Representation and Governance in International Organizations

Abstract

What does representation mean when applied to international organizations? While many scholars working on normative questions related to global governance often make use of the concept of representation, few have addressed specifics of applying the concept to the rules and practices by which IOs operate. This article examines representation as a fundamental, albeit often neglected, norm of governance which, if perceived to be deficient or unfair, can interfere with other components of governance, as well as with performance of an organization's core tasks by undermining legitimacy. We argue that the concept of representation has been neglected in the ongoing debates about good governance and democratic deficits within IOs. We aim to correct this by drawing on insights from normative political theory considerations of representation. The article then applies theoretical aspects of representation to the governance of the International Monetary Fund. We determine that subjecting IOs to this kind of conceptual scrutiny highlights important deficiencies in representational practices in global politics. Finally, our conclusion argues scholars of global governance need to address the normative and empirical implications of conceptualizing representation at the supranational level.

Citizen-centred or state-centred? The representational design of International Parliamentary Institutions

“…Representational design focuses on rules that shape descriptive and substantive representation: the classes of actors and concerns that are made present by the participants in international decision-making (Rapkin et al 2016). Thus conceived, representational design is hardly a new problem.…”

“…Any IO reform brings controversy over voting rights in key organizational bodies (Blake and Payton 2015). Many IOs have faced conflicts over the participation and power of weaker and stronger, richer and poorer, nearer and farther, or bigger and smaller states (Rapkin et al 2016).…”

The UN Secretary-General, role expansion and narratives of representation in the 2016 campaign

“…The practice of regional representation thus aims to achieve a form of descriptive representation in which each of the five regional groups are given the opportunity to fill a leadership position with a national of the region. Descriptive representation thus can mark ‘the extent to which an IO [international organisation] reflects the configuration of the international system within which it operates’ (Rapkin et.al., 2016). Rapkin et.al.…”

Norms, Institutions and Governance in an Era of Uncertainty: Connecting the Disparate Scholarship

“…Another "comparative politics" based analysis of global governance, drawing on the traditions of normative political theory and its considerable insight on the meaning and substance of representation, Rapkin et al (2016) argue that global governance has a more basic challenge than simply tinkering with different forms of engagement to facilitate learning. Instead, they argue that scholars working in this area need to think more deeply about representation itself.…”

“…To put it in words borrowed from the constructivist literature, these organizations lack "metagovernance" norms about things as basic as representation. Rapkin et al (2016) argue that without greater clarity on these issues international organizations are unlikely to be effective.…”