Towards an economic theory of international civil society: Trust, trade and open government

Abstract

This paper explores the possibility of using the classical concept of ‘civil society’ in the analysis of relationships and processes that occur at the international level and are characterized by predominantly horizontal patterns of interaction. The notion of civil society is initially considered in the light of intellectual history and differentiated into a number of constitutive concepts such as trust, commercial society, and a civil network of interpersonal relationships. It is then suggested that the concept of international civil society may properly describe patterns of interaction at the international level akin to those considered in the classical theory of civil society. However, such patterns operate within a space in which state sovereignty is either non-existent or ineffectual. The paper considers economic processes that may lead to the consolidation of horizontal relationships among international partners. In particular, international money, subsidiarity and diffusion of federal sovereignty are discussed as institutional devices congruent with the horizontal interactive framework of a civil society.