 International Organisations: The Challenge of Aligning Mission, Means and LegitimacyThe World Economy, 2008, vol. 31, issue 11, 1455-1470 Abstract: To be effective an international organisation must (a) be given an appropriate mission; (b) be given the means to accomplish its mission; and (c) be viewed as legitimate when carrying out the mission. This paper explores the problems in achieving these prerequisites for success first in a general discussion and then in an application to the WTO. Ensuring these conditions are met is not easy because there is an inherent tendency for many international institutions to experience ‘mission creep’, particularly when accountability for burden sharing is weak. This leads to the central dilemma facing many international organisations. If missions are expanded, and organisations given insufficient means, they are likely to fail (or fall short of optimal behaviour) and be criticised for ineffectiveness. However, the more extensive the means they are given, the more likely that their legitimacy will be questioned. The paper argues that the best way for the WTO to deal with these tensions would be to adopt an approach built on a more variable geometry in which countries would not all be required to participate in a single undertaking. Date: 2008 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:worlde:v:31:y:2008:i:11:p:1455-1470 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from Access Statistics for this article The World Economy is currently edited by David Greenaway More articles in The World Economy from Wiley Blackwell |
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