1932
0
  1. Home
  2. A-Z Publications
  3. Annual Review of Political Science
  4. Volume 23, 2020
  5. Article

Annual Review of Political Science

Volume 23, 2020

Understanding Multilateral Institutions in Easy and Hard Times

Abstract

In my scholarly work, I have sought to understand institutionalized multilateral cooperation in world politics, and the context of such cooperation: extensive economic interdependence, or globalization. What are the political implications of economic interdependence? Under what conditions are states facing globalization willing to share their authority with multilateral organizations over whose policies they exert only indirect and collective influence? I have developed interpretive frameworks and some theory to address these issues. In other work, I have helped to develop precepts for qualitative research design, and I have explored some normative issues associated with institutional accountability and legitimacy. My work on multilateral institutions, which was done in a period of increasing multilateral cooperation, is challenged by increasing inequality in capitalist democracies, financial crisis, and nationalist forms of populism. I am now seeking to understand the international and comparative politics of climate change, which I regard as an existential crisis.

Keyword(s): autobiography, climate change, globalization, institutions, interdependence, multilateralism, research design

Associated Article

There are media items related to this article:
A Conversation with Robert Keohane
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-polisci-050918-042625
2020-05-11
2024-04-25
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/polisci/23/1/annurev-polisci-050918-042625.html?itemId=/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-polisci-050918-042625&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

Literature Cited

  1. Autor D, Dorn G, Hanson G, Majlesi K 2017. Importing political polarization? The electoral consequences of rising trade exposure NBER Work. Pap. 22637. http://www.ddorn.net/papers/ADHM-PoliticalPolarization.pdf
  2. Akerlof G. 1970. The market for lemons. Q. J. Econ. 24:175–81
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Axelrod R. 1981. The emergence of cooperation among egoists. Am. Political Sci. Rev. 75:306–18
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Axelrod R. 1984. The Evolution of Cooperation New York: Basic Books
  5. Axelrod R, Keohane R. 1985. Achieving cooperation under anarchy: strategies and institutions. World Politics 38:226–54
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Baldwin D 1993. Neoliberalism and Its Critics New York: Columbia Univ. Press
  7. Buchanan A, Keohane R. 2006. The legitimacy of global governance institutions. Ethics Int. Aff. 20:405–37
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Bull H. 1977. The Anarchical Society: A Study of Order in World Politics New York: Columbia Univ. Press
  9. Clark G, Sohn L. 1958. World Peace Through World Law Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press
  10. Coase R. 1937. The nature of the firm. Economica 4:386–405.
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Coase R 1960. The problem of social cost. J. Law Econ. 31:1–44
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Cohen G. 1978. Karl Marx's Theory of History: A Defense Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press
  13. Colgan J, Keohane R. 2017. The liberal order is rigged. Foreign Aff May–June 36–44
     [Google Scholar]
  14. Connolly B, Keohane R. 1996. Institutions for Environmental Aid Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
  15. Cooper R. 1968. The Economics of Interdependence New York: McGraw-Hill
  16. Dahl R. 1957. The concept of power. Behav. Sci. 2:201–15
     [Google Scholar]
  17. Eilstrup-Sangiovanni M. 2018. Death of international organizations: the organizational ecology of international organizations, 1815–2015. Rev. Int. Organ. Dec 15:1–32 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11558-018-9340-5
    [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  18. Fearon J. 2018. Cooperation, conflict, and the costs of anarchy. Int. Organ. 72:523–59
     [Google Scholar]
  19. Fioretos O 2018. International Politics and Institutions in Time Oxford, UK: Oxford Univ. Press
  20. Freedom House 2019. Democracy in retreat: freedom in the world 2019 Rep. Freedom House Washington, DC: https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/freedom-world-2019/democracy-in-retreat
  21. Frieden J, Rogowski R. 1996. The impact of the international economy on national policies: analytical overview. See Keohane & Milner 1996 25–47
  22. Fukuyama F. 1989. The end of history. ? Natl. Interest 16:3–18
     [Google Scholar]
  23. Fukuyama F. 1992. The End of History and the Last Man New York: Free Press
  24. Gilpin R. 1972. The politics of transnational economic relations. See Keohane & Nye 1972 48–69
  25. Gilpin R. 1975. US Power and the Multinational Corporation New York: Basic Books
  26. Goldstein J, Kahler M, Keohane R, Slaughter A-M 2001. Legalization and World Politics Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
  27. Goldstein J, Keohane R. 1993. Ideas and Foreign Policy: Beliefs, Institutions and Political Change Ithaca, NY: Cornell Univ. Press
  28. Goldthorpe JH. 1985. Order and Conflict in Contemporary Capitalism Oxford, UK: Oxford Univ. Press
  29. Gould SJ. 1989. Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History New York: Norton
  30. Gramsci A. 1971. Selections from Prison Notebooks transl. Q Hoare, G Nowell Smith New York: International Publishers
  31. Grant R, Keohane R. 2005. Accountability and abuses of power in world politics. Am. Political Sci. Rev. 99:29–43
     [Google Scholar]
  32. Haas P, Keohane R, Levy M 1992. Institutions for the Earth Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
  33. Harsanyi J 1962. Measurement of social power, opportunity costs, and the theory of two-person bargaining games. Behav. Sci. 7:67–80
     [Google Scholar]
  34. Helleiner E. 2019. The life and times of embedded liberalism: legacies and inventions since Bretton Woods. Rev. Int. Political Econ. 26:1112–35
     [Google Scholar]
  35. Hirschman AO. 1945. National Power and the Structure of Foreign Trade Berkeley: Univ. Calif. Press. , 1st ed..
  36. Hirschman AO. 1971. Exit, Voice and Loyalty: Responses to Decline in Firms, Organizations, and States Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press
  37. Keohane R. 1969. Institutionalization in the United Nations General Assembly. Int. Organ. 23:859–96
     [Google Scholar]
  38. Keohane R. 1978. Economics, inflation, and the role of the state: political implications of the McCracken Report. World Politics 31:108–28
     [Google Scholar]
  39. Keohane R. 1982. The demand for international regimes. Int. Organ. 36:325–55
     [Google Scholar]
  40. Keohane R. 1984. After Hegemony: Cooperation and Discord in the World Political Economy Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press
  41. Keohane R. 1986. Reciprocity in international relations. Int. Organ. 40:1–27
     [Google Scholar]
  42. Keohane R. 2002. Power and Governance in a Partially Globalized World London: Routledge
  43. Keohane R. 2015. The global politics of climate change. PS: Political Sci 2025:19–26
     [Google Scholar]
  44. Keohane R, Macedo S, Moravcsik A 2009. Democracy-enhancing multilateralism. Int. Organ. 63:1–31
     [Google Scholar]
  45. Keohane R, Martin L. 1995. The promise of institutionalist theory. Int. Secur. 20:39–51
     [Google Scholar]
  46. Keohane R, Milner H. 1996. Internationalization and Domestic Politics New York: Cambridge Univ. Press
  47. Keohane R, Nye J. 1972. Transnational Relations and World Politics Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press
  48. Keohane R, Nye J. 1977. Power and Interdependence: World Politics in Transition Boston: Little Brown
  49. Keohane R, Nye J. 2012. Power and Interdependence Boston: Longman. , 4th ed..
  50. Keohane R, Ostrom E. 1995. Local Commons and Global Interdependence: Heterogeneity and Cooperation in Two Domains London: Sage Publications
  51. Keohane R, Victor D. 2011. The regime complex for climate change. Perspect. Politics 9:7–23
     [Google Scholar]
  52. Kindleberger C. 1973. The World in Depression Berkeley: Univ. Calif. Press
  53. King G, Keohane R, Verba S 1994. Designing Social Inquiry: Scientific Inference in Qualitative Research Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press
  54. Lindblom C. 1965. The Intelligence of Democracy New York: Free Press
  55. Mearsheimer J 1994–1995. The false promise of international institutions. Int. Secur. 19:5–49
     [Google Scholar]
  56. Mearsheimer J. 2018. The Great Delusion: Liberal Dreams and International Realities New Haven, CT: Yale Univ. Press
  57. Morse E. 1972. Transnational economic processes. See Keohane & Nye 1972 23–47
  58. Ostrom E. 1990. Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action New York: Cambridge Univ. Press
  59. Pierson P. 2004. Politics in Time Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press
  60. Polanyi K. 1944. The Great Transformation New York: Farrar and Rinehart
  61. Powell R. 1991. Absolute and relative gains in international relations theory. Am. Political Sci. Rev. 85:1303–20
     [Google Scholar]
  62. Rodrik D. 2011. The Globalization Paradox: Democracy and the Future of the World Economy New York: W.W. Norton
  63. Ruggie J. 1975. International regimes and technology. Int. Organ. 29:557–84
     [Google Scholar]
  64. Ruggie J. 1982. International regimes, transactions and change: embedded liberalism in the post-war economic order. Int. Organ. 36:379–415
     [Google Scholar]
  65. Schelling T. 1960. The Strategy of Conflict Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press
  66. Stone C, Trisi D, Sherman A, Taylor R 2018. A guide to statistics on historical trends in income inequality Rep. Cent. Budget Policy and Priorities. https://www.cbpp.org/research/poverty-and-inequality/a-guide-to-statistics-on-historical-trends-in-income-inequality
  67. Tooze A. 2018. Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crisis Changed the World New York: Penguin/Random House
  68. Waltz K. 1970. The myth of interdependence. The International Corporation C Kindleberger Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
     [Google Scholar]
  69. Waltz K. 1979. Theory of International Politics Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley
  70. Williamson O. 1965. A dynamic theory of interfirm behavior. Q. J. Econ. 79:579–607
     [Google Scholar]
  71. Williamson O. 1975. Markets and Hierarchies: Analysis and Anti-Trust Implications New York: Free Press
  72. World Bank Data Group 2018. GDP per capita on a purchasing power parity basis https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/ny.gdp.pcap.pp.cd
  73. World Inequality Lab 2018. World income inequality report Presented at Paris School of Economics Dec. 14 Paris, France: https://wir2018.wid.world/executive-summary.html
  74. WTO (World Trade Organ.) 2018. World Trade Statistical Review 2018 Geneva: World Trade Organ.
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-polisci-050918-042625
Loading
Understanding Multilateral Institutions in Easy and Hard Times
Annual Review of Political Science 23, 1 (2020); https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-polisci-050918-042625
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-polisci-050918-042625
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-polisci-050918-042625
Loading

Data & Media loading...

Supplemental Material

Robert O. Keohane, Professor of International Affairs at Princeton University, in conversation with Helen V. Milner, Professor of Politics and International Relations at Princeton University.

file format download
  • Article Type: Review Article

Most Cited Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error