After this course, students:
- will understand how cross-border societal problems are dealt with at the global level
- will be able to use different conceptual frameworks in analyzing global institutions operation
- have a thorough understanding of the interplay between nation-state and global competencies and its consequences for core democratic values
- will have mastered their analytical and presentation skills
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Many societal problems transcend the borders of the nation-state. Economic developments and trade, crime and terrorism, refugees, climate change, human trafficking, natural disasters, international monetary and financial crises, inequality, are not confined to national territory. To cope with these matters, nation-states have partially delegated competencies to supranational bodies. The number of supranational institutions, laws, rules and norms has, accordingly, tremendously increased over time. As a result, we face a diverse and complex institutional landscape of global governance that has profound influence on the day-to-day life of citizens.
This course offers a broad introduction to the theory and practice of global governance. It does so by analyzing the main institutional processes of global governance and, subsequently, by zooming in on selected global issues, such as recent cases of international security, humanitarian and financial crises, the refugee crisis and gender inequality. We will address questions such as ‘When do states delegate authority to supranational institutions and why? How do these acts of delegation affect the distribution of power and influence? Who is pulling which strings? And, more importantly, what repercussions does the complex global institutional landscape have for essential values of (good) governance such as democratic legitimacy and accountability? Is global governance truly and evenly global, or are these processes increasingly dividing the powerful and rich from the marginalized and poor?
This course will be taught in a lecture/seminar-format. Via weekly discussions and assignments on selected topics of global governance we take stock with contemporary global institutional arrangements and practices and aim to provide a thorough understanding of the main actors and processes in designing and implementing global rules and discourse. Students will be active participants in the course and will have the opportunity to ‘play’ in a global governance scenario taking a specific role. This will allow not only for enrichment of the theoretical comprehension of the material, but also for learning from practice.
Please note that for non-USG bachelor students the course Introduction public administration and organizational science (USG5520/USG5020) or another introduction course covering the subject of public administration is recommended.
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