Bringing Global Governance Home

Abstract

The world’s problems are increasingly global in scale. Climate change, pandemics, and the actions of multinational corporations are all beyond the ability of any single state to address. States and civil society actors have joined a growing number of global governance institutions to address these challenges collectively. While global governance is initiated at the international level, the effects of global governance occur at the domestic level and depend upon the actions of domestic actors. NGOs act as “mediators” between global and domestic political arenas, translating and adapting global norms for audiences at home. However, NGO participation in global governance varies significantly by country and by issue area. The role of domestic NGOs in global governance has been relatively neglected—a puzzling gap since domestic implementation determines whether global “best practices” are applied for the common good or languish as words on the pages of international reports. The BRICS states (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) offer excellent cases for delving into contention around NGOs’ role as mediators due to their shared aspiration to shape global governance and their varied political and economic characteristics. Bringing Global Governance Home: NGO Mediation in the BRICS States fills gaps in our knowledge by identifying and explaining significant cross-national variation in NGO participation in global governance based on an original dataset. Moreover, it combines insights from international relations and comparative politics to explain the dilemmas and strategies of NGO mediation in case studies on HIV/AIDS, climate change, sustainable forestry, and corporate social responsibility.