Inequality and legitimacy in global governance: an empirical study

This article undertakes an empirical investigation of the relationship between structural inequalities and legitimacy beliefs in global governance. Normative theory often emphasises inequality as a major source of injustice in global politics, but we lack empirical research that examines the implica...

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Veröffentlicht in:European journal of international relations Jg. 28; H. 3; S. 667 - 695
Hauptverfasser: Jongen, Hortense, Scholte, Jan Aart
Format: Journal Article
Sprache:Englisch
Veröffentlicht: London, England SAGE Publications 01.09.2022
Sage Publications Ltd
Schlagworte:
Annan samhällsvetenskap
Beliefs
Elites
Equality
Global governance
Governance
hierarchy
Inequality
Internet
Legitimacy
multistakeholder
Other Social Sciences
Perceptions
Political Science
Power
Research methodology
Statsvetenskap
Subordination
inequality
Internet
Global governance
legitimacy
multistakeholder
hierarchy
ISSN:1354-0661, 1460-3713, 1460-3713
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Zusammenfassung:This article undertakes an empirical investigation of the relationship between structural inequalities and legitimacy beliefs in global governance. Normative theory often emphasises inequality as a major source of injustice in global politics, but we lack empirical research that examines the implications of inequality for legitimacy in concrete situations of global governance. This paper draws on large mixed-method survey evidence regarding inequality perceptions and legitimacy beliefs at the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a key site of global Internet governance that has given particular priority to issues of diversity and inclusion. Our analysis arrives at four main findings. First, participants in ICANN do perceive substantial structural power asymmetries and often find them to be problematic. Second, persons on the perceived subordinate side of these power stratifications tend to observe larger inequalities and to find them more problematic than persons on the perceived dominant side. However, third, these perceptions and concerns about inequality almost never associate with legitimacy beliefs towards ICANN, even among people in structurally subordinated positions and among people who express the greatest worries regarding power inequalities. Fourth, in forming legitimacy perceptions, participants at ICANN generally prioritise other aspects of institutional purpose, procedure and performance, unconnected with inequality. This lack of a relationship between perceptions of inequality and legitimacy beliefs suggests that, however sympathetic policy elites at ICANN might be towards greater equality in principle, they are unlikely to give it precedence in practice.
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ISSN:1354-0661
1460-3713
1460-3713
DOI:10.1177/13540661221098218