By Schimmelfennig, Frank, Thomas Winzen, Tobias Lenz, Jofre Rocabert, Loriana Crasnic, Cristina Gherasimov, Jana Lipps, and Densua Mumford
International parliaments are on the rise. An increasing number of international organizations establishes ‘international parliamentary institutions’ or IPIs, which bring together members of national parliaments or – in rare cases – elected representatives of member state citizens. Yet, IPIs have generally remained powerless institutions with at best a consultative role in the decision-making process of international organizations.
Why do the member states of international organizations create IPIs but do not vest them with relevant institutional powers? This study argues that neither the functional benefits of delegation nor the internalization of democratic norms answer this question convincingly. Rather, IPIs are best understood as an instrument of strategic legitimation. By establishing institutions that mimic national parliaments, governments seek to ensure that audiences at home and in the wider international environment recognize their international organizations as democratically legitimate. At the same time, they seek to avoid being effectively constrained by IPIs in international governance.
This book provides a systematic study of the establishment and empowerment of IPIs based on a novel dataset. In a statistical analysis covering the world’s most relevant international organizations and a series of case studies from all major world regions, we find two varieties of international parliamentarization. International organizations with general purpose and high authority create and empower IPIs to legitimate their region-building projects domestically. Alternatively, the establishment of IPIs is induced by the international diffusion of democratic norms and prominent templates, above all that of the European Parliament.
» Discount flyer (30% off)
» Preview at Google Books
Published:
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020
Online available:
global.oup.com
- Jerzy Jaskiernia in Przegląd Sejmowy (2022, in Polish)
Summary: “The reviewed book concerns important issues related to the international activity of parliamentarians. The authors show the theoretical aspects of the activities of international parliaments and other international parliamentary institutions. They focused in particular on the importance of this activity for ensuring strategic legitimacy. They argue that international organizations establish international parliamentary institutions to legitimate themselves by creating the appearance of democratic governance. In addition to theoretical lectures, case studies were presented, showing parliamentary dimension of the individual international organizations (including e.g. the European Union, OSCE, the Commonwealth of Independent States, Andean Community, the East African Community and Mercosur). The work makes a significant contribution to getting to know the specifics of international parliamentary organizations and showing the conditions for undertaking parliamentary diplomacy.”