Overview

"Emergency Powers of International Organizations explores emergency politics of international organizations (IOs). It studies cases in which, based on justifications of exceptional necessity, IOs expand their authority, increase executive discretion, and interfere with the rights of their rule-addressees. This ''IO exceptionalism'' is observable in crisis responses of a diverse set of institutions including the United Nations Security Council, the European Union, and the World Health Organization. Through six in-depth case studies, the book analyzes the institutional dynamics unfolding in the wake of the assumption of emergency powers by IOs. Sometimes, the exceptional competencies become normalized in the IOs' authority structures (the ''ratchet effect""). In other cases, IO emergency powers provoke a backlash that eventually reverses or contains the expansions of authority (the ""rollback effect""). To explain these variable outcomes, this book draws on sociological institutionalism to develop a proportionality theory of IO emergency powers. It contends that ratchets and rollbacks are a function of actors' ability to justify or contest emergency powers as (dis)proportionate. The claim that the distribution of rhetorical power is decisive for the institutional outcome is tested against alternative rational institutionalist explanations that focus on institutional design and the distribution of institutional power among states. The proportionality theory holds across the cases studied in this book and clearly outcompetes the alternative accounts. Against the background of the empirical analysis, the book moreover provides a critical normative reflection on the (anti) constitutional effects of IO exceptionalism and highlights a potential connection between authoritarian traits in global governance and the system's current legitimacy crisis."

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9780191871337

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Reviews

Emergency Powers of International Organizations makes an important contribution to understanding how and when IOs expand and retract the exceptional power they create in times of crisis. But Kreuder-Sonnen's most important contribution is to bring theoretical and empirical heft to the explanatory power of political rhetoric in international relations as well as the independent effect of IO legitimacy in global governance. -- Felicity Vabulas, The Review of International Organizations The authority of international institutions is bounded by laws and rules much like national governments are bounded by constitutions. And just like governments, international institutions often claim that extreme circumstances sometimes require going beyond those limits, and giving legal justification for what otherwise would be extra-legal action. This path-breaking book is the first to examine emergency powers of international organizations. At once practical, theoretical, and comparative, it opens a new branch of research in global governance by considering how political demands overwhelm legal constraints and become normalized in law. Pairing ratchet and rollback effects, Kreuder-Sonnen provides a strikingly original perspective on the law and politics of global governance. The book is sure to motivate a new generation of scholars on the dynamics between legalization and politics. - Ian Hurd, Professor of Political Science, Northwestern University While the dangers of emergency powers have long been observed for national states at war, recent actions of international organizations have raised this worry to a new level. Examining the responses of the UN, the EU, and the WHO to recent crises, Christian Kreuder-Sonnen shows how emergency powers have either been normalized or have been subject to constitution-like checks, with implications for both international relations and domestic politics. This important book marks a new stage in the development of the theory and practice of global governance. - Sidney G. Tarrow, Emeritus Maxwell Upson Professor of Government, Cornell University A very important book that offers original insights into the uses and abuses of emergency powers by international organizations, it is a must-read for anyone interested in the normative dilemmas of global governance, with illuminating cases studies to illustrate the 'ratchets' and 'rollbacks' involved in the rhetorical legitimation struggles of governors and the governed alike. - Vivien Schmidt, Jean Monnet Professor of European Integration, Boston University

Author Information

Christian Kreuder-Sonnen, Friedrich Schiller University Jena Prof. Dr. Christian Kreuder-Sonnen is assistant professor of political science and international organizations at Friedrich Schiller University Jena and co-director of the MA program International Organizations and Crisis Management.

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