Multistakeholder Governance and Democracy A Global Challenge

1. Multilateralism and multistakeholderism: global governance gaps

Introduction

Structural limitations of contemporary multilateralism

Global governance and next generation of democratic standards

Democracy and global governance gaps

Multistakeholderism and representative democracy

Multistakeholderism and the rule of law

Multilateralism and multi-constituency consultations

From multi-constituency consultations to multistakeholder governance

Diversity of internal structures of multistakeholder governance groups

Types of multistakeholder governance groups

2. How did we get here? A convergence of multiple trends

Macro political-economic factors

Structural transformations

Recognition of multistakeholderism as governance form

Macro-forces creating a new political platform for global governance

3. Global actors from multilateralism to multistakeholderism

Governance actors from yesterday to tomorrow

The institutional foundation for global governance

New actors in multistakeholder governance

4. Structural and institutional characteristics of multistakeholderism

Nine beliefs and their governance consequences

Structural and institutional characteristics of multistakeholder governance

Chapter summary

5. A detailed guide to decision-making about a multistakeholder group

Four questions on the composition of a multistakeholder group

Four questions on internal governance

Three questions on external responsibilities

Two questions on financial responsibility

Chapter summary

6. Where can we go from here?

The current state of play

Multistakeholderism: additional structural limitations

Next steps on the governance of multistakeholderism

Next steps on global democratic governance

Concluding observations

Biography

Harris Gleckman is Senior Fellow of the Center on Governance and Sustainability, University of Massachusetts Boston, and Director of Benchmark Environmental Consulting, USA. Dr Gleckman has also been a participant for over twenty years in international economic and environmental negotiations and a consultant to intergovernmental organizations, transnational corporations, and civil society organizations. He is the former Chief of the New York office of UNCTAD, Project Planning Officer for the first UN Financing for Development Conference, and Chief of the Environmental Unit of the UN Centre on Transnational Corporations.

"The understanding of how the management of global and regional transborder issues and problems are addressed has evolved considerably over the past decade. No longer an exclusive preserve of diplomats and international lawyers focussing on formal institutional arrangements and legal instruments, the scope has widened to encompass a rapidly growing set of issue areas and multitude of new actors from civil society and the corporate world. Harris Gleckman’s book is a significant contribution in mapping the evolution from hierarchical legal exegesis and intergovernmental power play towards more supple horizontal relations between a diverse and expanding set of stakeholders. The author does this with the rare combination of the clarity of the sharp analyst and the insights of a seasoned participant in these processes. His book is essential reading for anyone involved in the changing patterns of global governance." - Peter Hansen, former Executive Director of the Commission on Global Governance and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs

"Dr. Gleckman has written the definitive critique of the current "non-system" of international global governance, and of the emergent multistakeholder groups seeking to fill the gaps in the former. Gleckman then ventures beyond analysis to propose criteria essential for any just, inclusive, accountable and effective institutions that would address global crises. This volume is addressed to all intelligent and ethical people concerned about global problems and committed to the quality of their resolution." - Jo Marie Griesgraber, Executive Director, New Rules for Global Finance, USA

"An invaluable and comprehensive analysis of contemporary challenges to multilateralism as the organizing principle for global governance. With piercing precision Gleckman identifies gaps and limitations in governance and questions the illusion of democracy and participation. The book offers a welcome and thoughtful guide for improving decisionmaking and assuming responsibility in a context of distributed power." - Maria Ivanova, Associate Professor of Global Governance, University of Massachusetts Boston, USA

"Multistakeholder Governance and Democracy is a bracing journey through the rise and rise of multistakeholderism. Arguing from his unique inside experience that this new form of global governance has come not just to supplement, but to challenge, multilateralism, Harris Gleckman sounds the alarm on whether we need to radically respond to the proliferation of instruments that are neither founded on principles of inclusive democracy nor accountability. A powerful and gripping exploration of this significant yet little-known evolution in global power, which leaves readers with a powerful challenge: can we imagine a new or reform global governance system that addresses the inequities and power imbalances of globalization, while upholding principles of democracy, inclusion and accountability?" - Amelia Evans, International Human Rights Lawyer and co-founder of The Institute for Multi-Stakeholder Initiative Integrity, USA

"In this fascinating book, Harris Gleckman illuminates how multistakeholderism has rapidly become the go-to form of governance for global challenges, with corresponding implications on democracy, transparency, responsibility, and accountability. A must read for students and practitioners, and for citizens, whose rights and interests are increasingly subject to multistakeholder governance." - Lisa Sachs, Director, Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, Columbia Law School - The Earth Institute, Columbia University, USA