IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cog/poango/v5y2017i1p75-84.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Field Recognition and the State Prerogative: Why Democratic Legitimation Recedes in Private Transnational Sustainability Regulation

Author

Listed:
  • Klaus Dingwerth

    (School of Economics and Political Science, University of St. Gallen, Switzerland)

Abstract

Like any regulatory effort, private transnational standard-setters need to legitimate themselves to the audiences from which they seek support or obedience. While early scholarship on private transnational governance has emphasized the centrality of democratic legitimation narratives in rendering private governance socially acceptable, evidence from more recent standard-setting schemes suggests a declining relevance of that narrative over time. In my analysis of private sustainability regulation, I identify a combination of two factors that jointly contribute to this diminished role of democratic legitimation. First, private transnational governance has become a pervasive phenomenon. This means that new entrants to the field no longer face the same liability of newness that required first movers to make an extra effort in legitimation. Second, private standard-setting has moved from areas characterized by ‘governance gaps’ to areas in which meaningful intergovernmental regulation already exists. In these areas, however, the ‘state prerogative’ in legitimating governance holds. As a result, transnational standard-setters rely not so much on stressing their democratic credentials, but instead emphasize their contribution to achieving internationally agreed goals.

Suggested Citation

  • Klaus Dingwerth, 2017. "Field Recognition and the State Prerogative: Why Democratic Legitimation Recedes in Private Transnational Sustainability Regulation," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(1), pages 75-84.
    • Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v5:y:2017:i:1:p:75-84
    DOI: 10.17645/pag.v5i1.794
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/794
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.17645/pag.v5i1.794?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. Philip Schleifer, 2013. "Orchestrating sustainability: The case of European Union biofuel governance," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 7(4), pages 533-546, December.
    2. Liliana B. Andonova & Michele M. Betsill & Harriet Bulkeley, 2009. "Transnational Climate Governance," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 9(2), pages 52-73, May.
    3. Klaus Dieter Wolf, 2017. "Patterns of Legitimation in Hybrid Transnational Regimes: The Controversy Surrounding the Lex Sportiva," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(1), pages 63-74.
    4. Julia Black, 2008. "Constructing and contesting legitimacy and accountability in polycentric regulatory regimes," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 2(2), pages 137-164, June.
    5. Steven Bernstein & Benjamin Cashore, 2007. "Can non‐state global governance be legitimate? An analytical framework," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 1(4), pages 347-371, December.
    6. Abbott, Kenneth W. & Green, Jessica F. & Keohane, Robert O., 2016. "Organizational Ecology and Institutional Change in Global Governance," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 70(2), pages 247-277, April.
    7. Elke Krahmann, 2017. "Legitimizing Private Actors in Global Governance: From Performance to Performativity," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(1), pages 54-62.
    8. Klaus Dieter Wolf, 2017. "Patterns of Legitimation in Hybrid Transnational Regimes: The Controversy Surrounding the Lex Sportiva," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(1), pages 63-74.
    9. Leonhard Dobusch & Sigrid Quack, 2013. "Framing standards, mobilizing users: Copyright versus fair use in transnational regulation," Review of International Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(1), pages 52-88, February.
    10. Elke Krahmann, 2017. "Legitimizing Private Actors in Global Governance: From Performance to Performativity," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(1), pages 54-62.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Melanie Coni-Zimmer & Klaus Dieter Wolf & Peter Collin, 2017. "Editorial to the Issue on Legitimization of Private and Public Regulation: Past and Present," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(1), pages 1-5.

    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. Klaus Dingwerth, 2017. "Field Recognition and the State Prerogative: Why Democratic Legitimation Recedes in Private Transnational Sustainability Regulation," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(1), pages 75-84.
    2. Klaus Dieter Wolf, 2017. "Patterns of Legitimation in Hybrid Transnational Regimes: The Controversy Surrounding the Lex Sportiva," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(1), pages 63-74.
    3. Oliver Westerwinter, 2021. "Transnational public-private governance initiatives in world politics: Introducing a new dataset," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 137-174, January.
    4. Benjamin M. Abraham, 2021. "Ideology and non-state climate action: partnering and design of REDD+ projects," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 21(4), pages 669-690, December.
    5. Gerhards, Jan & Greenwood, Dan, 2021. "One Planet Living and the legitimacy of sustainability governance: From standardised information to regenerative systems," SocArXiv z4ja7_v1, Center for Open Science.
    6. Jean-Frédéric Morin, 2020. "Concentration despite competition: The organizational ecology of technical assistance providers," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 75-107, January.
    7. Natalie J. Langford & Luc Fransen, 2022. "Building Legitimacy in an Era of Polycentric Trade: The Case of Transnational Sustainability Governance," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(3), pages 155-166.
    8. Melanie Coni-Zimmer & Klaus Dieter Wolf & Peter Collin, 2017. "Editorial to the Issue on Legitimization of Private and Public Regulation: Past and Present," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(1), pages 1-5.
    9. Wood, Matthew & Wood, Chantelle & Styring, Peter & Jones, Christopher R. & Smith, Jeffery K. & Day, Marianne & Chakraborty, Rohit & Mensah, Gloria, 2023. "Perceptions of accountability and trust in the regulatory governance of wood burning stove sustainability: Survey evidence from the post-Brexit UK," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    10. Melanie Coni-Zimmer & Klaus Dieter Wolf & Peter Collin, 2017. "Editorial to the Issue on Legitimization of Private and Public Regulation: Past and Present," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(1), pages 1-5.
    11. Benjamin Cashore & Jette Steen Knudsen & Jeremy Moon & Hamish van der Ven, 2021. "Private authority and public policy interactions in global context: Governance spheres for problem solving," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(4), pages 1166-1182, October.
    12. Stefan Renckens & Graeme Auld, 2022. "Time to certify: Explaining varying efficiency of private regulatory audits," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(2), pages 500-518, April.
    13. Thomas Hickmann & Joshua Philipp Elsässer, 2020. "New alliances in global environmental governance: how intergovernmental treaty secretariats interact with non-state actors to address transboundary environmental problems," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 20(3), pages 459-481, September.
    14. Angel Hsu & Amy J. Weinfurter & Kaiyang Xu, 2017. "Aligning subnational climate actions for the new post-Paris climate regime," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 142(3), pages 419-432, June.
    15. Thomas Hickmann & Joshua Philipp Elsässer, 0. "New alliances in global environmental governance: how intergovernmental treaty secretariats interact with non-state actors to address transboundary environmental problems," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-23.
    16. Natalie J. Langford & Luc Fransen, 2022. "Building Legitimacy in an Era of Polycentric Trade: The Case of Transnational Sustainability Governance," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(3), pages 155-166.
    17. Tetteh Asare, Emmanuel & Burton, Bruce & Dunne, Theresa, 2024. "Hegemonic influence and selectivity in financial accountability discharge: Evidence from Ghana’s oil and gas sector," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    18. Ayako Hirata, 2021. "How networks among frontline offices influence regulatory enforcement: Diffusion and justification of interpretation of risk," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(4), pages 1388-1405, October.
    19. Cynthia Couette, 2024. "Epistemic competition in global governance: The case of pharmaceutical patents," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 15(3), pages 516-527, June.
    20. Daniel Fitzpatrick & Rebecca Monson, 2022. "Property rights and climate migration: Adaptive governance in the South Pacific," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(2), pages 519-535, April.

    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:cog:poango:v5:y:2017:i:1:p:75-84. 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: António Vieira or IT Department (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cogitatiopress.com .

    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.