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Governance in a Partially Globalized World

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2002

Robert O. Keohane
Affiliation:
Robert O. Keohane is James B. Duke Professor of Political Science, Duke University, Perkins Library 214, Durham, NC 27708-0204 (rkeohane@duke.edu) Cambridge University Press, New York, NY 10011, USA,,

Abstract

Facing globalization, the challenge for political science resembles that of the founders of the United States: how to design institutions for a polity of unprecedented size and diversity. Globalization produces discord and requires effective governance, but effective institutions are difficult to create and maintain. Liberal-democratic institutions must also meet standards of accountability and participation, and should foster persuasion rather than rely on coercion and interest-based bargaining. Effective institutions must rely on self-interest rather than altruism, yet both liberal-democratic legitimacy and the meaning of self-interest depend on people’s values and beliefs. The analysis of beliefs, and their effect on institutional outcomes, must therefore be integrated into institutional analysis. Insights from branches of political science as diverse as game theory, rational-choice institutionalism, historical institutionalism, and democratic theory can help political scientists understand how to design institutions on a world—and human—scale.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
2001 by the American Political Science Association

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