Contemporary World – Assignment #3 on Module 5 Global

Governance

Name: Inna Viktoria N. Elle

Student #: 22002813

1.) Explain the concept of Global Governance

According to Suslov, global governance is the collective management of common
transnational problems by both state and non-state actors through rules, institutions, and
processes. It is, therefore, inseparable from globalization since the problems it seeks to remedy
extend across national boundaries. It involves a huge number of both state and non-state
actors since most of these problems cannot be managed at the level of the nation state. They
are managed through very highly complicated, flexible, and loose systems of rules, institutions,
and processes. [1] In other words, global governance can be defined as a movement towards
political cooperation among transnational actors, aimed at negotiating responses to problems
that affect more than one state or region. [2]

2.) Discuss the role of Global Governance

The goal of global governance is aimed towards the management of global problems.
This is achieved through the voluntary and extemporaneous cooperation of a diverse range of
international actors. [3] The Global Challenges Foundation states that global governance seeks
to provide global public goods, particularly peace and security, justice and mediation systems
for conflict, functioning markets, and unified standards for trade and industry. [4] Other
transnational issues it deals with are global climate change, pollution of the environment,
poverty and management over economic development, financial instability, global economic
crises and recessions, management of global trade and investment, global migrations,
pandemics, transnational terrorism, and transnational organized crime. [5] Thus, global
governance is necessary because humanity increasingly faces both problems and opportunities
that are global in scale. [6]

3.) Why is Global Governance multifaceted?

One of the characteristics of global governance is that it is multi-faceted. It is multi-
faceted in terms of its areas of governance, the actors involved in the system, and the theories
that assess its impact. Kevin Ramkissoon explains that the multi-faceted character of this global
system lies on the fact that it encompasses several areas of governance, including security,
justice, human rights, development, trade, and finance. Global governance also involves many
actors, such as intergovernmental organizations, multinational corporations, international non-
governmental organizations, states, and non-state actors. Consequently, assessing the impact
of this global system depends on one’s theoretical lens, some of which are Marxism, social
constructivism, liberal institutionalism, pluralism, and many others. [7]

4.) Discuss each of the different forms of Global Governance

According to James Rosenau, global governance can be classified into six different types.
These types are determined by two variables, namely, structures and processes. The former
determines how the rules are established or how the authority is exercised while the latter
determines what kind of processes of governing takes place. The structure of governance is
further divided into three: formal, informal, and mixed. Likewise, the process of governance can
either be unidirectional or multidirectional in nature. Unidirectional means that authority is
exercised in one direction. Multidirectional, on the other hand, suggests two or more directions
of authority. [8]
The first type of global governance is the top-down governance, a unidirectional process
of governance that is formal in structure. This is the type of governance which is conducted in
domestic politics in the form of state government. At the international level, this type of
governance is done by, for instance, individual states, when they impose some rule on the
other states, or when they demand a certain pattern of foreign or domestic behavior from the
other states. Also, this top-down governance can be conducted by groups of states, and it can
also be exercised even by transnational corporations when they either individually or jointly
agree on some standards, and then impose these standards on the other actors. This type of
governance, then, is done by formal structures, which establish rules and try to make the
others to follow these rules. And the collectivities, which are involved in this type of
governance, are states, groups of states, international organizations, and transnational
corporations. [9]
The second type of global governance is the bottom-up governance. This type of
governance happens when rules are elaborated by such actors as human rights groups, non-
government organizations, and mass public, and then, transmitted up. These rules are
elaborated by non-state actors, and are passed to the states and international organizations to
be ratified by governments and/or international institutions. Though states and international
institutions are eventually the ones who officially adopt these rules, they are not always the
ones who really elaborate these rules. They can be imposed on or passed through the states
and international organizations by civil society. [10]
In addition to these types of global governance is market governance. It is unidirectional
and mixed in structure. What makes this type peculiar is that agreements and contracts, such as
those made between private actors on trade and investment, are made part of global
governance. All these actors—the private companies, businesses, organizations, and
transnational corporations—establish rules for themselves and for the others. These rules are
spelled out in contracts, but these interactions, this rule-making happens in the regulatory
framework provided by the governments, by the states. Thus, this type of governance process
is both formal and informal in the sense that governments exercise some formal regulation
over the informal flows of trade and investment. [11]
Another type of global governance is side-by-side governance. It is multi-directional and
informal in structure. This governance arises out of informal cooperative interactions among
transnational non-government elites on the one hand and state officials on the other hand. In
this type of governance, the interactions and interchanges among the state officials and
informal elites are so thorough and effective that they become intertwined and
indistinguishable in the processes of governance. Examples of this type of governance is the
global effort to combat corruption and the activity of Transparency International. [12]
The fifth type of global governance is the complex web governance. It is multidirectional
in terms of processes and mixed in terms of structure. This is the most complicated type of the
global governance processes. It is a combination of network governance and side-by-side
governance, and it occurs when government impulses derive from networked interactions of
actors from different levels of different natures, including states, elites, non-government
organizations, international organizations, and mass publics among others. In other words, the
complex web governance is the accumulation of all the previous types of governance that
we've discussed all together. This mode of governance mobilizes the contribution of all actors
from public, private and social sectors as producers of governments. [13]
The last type of global governance is network governance. Like the top-down
governance, it is formal in structure. However, it involves a multi-directional process. It is
defined as an interfirm coordination, characterized by organic or informal social system, as
opposed to the bureaucratic structures within firms and the formal contractual relationships
between them. Network governance involves a select, persistent, and structured set of
autonomous firms, as well as nonprofit agencies, engaged in creating products or services
based on implicit and open-ended contracts that not only adapt to environmental
contingencies but also coordinate and safeguard exchanges. [14]
REFERENCES
[1] Suslov, D. V. (2018). What is global governance. Retrieved October 01, 2020, from
https://www.coursera.org/lecture/international-relations-theory/what-is-global-
governance-PXyaE

[2] Global governance. (2020, October 01). Retrieved October 02, 2020, from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_governance

[3] Brandi, C. (n.d.). Global Audit. Retrieved October 02, 2020, from
https://www.globalpolicyjournal.com/projects/global-audit/global-audit

[4] What is Global Governance? (2020, June 24). Retrieved October 02, 2020, from
https://globalchallenges.org/global-governance/

[5] Suslov, D. V. (2018). What is global governance. Retrieved October 01, 2020, from
https://www.coursera.org/lecture/international-relations-theory/what-is-global-
governance-PXyaE

[6] Bailey, R. (2018, September 05). Why do we need global governance? Retrieved October 02,
2020, from https://www.visionofearth.org/social-change/global-governance/

[7] Ramkissoon, K. (2017). Global Governance from Regional Perspectives [PDF]. Oxford
Scholarship Online. doi:10.1093/oso/9780198793342.001.0001

[8] Suslov, D. V. (n.d.). Classification of global governance. Retrieved October 02, 2020, from
https://www.coursera.org/lecture/international-relations-theory/classification-of-
global-governance-aa9jU

[9] – [11] Suslov, D. V. (n.d.). Models of governance. Retrieved October 02, 2020, from
https://www.coursera.org/lecture/international-relations-theory/models-of-
governance-dgorN
[12] – [13] Suslov, D. V. (n.d.). Models of governance. Retrieved October 02, 2020, from
https://www.coursera.org/lecture/international-relations-theory/models-of-
governance-zCWRb

[14] Jones, C., Hesterly, W. S., & Borgatti, S. P. (1997, October). A General Theory of Network
Governance: Exchange Conditions and Social Mechanisms [PDF]. Academy of
Management. Retrieved from
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/1114/93255b4bb9a0956b32b8090527a16067b9ae.pdf
?_ga=2.116438277.2055959414.1601641312-532983003.1601641312