book1

is diffi cult to evaluate the credibility of the claims made by proponents of
these mechanisms, and the outcomes on the ground. This has important
ramifi ca� ons for the legi� macy of market-based approaches to climate
change management and sustainable development generally.
Keywords: governance quality, legi� macy, global North, global South,
REDD+.
Introduc� on
In interna� onal rela� ons (IR), the once orthodox perspec� ve, which
views global poli� cal coopera� on being undertaken largely by na� on-states
via intergovernmental regimes and associated agreements, is now seen
as being out of date. 1 Emergent IR ‘globalists’ emphasise the structures of
governance. 2 Tradi� onally, global governance was a ma� er for individual
countries via balance of power poli� cs, but modern global governance is
no longer dominated by the na� on-state, and extremely disparate interests
that are not dependent on organisa� on along territorial lines have begun
to ou� lank the state. 3 Mul� lateral ins� tu� ons in par� cular have become
central, now diff eren� ated between government (“control exercised by the
na� on-state, through formal (usually elected) par� es”) and governance
(“control exercised by a variety of public and private ins� tu� ons that have
been established at diff erent spa� al scales”). 4 The globalisa� on of poli� cs has
led to a commensurate growth of global governance, not solely represented
within formal ins� tu� ons and organisa� ons for intergovernmental
coopera� on such as the UN. Mul� na� onal corpora� ons, transna� onal
social movements and a mul� tude of non-governmental organisa� ons all
pursue global objec� ves that bear upon systems of trans-na� onal rules
and authority, around which the relevant actors converge and through
which they pursue interna� onal rela� ons. 5 Although there is no formal
global government, it is nevertheless true to say that there is s� ll global
governance, whereby actors enmeshed in regimes (or more appropriately,
less formalised arrangements of norms, rules and procedures) engage in
behaviour that is nevertheless regulated and predictable. 6 As it is currently
expressed in such intergovernmental ins� tu� ons as the UN, however, global
governance is simply not strong enough as a subs� tute for the mechanisms of
government inherent in the na� on-state. 7 This failure of intergovernmental
1. James Rosenau, “Change, Complexity and Governance in a Globalising Space”, Deba� ng
Governance: Authority, Steering and Democracy ed. Jon Pierre (Oxford and New York:
Oxford University Press, 2000) pp. 167-200, at pp. 167-168.
2. Mathias Koenig-Archibugi, “Introduc� on: Ins� tu� onal Diversity in Global Gvernance”, in
New Modes of Governance in the Global System: Exploring Publicness, Delega� on and
Inclusiveness ed. Mathias Koenig-Archibugi and Michael Zürn (Basingstoke: Palgrave
Macmillan, 2006), pp. 1-30 at p. 13 and footnote 13.
3. Ruggie, “Taking Embedded Liberalism Global”, p. 104
4. Perrons, Globaliza� on and Social Change, p. 255.
5. Held et al., Global Transforma� ons, pp. 49-51.
6. Ibid.
7 Ruggie, “Taking Embedded Liberalism Global”, pp. 94-95.
Changing paradigms of aid eff ec� veness in Nepal 103