (EU) perceives itself as a model for regional integration, which it seeks to diffuse by actively promoting the development of genuine (intra-) regional economic and political cooperation, the building of issue-related regimes, and the creation of joint institutions for consultation and decision-making in its neighbourhood and beyond as well as between the world regions and the EU.
Topic:
Globalization, Government, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Europe

5. The Transformative Power of Europe: The European Union and the Diffusion of Ideas

Author:
Thomas Risse and Tanja A. Börzel
Publication Date:
05-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Kolleg-Forschergruppe (KFG)
Abstract:
This paper sets out the research agenda of the Kolleg-Forschergruppe “The Transformative Power of Europe. The European Union and the Diffusion of Ideas”. The diffusion of ideas has become a central research theme in political science, sociology, law, history, and economics. In this context, the Kolleg-Forschergruppe focuses on the theoretical and methodological challenges of identifying scope conditions for and interaction effects between the various causal mechanisms by which ideas are spread across time and space. We concentrate on the European Union (EU) as an almost ideal laboratory for investigating processes and outcomes of diffusion. First, European integration itself can be described as an effort to promote the diffusion of ideas across Europe and beyond. Second, European societies and polities emulate each other through mimetic processes. Third, Europe and the EU also serve as active promoters of diffusion processes toward the outside world. Last not least, European integration is embedded in and responds to larger global diffusion processes. The Kolleg-Forschergruppe will explore the diffusion of ideas in three thematic areas: “identity and the public sphere,” “compliance, conditionality, and beyond,” and “comparative regionalism and Europe's external relations”.
Topic:
Economics, Regional Cooperation, and Political Theory
Political Geography:
Europe

6. Regieren in Räumen begrenzter Staatlichkeit: Zur Reisefähigkeit des Governance-Konzeptes

Author:
Thomas Risse
Publication Date:
04-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Collaborative Research Center (SFB) 700
Abstract:
Ein zentrales theoretisches Problem des wissenschaftlichen Diskurses über Governance besteht darin, dass die sozialwissenschaftlichen Konzepte vor dem Hintergrund der Erfahrung des Regierens in modernen und hoch entwickelten demokratischen Nationalstaaten der OECD-Welt formuliert wurden. Hieraus ergeben sich konzeptionelle Probleme hinsichtlich ihrer Anwendbarkeit auf historische und gegenwärtige Räume begrenzter Staatlichkeit. Diese Räume befinden sich vornehmlich außerhalb der OECD-Welt und sind kulturell, religiös aber auch im Hinblick auf Akteurskonstellationen und Handlungsmodi anders strukturiert als der moderne Nationalstaat westlicher Prägung. Der Beitrag behandelt diese „Reisefähigkeit“ des Governance-Konzeptes in andere Weltregionen und kulturelle Kontexte. Inwieweit sind die westlich geprägten Begrifflichkeiten auf diese übertragbar, und welche Probleme stellen sich dabei? Was können wir umgekehrt für die sozialwissenschaftliche Governance-Diskussion aus den Erfahrungen mit dem Regieren in Räumen begrenzter Staatlichkeit lernen?
Topic:
Democratization, Development, International Cooperation, and Political Economy
Political Geography:
Germany

7. Governance in Areas of Limited Statehood – New Modes of Governance? Research Program of the Research Center (SFB) 700

Author:
Thomas Risse and Ursula Lehmkuhl
Publication Date:
12-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Collaborative Research Center (SFB) 700
Abstract:
The governance problematique constitutes a central research focus in contemporary social sciences. Yet, the debate remains centered on an „ideal type“ of the modern nation-state – with full sovereignty and a legitimate monopoly over the use of force. From a global as well as a historical perspective, however, the Western modern nation-state is an exception rather than the rule. Outside the developed world, we find areas of “limited statehood”, from developing and transition countries to „failing“ and „failed states“ in today's conflict zones and – historically – in colonial societies. Our Research Center focuses on these areas of limited statehood which lack the capacity to implement and enforce central decisions or even lack the monopoly over the means of violence. We ask: How can effective and legitimate governance be sustained in areas of limited statehood? Which problems emerge under these conditions? We assume that “multi-level governance” is the rule in areas of limited statehood, linking the local with the national, regional, and global levels. We also assume that governance in areas of limited statehood involves a variety of public and private actors, such as states, international organizations, firms, and civil society. Governance entails negotiations, bargaining, and arguing among these actors rather than hierarchical „command and control“.
Topic:
Democratization, Development, International Cooperation, and Political Economy

8. Governance in Räumen begrenzter Staatlichkeit: Neue Formen des Regierens?

Author:
Thomas Risse and Ursula Lehmkuhl
Publication Date:
12-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Collaborative Research Center (SFB) 700
Abstract:
Governance ist zu einem zentralen Thema sozialwissenschaftlicher Forschung geworden. Dabei besteht Übereinstimmung, dass politische Gemeinwesen bestimmte Leistungen in den Bereichen Herrschaft, Sicherheit und Wohlfahrt erbringen sollen. In den Debatten wird aber oft „eff ektive Gebietsherrschaft“ als Kernelement moderner Staatlichkeit stillschweigend vorausgesetzt, und die Forschung konzentriert sich auf die OECD-Welt. In globaler sowie historischer Perspektive sind autoritative Entscheidungskompetenz und Gewaltmonopol des Staates jedoch die Ausnahme, nicht die Regel. Ein Blick auf die Länder des Südens, „zerfallen(d)e Staaten“ in den Krisenregionen der Welt oder ehemalige Kolonien bestätigt dies. Hier wird politisch gesteuert, ohne dass die vielfältigen Verfahren demokratischer und rechtsstaatlich organisierter Wohlfahrtsstaaten verfügbar wären. Der SFB 700 fragt daher nach den Bedingungen von Governance in diesen Räumen begrenzter Staatlichkeit: Wie und unter welchen Bedingungen werden Governance-Leistungen in den Bereichen Herrschaft, Sicherheit und Wohlfahrt in Räumen begrenzter Staatlichkeit erbracht, und welche Probleme entstehen dabei? Die SFB-Teilprojekte untersuchen, wie dort regiert wird und welche Probleme dabei entstehen. Dabei gehen wir davon aus, dass sich in Räumen begrenzter Staatlichkeit „neue“ Formen des Regierens herausbilden, die vorwiegend „weiche“ Steuerungsformen nutzen, auf vielfältigen Kooperationsformen zwischen staatlichen und nicht-staatlichen Akteuren basieren und durch eine Verschränkung von globalen, nationalen und lokalen Ebenen charakterisiert sind.
Topic:
Democratization, Development, International Organization, and Political Economy
Political Geography:
Germany

9. Governance in Areas of Limited Statehood – New Modes of Governance?

Author:
Thomas Risse and Ursula Lehmkuhl
Publication Date:
12-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Collaborative Research Center (SFB) 700
Abstract:
The governance problematique constitutes a central research focus in contemporary social sciences. Yet, the debate remains centered on an „ideal type“ of the modern nation-state – with full sovereignty and a legitimate monopoly over the use of force. From a global as well as a historical perspective, however, the Western modern nation-state is an exception rather than the rule. Outside the developed world, we find areas of “limited statehood”, from developing and transition countries to „failing“ and „failed states“ in today's conflict zones and – historically – in colonial societies. Our Research Center focuses on these areas of limited statehood which lack the capacity to implement and enforce central decisions or even lack the monopoly over the means of violence. We ask: How can effective and legitimate governance be sustained in areas of limited statehood? Which problems emerge under these conditions? We assume that “multi-level governance” is the rule in areas of limited statehood, linking the local with the national, regional, and global levels. We also assume that governance in areas of limited statehood involves a variety of public and private actors, such as states, international organizations, firms, and civil society. Governance entails negotiations, bargaining, and arguing among these actors rather than hierarchical „command and control“.
Topic:
Democratization, Development, International Cooperation, Political Economy, and Governance

10. Ideas, Culture and Political Analysis Workshop

Author:
Thomas Risse, Sarah Mendelson, Neil Fligstein, Jan Kubik, Jeffrey T. Checkel, Consuelo Cruz, Kathleen McNamara, Sheri Berman, Frank Dobbin, Mark Blyth, Ken Pollack, George Steinmetz, Daniel Philpott, Gideon Rose, Martha Finnemore, Kathryn Skikkink, Marie Gottschalk, John Kurt Jacobsen, and Anna Seleny
Publication Date:
05-1998
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Social Science Research Council
Abstract:
The last decade or so has witnessed a resurgence in scholarship employing ideational and cultural factors in the analysis of political life. This scholarship has addressed political phenomena across a variety of national and international settings, with studies of European politics being particularly well represented. For example, the work of scholars like Peter Hall (1993), Peter Katzenstein (1996), Ronald Inglehart (1997), Robert Putnam (1994) and Daniel Jonah Goldhagen (1995) has improved our understandings of European polities, societies and economies. Yet despite a recent rise in interest, ideational and cultural explanations still meet with skepticism in many quarters of the discipline. Some scholars doubt whether non-material factors like ideas or culture have independent causal effects, and others, who accept that such factors might matter, despair of devising viable ways of analyzing their impact on political life.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, International Relations, Security, Democratization, Economics, Government, Human Rights, International Cooperation, Nationalism, and Politics
Political Geography:
United States, Middle East, France, and Latin America