IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/glopol/v13y2022i3p322-333.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

You’re Fired! International Courts, Re‐contracting, and the WTO Appellate Body during the Trump Presidency

Author

Listed:
  • Giuseppe Zaccaria

Abstract

A long‐standing debate amongst international relations scholars has surrounded the question of whether international institutions with judicial authority enjoy more autonomy and discretion than other global institutions. This is mainly because international courts are established as impartial third‐party actors tasked with performing adjudicative functions for conflicting parties. As such, the delegation contracts of international institutions with judicial authority are expected to minimize control by states, even in cases where the members of a court engage in judicial overreach. This article contributes to that debate by examining the case of the crisis of the WTO Appellate Body. The article analyzes the Trump administration's successful efforts at rendering dysfunctional one of the most powerful courts in the international system. The findings showcase how powerful states are capable and willing to take advantage of the available control mechanisms and the institutional opportunity structures inherent in the design of international courts. The article speaks to the scholarship on the contestation of international institutions. The analysis relies on original data obtained through 22 interviews with WTO officials, state representatives, and experts.

Suggested Citation

  • Giuseppe Zaccaria, 2022. "You’re Fired! International Courts, Re‐contracting, and the WTO Appellate Body during the Trump Presidency," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 13(3), pages 322-333, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:glopol:v:13:y:2022:i:3:p:322-333
    DOI: 10.1111/1758-5899.13032
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.13032
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/1758-5899.13032?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kristen Hopewell, 2021. "Trump & Trade: The Crisis in the Multilateral Trading System," New Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(2), pages 271-282, March.
    2. Giandomenico Majone, 2001. "Two Logics of Delegation," European Union Politics, , vol. 2(1), pages 103-122, February.
    3. Alter, Karen J. & Helfer, Laurence R., 2010. "Nature or Nurture? Judicial Lawmaking in the European Court of Justice and the Andean Tribunal of Justice," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 64(4), pages 563-592, October.
    4. Petros C. Mavroidis & André Sapir, 2021. "All the Tea in China: Solving the ‘China Problem’ at the WTO," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 12(S3), pages 41-48, April.
    5. James Flett, 2010. "Collective Intelligence and the Possibility of Dissent: Anonymous Individual Opinions in WTO Jurisprudence," Journal of International Economic Law, Oxford University Press, vol. 13(2), pages 287-320, June.
    6. Pollack, Mark A., 2003. "The Engines of European Integration: Delegation, Agency, and Agenda Setting in the EU," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199251179.
    7. Voeten, Erik, 2007. "The Politics of International Judicial Appointments: Evidence from the European Court of Human Rights," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 61(4), pages 669-701, October.
    8. Bown, Chad P. & Keynes, Soumaya, 2020. "Why Trump shot the Sheriffs: The end of WTO dispute settlement 1.0," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 42(4), pages 799-819.
    9. Robert Howse, 2021. "Appointment with Destiny: Selecting WTO Judges in the Future," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 12(S3), pages 71-82, April.
    10. Grant, Ruth W. & Keohane, Robert O., 2005. "Accountability and Abuses of Power in World Politics," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 99(1), pages 29-43, February.
    11. Bernard Hoekman & Petros C. Mavroidis, 2021. "WTO Reform: Back to the Past to Build for the Future," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 12(S3), pages 5-12, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. repec:bla:jcmkts:v:47:y:2009:i::p:483-506 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Arthur Dyevre & Nicolas Lampach, 2021. "Issue attention on international courts: Evidence from the European Court of Justice," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 793-815, October.
    3. Sjef Ederveen & George Gelauff & Jacques Pelkmans, 2008. "Assessing Subsidiarity," Springer Books, in: George Gelauff & Isabel Grilo & Arjan Lejour (ed.), Subsidiarity and Economic Reform in Europe, chapter 2, pages 19-40, Springer.
    4. Liesbet Hooghe & Gary Marks, 2015. "Delegation and pooling in international organizations," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 10(3), pages 305-328, September.
    5. Axel Dreher & Katharina Michaelowa, 2008. "The political economy of international organizations," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 3(4), pages 331-334, December.
    6. Abbott, Kenneth W. & Genschel, Philipp & Snidal, Duncan & Zangl, Bernhard, 2018. "The governor's dilemma: Competence versus control in indirect governance," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Global Governance SP IV 2018-101, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    7. Sjöholm, Fredrik, 2023. "The Return of Borders in the World Economy: An EU-Perspective," Working Paper Series 1469, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    8. Michael W. Manulak, 2017. "Leading by design: Informal influence and international secretariats," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 12(4), pages 497-522, December.
    9. Kenneth W. Abbott & Philipp Genschel & Duncan Snidal & Bernhard Zangl, 2020. "Competence versus control: The governor's dilemma," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 14(4), pages 619-636, October.
    10. Ellen Mastenbroek & Tim Veen, 2008. "Last Words on Delegation?," European Union Politics, , vol. 9(2), pages 295-311, June.
    11. Mark A. Pollack, 2007. "The New Institutionalisms and European Integration," The Constitutionalism Web-Papers p0031, University of Hamburg, Faculty for Economics and Social Sciences, Department of Social Sciences, Institute of Political Science.
    12. repec:bla:jcmkts:v:48:y:2010:i::p:1107-1126 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Ninke Mussche & Dries Lens, 2018. "The EU Free Movement of Services and the growing mobility of Third-Country Nationals as posted workers," Working Papers 1813, Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy, University of Antwerp.
    14. Eugénia Da Conceição, 2010. "Who Controls Whom? Dynamics of Power Delegation and Agency Losses in EU Trade Politics," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(4), pages 1107-1126, September.
    15. repec:bla:jcmkts:v:46:y:2008:i::p:1001-1023 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Thomas Doleys, 2009. "Incomplete Contracting, Commission Discretion and the Origins of EU Merger Control," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(3), pages 483-506, June.
    17. Alter, Karen J., 2004. "Agents of trustees? International courts in their political context," TranState Working Papers 8, University of Bremen, Collaborative Research Center 597: Transformations of the State.
    18. Alves, Amanda M. & Brousseau, Eric & Yeung, Timothy Yu-Cheong, 2021. "The dynamics of institution building: State aids, the European commission, and the court of justice of the European Union," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 836-859.
    19. Magnus Lundgren & Kseniya Oksamytna & Vincenzo Bove, 2022. "Politics or Performance? Leadership Accountability in UN Peacekeeping," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 66(1), pages 32-60, January.
    20. Asya Zhelyazkova & René Torenvlied, 2009. "The Time-Dependent Effect of Conflict in the Council on Delays in the Transposition of EU Directives," European Union Politics, , vol. 10(1), pages 35-62, March.
    21. Johann Robert Basedow, 2022. "Why de‐judicialize? Explaining state preferences on judicialization in World Trade Organization Dispute Settlement Body and Investor‐to‐State Dispute Settlement reforms," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(4), pages 1362-1381, October.
    22. Jonas Tallberg & Thomas Sommerer & Theresa Squatrito, 2016. "Democratic memberships in international organizations: Sources of institutional design," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 59-87, March.
    23. Marco Grasso & J. David Tàbara, 2019. "Towards a Moral Compass to Guide Sustainability Transformations in a High-End Climate Change World," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-16, May.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:glopol:v:13:y:2022:i:3:p:322-333. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/lsepsuk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.