Institutions & Decision-Making (2235.YR.005206.3)

General information

Type:	BAS	Curs:	1	Period:	S semester
ECTS Credits:	4 ECTS

Teaching Staff:

Group	Teacher	Department	Language
Year 1	Gemma Lligadas González	Derecho	ENG

None.

None.

The class has three main elements.
1. The first part (Week 1) provides an overview of the class and an elaboration of the core themes and concepts it develops.
2. The second part (Weeks 2-3) provides the theoretical foundations of the course. The first class looks within states to understand how they make decisions. The second class then explores how these actors interact within the context of important international institutions.
3. Finally, the third part of the course (Weeks 4-12) covers a range of issue areas and includes a simulation that aims to deepen students' insights on state decision-making and bargaining within intuitions.

The course introduces the complex interplay between international, national, and transnational actors and institutions, with particular attention paid to important international organizations and issue areas like trade, human rights and development. After completing the course, students should have a comprehensive understanding of how decisions are made by individual states and collectively within major international organizations, such as the UN, the World Bank and the World Trade Organization, among others. They should also understand the ways in which international institutions shape the actions that states are able to pursue domestically. Participants will gain knowledge of key theories and concepts which are useful to explain the operation and importance of governance institutions, as well as critical insights on their functioning and purpose. Transferable skills, such as report writing, oral presentation, and teamwork, will also be developed.

This course explores the interactions between states' decision-making and international institutions across a number of important areas of world politics. Today, the international arena comprises a vast array of states with different political systems for decision-making. These confront unique economic, social and environmental challenges, but also increasingly interact with and affect one another as a result of the process of globalization. As they do so, states engage in a range of uneven exchanges, providing money and information, promising to adjust economic policies, threatening economic sanctions, and so on, seeking to advance nationally-determined goals that can frequently conflict. These exchanges often occur within and are fundamentally mediated by international institutions, like the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization. In this class, we will explore these dynamics, observing how domestic and international institutions jointly shape the efforts to resolve global problems. We will examine, in particular, how domestic institutions shape the policies that states pursue at the international level, within international institutions and beyond. We will also examine how international institutions shape the policies that states are able to pursue at the domestic level, facilitating or constraining their choices.

1. Session 1: Introduction: Governance, National and Global Institutions In this class we introduce the basic concepts of the course, including the main concepts, actors, themes and issues we will cover throughout the course, the distinction between domestic and international political spheres and the connections between the two. The introductory lecture will also outline the structure of the course and its learning objectives, as well as clarify basic terms and concepts.

2. Session 2: Formulating Preferences: What Do States Want? In order to understand world politics and, especially, how the interactions between global and national institutions shape behavior, it is essential we begin by looking within states. What goals do states seek to achieve when they interact with one another at the international level? When are the interests of developed and developing states aligned and when are they at odds with one another? What can international organizations (IOs) do? In this class, we will seek to unpack these dynamics. We will look, first, at the challenges that many states face and seek to address through international cooperation. We will then examine the various ways of thinking about how states decide what it is they want before they join each other at the bargaining table. And, finally, we will consider the benefits that IOs and other international institutions can provide states for the latter to achieve their goals. Required reading: Alden, Chris and Amnon, Aran (2017). Foreign Policy Analysis

3. Session 3: Policymaking at the International Level: How Do they Get What They Want? As seen in the last class, states have many objectives and aims at the international level. Sometimes these are closely aligned, and agreement is easy. But they often conflict, as well, making it difficult to know who will get what. This class builds on what we learned in the previous session but takes states' 'preferences' as a given. We will then examine the institutional environments that states negotiate within and which shape how collective decisions get made in the broadest sense. We will also look at the different sources of bargaining power that states have within these environments, paying special attention to unique strategies available to powerful and less-powerful states. We will then consider the specific bargaining dynamics that occur as states attempt to achieve positive outcomes and the process of forming bargaining groups designed to gain leverage over others. Finally, we will examine what determines 'success' and 'failure' in international negotiations. Required readings: Frieden, Jeffry, David Lake and Kenneth Schultz (2010). World Politics: Interests, Institutions, Interactions. W. W. Norton & Company. Chapter 2. Narlikar, Amrita (2003). International Trade and Developing Countries: Bargaining Coalitions in the GATT & WTO. New York: Routledge. Chapter 1.

4. Session 4: The United Nations: The Centerpiece of Global Governance The UN and its associated bodies and technical agencies provide one of the most important platforms for dealing with global governance challenges. Yet, it is also in almost perpetual need to justify the existence of its costly bureaucracy and sprawling development system. This week we will discuss the UN's changing role and achievements from the immediate postwar period, through decolonialization, and into the era of global development initiatives such as the Millennium and Sustainable Development Goals. Throughout, we will focus on the challenges of coordinating interests of states within the UN's governance structure. We will close with an outlook on the UN's difficulties to respond to new developments discussed in subsequent weeks of this course, such as the growing importance of rising powers like China and the increased incidence of fragility and humanitarian crises. Required reading: Ian Hurd (2020). International Organizations; Politics, Law, Practice. Cambridge University Press, Chapter 4 (United Nations).

5. Session 5: Preparation for the Simulation Exercise During week 6 we will be conducting a simulation of international diplomacy, which is designed to allow you apply and deepen your understanding of the relationship between State decision-making and international institutions. This class (session 5) will be devoted to preparing for this simulation exercise. The exercise itself will be introduced in some detail, and the different roles that students will be assuming will be allocated. We will then focus on developing individual and group-based strategies for the exercise, relying on the various concepts and ideas developed in the previous weeks. Required reading: Jones, Emily (2013). Negotiating Against the Odds: A Guide for Trade Negotiators from Developing Countries. Palgrave Macmillan, Chapters 2 & 4.

6. Session 6: Simulation Exercise During this week we will be conducting the simulation itself. Students will be expected to participate fully in the exercise and will be responsible for executing the strategies developed in the previous session/week. The exercise will develop their understanding of international interactions relevant to the study of world politics. This will provide an opportunity to apply the concepts and ideas discussed in the class and thereby deepen their understanding of the practice of national and global governance. The lessons learned here will be reflected on throughout the remainder of the class. Required reading: None

7. Session 7: International Security in the 21st century: International Anti-terrorism Policies. A Close Look at the UNSC One of the most fruitful but controversial international fields of policymaking is international security. Protecting international security is at the core of some of the most powerful institutions of the international order. Under the pretext of better protecting international security, states have created a strong but opaque net of international institutions that, nevertheless, have a deep impact not only on the rest of the international community but also on national politics. The latest breed of policies concerning international security are the so-called 'targeted sanctions' against international terrorism. These highly controversial anti-terrorism measures are a paradigmatic example of how international institutions carry out their activity despite the frictions between international policymaking and national sovereignty. How are international anti-terrorism policies crafted within international venues? In this class, we will dive into the intricacies of designing anti-terrorist policies within an international institution and the problems of enforcing them at the national level. Required reading: Francesco Giumelli (2015). "Understanding United Nations Targeted Sanctions: An Empirical Analysis." International Affairs, 91(6), pp. 1351-1368.

8. Session 8: The International Court of Justice: Decision-making between Politics and Law As indicated by Ian Hurd, in the international sphere, "the legal and political domains are entirely interwoven". This connection is embodied in the institutional design of international courts like in no other international institution. A closer look to the features of the most prominent international courts will reveal international institutions' struggle to gain and maintain their independence under the sempiternal tension between national sovereignty and international obligations. This lesson specifically addresses the institutional design of the International Court of Justice in order to understand its turf battle for global political influence with other regional courts and the national interests behind them. Required reading: Ian Hurd. International Organizations; Politics, Law, Practice. Cambridge University Press, pp. 192-225.

9. Session 9: The International Criminal Court: Justice, Politics & Legitimacy Human rights are a critical structure within the international order. Since 1948, when the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed, a vast infrastructure of human rights institutions has been created, involving virtually every state to some degree. There has, however, been significant debate about the impact of this regime. There are two opposing views: Some see the human rights endeavor as being broadly successful, improving the lives of many around the world; others find that human rights institutions have done very little. This debate has also cast a large shadow over the International Criminal Court, which is the most sophisticated attempt to provide human rights with an independent and enforceable protection against the most heinous violations. The institutional design of this outstanding international court will reveal the political reasons behind its shortcomings. Required reading: Ian Hurd. International Organizations; Politics, Law, Practice. Cambridge University Press, pp. 226-247.

10. Session 10: The World Bank, IMF and the Politics of Conditional Lending Financial institutions like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are by far the most important providers of international development assistance. But their funding also comes with conditions, which are often dictated by powerful states. Some argue that these conditions have been bad for development outcomes, raising the question of why developing states would participate in such programs. Their decisions are even more puzzling when we consider the fact that the number of lenders has increased in recent years, meaning that developing states increasingly have multiple ways of attaining the money they need. This week we will explore these dynamics by considering how decisions are made in the World Bank and IMF, the impact of their programs on developing states, why developing states decide to participate in such programs, and how their calculations are changing as a result of shifts within the broader lending environment. Required readings: Vreeland, James R (2006). The International Monetary Fund: The Politics of Conditional Lending. New York Routledge, Chapter 1. Woods, Ngaire (2003). "The United States and the International Financial Institutions: Power and Influence Within the World Bank and IMF" in Foot, MacFarlane, and Mastanduno (eds), US Hegemony and International Organizations: The United States and Multilateral Institutions. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

11. Session 11: The WTO, PTAs and Policy Space: Constraining or Enabling Development? The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the central institution in the complex field of international trade, which comprises a range of bilateral, regional and multilateral arrangements. Its core objective is to foster open global markets which are widely thought to foster peace and promote economic development. Yet it has repeatedly been the source of considerable controversy, particularly as it relates to developing states. This class explores these issues by examining the evolution of the WTO, PTAs and domestic politics in the trade regime. It looks at the central challenges states have faced when it comes to free trade, the different views about the role that different international institutions have played in achieving this goal, and the broader issues that these institutions raise, especially for the developing world. Required readings: Goldstein, Judith (2012). Trade Liberalization and Domestic Politics. In Daunton, Narlikar & Stern (eds). Oxford Handbook on the World Trade Organization. Irwin, Douglas (2015). Free Trade Under Fire, 4th Edition. Princeton: Princeton University Press, Chapter 7 (WTO, PTAs).

The classes during weeks 2-11 will be structured with a lecture followed by a participatory session in which students will be given a range of tasks to perform in order to consolidate their understanding of the course content, including discussions and exercises. Each session will also have a regularly scheduled break in the middle. Two classes will be entirely devoted to the simulation. Students must read the required readings prior to class (these are available on the course website).

Group	Teacher	Department
Year 1	Gemma Lligadas González	Derecho