1st Edition

The Legitimacy of International Regimes

By Helmut Breitmeier Copyright 2008
    242 Pages
    by Routledge

    242 Pages
    by Routledge

    How legitimate are outcomes, outputs and impacts of global environmental regimes? Can non-state actors contribute to improve the output- and input-oriented legitimacy of global environmental governance? Helmut Breitmeier responds to these questions, balancing the volume with both theoretical and empirical chapters. The theoretical and conceptual chapters illustrate the relevance and meaning of legitimacy as well as the impact of non-state actors on environmental governance. They also describe various methodological issues involved with the coding of 23 environmental regimes. The empirical chapters are based on the findings of the International Regimes Database (IRD). They explore whether problem-solving in international regimes is effective and equitable and the influence of a regime's contribution to how states comply with international norms. These chapters also analyze whether non-state actors can improve the output- and input-oriented legitimacy of global governance systems.

    Contents: Introduction; International regimes in a world of change: why legitimacy?; What is, and how can we measure the legitimacy of regimes?; Non-state actors and the legitimacy of international regimes; Regimes, case-design and coding procedure; Regimes and the reduction of uncertainties; Regimes and compliance; Regimes and management of environmental problems; Distributional consequences of environmental regimes; Non-state actors and participation in regime polities; Conclusion; References; Index.

    Biography

    Dr Helmut Breitmeier is based at Fernuniversität in Hagen, Germany.

    ’Combining keen theoretical insights, exciting new empirical material, and careful analysis, Breitmeier's book makes a significant contribution to our understanding of how nonstate actors of all types promote the legitimacy - and hence the effectiveness - of international environmental regimes and thereby improve global governance and social order.’ Ronald B. Mitchell, University of Oregon, USA 'This book provides an analytically sophisticated and empirically rich explanation of patterns of legitimacy in international governance. It draws useful attention to the interplay between intergovernmental institutions and transnational actors. This is a creative blend of quantitative and qualitative scholarship applied to a challenging and important topic.' Marc A. Levy, Columbia University, USA