Security Through Solidarity: How Populism Reshapes Global Governance

Abstract

Scholars have long argued that international institutions solve cooperation problems through the timely, accurate provision of information. Yet, performing this role often requires international organizations (IOs) to rely on member states for essential data and details. What happens when members refuse to supply accurate information? We argue that IOs often respond by broadening their information base, increasing information sharing with each other. We test our argument using an original data set on information sharing among IOs in the development lending issue space. We show that when IOs face resistance from populist leaders in key member states, they sign more and deeper information sharing agreements with other institutions. To explore the mechanism driving these results, we supplement our main analysis with a case study of U.S. information sharing with IOs under the Trump administration. Our findings suggest that populism has reshaped global governance, causing IOs to deepen and strengthen global networks.