Conditions for socialization in international organizations: comparing committees of permanent representatives in the EU and NATO

Michalski, Anna; Danielson, August

doi:10.1057/s41268-018-0156-y

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…If socialization does not occur among ambassadors in the PSC who are stationed in Brussels for several years, meet frequently in long sessions and have been tasked with coordinating national foreign policy positions towards common European policy, it is hard to see where else it could occur. Even so, few studies have specifically investigated socialization within the PSC (for exceptions, see Juncos and Reynolds, ; Juncos and Pomorska, ; Michalski and Danielson, ), although the EU itself – and various specialized bodies within it – has been the object of numerous socialization studies (see Beyers, ; Checkel, ; Beyers and Trondal, ; Lewis, ; Trondal, ). In previous research socialization has been defined both as the outcome of internalizing an organization's norms and ways of doing things and the process by which agents' behaviour coalesces around common goals, shared policy scripts and perceptions of appropriate behaviour in environments characterized by regular social interaction.…”

Section: The Socializing Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…933–4; Zürn and Checkel, ); the nature of the group's interaction (Beyers, , pp. 911–12; Lewis, , p. 946); the organizational environment (Zürn and Checkel, ); the impact of the domestic setting (Michalski and Danielson, ) and the nature of the norms in reference to which socialization takes place (Zürn and Checkel, ). The ensuing empirical analysis is organized around these five features, as they constitute the primary scope conditions under which socialization is more likely to have a positive effect.…”

Section: The Socializing Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Overcoming Dissent: Socialization in the EU's Political and Security Committee in a Context of Crises

Michalski

Danielson

2019

J of Common Market Studies

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Various crises have plagued the EU's foreign policy over the last decade. As some member states increasingly question the founding principles of the EU, it is reasonable to expect that national representatives serving in preparatory bodies in the EU are forced to operate under stricter instructions from their capitals. Nevertheless, strong adherence to the coordination reflex and problem‐solving ethos is still prevalent within the political and security committee (PSC), the main policy coordination body within EU foreign policy. In order to understand this counterintuitive puzzle we conducted interviews with 20 PSC representatives. We found that national representatives primarily internalize and adhere to the rules and practices at the level of the group (procedural norms) rather than the founding principles of the EU (constitutive norms). Contrary to existing research, we argue that a theoretical distinction between these norms is necessary in order to understand fully how crises and contestation affect microlevel socialization.

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Section: The Socializing Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Socializing Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overcoming Dissent: Socialization in the EU's Political and Security Committee in a Context of Crises

Michalski

Danielson

2019

J of Common Market Studies

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“…Fourthly and finally, understanding IO staff members as critics of their own organisations contributes to the growing scholarly interest in the role and agency of individual bureaucrats and diplomats (cf. Chwieroth 2013 ; Michalski and Danielson 2020 ; Heinzel and Liese 2021 ), their language and feelings (cf. Nair 2020 ; Wong 2020 ), and their self-legitimation strategies (cf.…”

Section: Introduction: ‘Criticism From Within’ In International Organisationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A threat rather than a resource: why voicing internal criticism is difficult in international organisations

Christian

2021

J Int Relat Dev

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Voicing criticism seems to be a difficult task for employees in international organisations (IOs), as numerous anecdotes in the literature suggest. This observation is alarming, since internal criticism is an indispensable resource for organisational learning processes. So why are IOs apparently not using this resource to its full potential? The present article is the first to provide a comprehensive answer to this question by combining insights from organisation theory with an empirical case study of the UN Secretariat. My general argument is that ‘criticism from within’ is ambivalent. It can be a resource for, but also a threat to IOs: internal criticism can endanger an IO’s external reputation as well as destabilise the organisation from within. Based on this theoretical understanding, I identify and empirically examine three specific reasons for the UN Secretariat’s weak criticism culture: (1) Criticism is suppressed due to a widespread fear of leaks resulting from external pressures. (2) Criticism is avoided as a strategy of self-protection in the face of (inevitable) failures. (3) Constructive criticism is difficult to express in settings where organisational hypocrisy is necessary.

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New Institutional Approaches to the Study of Political Executives

Goetz

2020

The Oxford Handbook of Political Executives

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The New Institutionalism—NI—has had a pervasive influence on the study of political executives over the past three decades. It draws attention to the interactions between institutions, organizations, actors, interests, preferences, ideas, resources, and decisions. As such, it captures executives as both institutions and organizations and as political governments and administrations. NI’s strong orientation towards understanding the horizontal and vertical interconnectedness of institutions and organizations makes is very well-suited to analysing Europe’s multi-level executive system. Key NI insights to the study of political executives include the interdependency between formal and informal institutional-organizational settings; the importance of resources; the porosity of institutional-organizational boundaries; the diversity of actors’ motivations; and the relevance of legacies for explaining executive developmental trajectories and executive effects. However, ‘unruly actors’ and political and policy ‘turbulence’ pose analytical challenges to core theoretical assumptions of the NI.

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Conditions for socialization in international organizations: comparing committees of permanent representatives in the EU and NATO

Cited by 5 publications

References 23 publications

Overcoming Dissent: Socialization in the EU's Political and Security Committee in a Context of Crises

Overcoming Dissent: Socialization in the EU's Political and Security Committee in a Context of Crises

A threat rather than a resource: why voicing internal criticism is difficult in international organisations

New Institutional Approaches to the Study of Political Executives

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