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Public Opinion and the Legitimacy of Global Private EnvironmentalGovernance

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  • FabianG. Neuner

Abstract

The rise of global private environmental governance has inspired substantialresearch assessing whether organizations like the International Organization forStandardization (ISO) and the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) are legitimate.These organizations address global challenges and help overcome collectiveaction problems, but public opposition can severely curb their effectiveness.Yet, we do not know whether the public supports such organizations and perceivesthem as legitimate. This article draws on diverse political science literaturesto outline why a focus on public opinion is important. The article tests twocompeting arguments explaining potential opposition toward organizations likethe ISO and the FSC: accounts centered on the role of sincere preferences overthe legitimate locus of authority and on the influence of domestic eliterhetoric. Results suggest that public opinion is generally positive and thatelite rhetoric about a potential democratic deficit rather than simpleinformation about the bodies’ governance structures decreasesfavorability.

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  • FabianG. Neuner, 2020. "Public Opinion and the Legitimacy of Global Private EnvironmentalGovernance," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 20(1), pages 60-81, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:glenvp:v:20:y:2020:i:1:p:60-81
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    File URL: http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/glep_a_00539
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Robert Falkner, 2003. "Private Environmental Governance and International Relations: Exploring the Links," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 3(2), pages 72-87, May.
    2. Graeme Auld & Lars H. Gulbrandsen, 2010. "Transparency in Nonstate Certification: Consequences for Accountability and Legitimacy," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 10(3), pages 97-119, August.
    3. Sander Chan & Philipp Pattberg, 2008. "Private Rule-Making and the Politics of Accountability: Analyzing Global Forest Governance," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 8(3), pages 103-121, August.
    4. Hooghe, Liesbet & Marks, Gary, 2009. "A Postfunctionalist Theory of European Integration: From Permissive Consensus to Constraining Dissensus," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 39(1), pages 1-23, January.
    5. Tim Büthe & Walter Mattli, 2011. "The New Global Rulers: The Privatization of Regulation in the World Economy," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 9470.
    6. Taylor, Peter Leigh, 2005. "In the Market But Not of It: Fair Trade Coffee and Forest Stewardship Council Certification as Market-Based Social Change," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 129-147, January.
    7. Coppock, Alexander, 2019. "Generalizing from Survey Experiments Conducted on Mechanical Turk: A Replication Approach," Political Science Research and Methods, Cambridge University Press, vol. 7(3), pages 613-628, July.
    8. Lars H. Gulbrandsen, 2004. "Overlapping Public and Private Governance: Can Forest Certification Fill the Gaps in the Global Forest Regime?," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 4(2), pages 75-99, May.
    9. Jonas Tallberg & Michael Zürn, 2019. "The legitimacy and legitimation of international organizations: introduction and framework," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 14(4), pages 581-606, December.
    10. Berinsky, Adam J. & Huber, Gregory A. & Lenz, Gabriel S., 2012. "Evaluating Online Labor Markets for Experimental Research: Amazon.com's Mechanical Turk," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(3), pages 351-368, July.
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