Pragmatism and Effective Fragmented Governance: Comparing Trajectories in Small Arms and Military and Security Services

<p>A hallmark of contemporary global governance is its complex nature. Understanding the implications of the array of &ldquo;governors&rdquo; and their efforts is paramount for scholars of global law and global politics. Most analyses have treated fragmented governance as a piece, argu...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Deborah Avant
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Oñati International Institute for the Sociology of Law 2013-10-01
Series:Oñati Socio-Legal Series
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Online Access:http://ssrn.com/abstract=2340604
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Summary:<p>A hallmark of contemporary global governance is its complex nature. Understanding the implications of the array of &ldquo;governors&rdquo; and their efforts is paramount for scholars of global law and global politics. Most analyses have treated fragmented governance as a piece, arguing about its general effects. I concentrate instead on variation within fragmented situations, seeking to understand the conditions under which complexity yields more or less effective governance. I propose an analytical scheme for gauging effectiveness focused on how the array of governance efforts in an issue area relate to one another. I then compare these efforts in two issue arenas: small arms and private military and security services. Despite a similar complexity, similar array of actors trying to exert influence, and similar timing, complexity in small arms generated what most see as less effective results while in military and security services it has generated what seems to be a more promising path toward effective governance mechanisms. This difference is best explained with insights from pragmatism and network theory. When a broader range of relevant governors engage pragmatically to form linked networks governance is more likely. When governors engage ideologically and break off ties governance is less likely. Pragmatic engagement among the variety of relevant governors, including the US, is most likely to generate effective global governance.</p> <hr /><p>Una caracter&iacute;stica distintiva del gobierno mundial contempor&aacute;neo es su naturaleza compleja. Entender las implicaciones de la serie de "gobernadores" y sus esfuerzos es fundamental para los estudiosos del derecho internacional y la pol&iacute;tica mundial. La mayor&iacute;a de los an&aacute;lisis han tratado el gobierno fragmentado como una pieza, discutiendo sobre sus efectos generales. El an&aacute;lisis se centra en cambio en la variaci&oacute;n dentro de situaciones fragmentadas, buscando entender las condiciones en las que la complejidad produce un gobierno m&aacute;s o menos efectivo. Se propone un esquema anal&iacute;tico para medir la eficacia centrada en c&oacute;mo el conjunto de esfuerzos de gobierno en un &aacute;rea tem&aacute;tica se relacionan entre s&iacute;. As&iacute;, se comparan estos esfuerzos en dos &aacute;mbitos: las armas peque&ntilde;as y los servicios de seguridad y militares privados. A pesar de una complejidad similar, una gama similar de actores que tratan de ejercer influencia y un calendario similar, la complejidad de armas peque&ntilde;as gener&oacute; ver los resultados como menos eficaces, mientras que en los servicios militares y de seguridad ha supuesto lo que parece ser un camino m&aacute;s prometedor hacia mecanismos eficaces de gobierno. Esta diferencia se explica mejor con los puntos de vista de pragmatismo y la teor&iacute;a de redes. Cuando una gama m&aacute;s amplia de relevantes gobiernos emplea una forma pragm&aacute;tica para formar redes vinculadas, la gobernabilidad es m&aacute;s probable. Cuando los mandatarios se enfrentan ideol&oacute;gicamente y se rompen los lazos, el gobierno es menos probable. El compromiso pragm&aacute;tico entre la variedad de relevantes gobiernos, incluyendo EE.UU., es m&aacute;s probable que genere un gobierno mundial eficaz.
ISSN:2079-5971