Roads to Regionalism

Genesis, Design, and Effects of Regional Organizations

Tanja A. Börzel, Lukas Goltermann, Kai Striebinger

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• eBook ISBN: 9781317062318
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Economics
• Subtopic: Political Economy
• Index: Economics

Over the past few decades states all around the globe have intensified institutionalized cooperation at the regional level. To deepen our understanding of state-led regionalism, the authors use an analytical framework comprising four main strands. First, they describe and explain the genesis and growth of regional organizations. Second, they account for institutional design, looking at important similarities and differences. Third, they examine the interaction between organizations and member states in an attempt to reveal factors that shape the level of commitment to and compliance with regional initiatives. Finally, they consider the impact of regional organizations on their member states. They conclude by providing a foundation for future research on the dynamic development of regionalism.

PART 1
Introduction

Chapter 1
Roads to Regionalism: Concepts, Issues, and Cases

Lukas Goltermann, Mathis Lohaus, Alexander Spielau, and Kai Striebinger

Introduction

The influence of regional organizations can be felt in every corner of the world. Fascinating institutional developments have taken place in recent years that have given new momentum to regional integration projects, with a visible impact on the lives of millions of people. Landmark instances of regional engagement included military intervention in Sierra Leone as well as the empowerment of civil society in Southeast Asia. With more than 50 regional organizations already in existence, developments like these confront the observer with a new set of questions. For example, how can we explain the emergence of regional organizations? How can we study their institutions? How can we account for member states’ behavior? And what is their impact on the domestic level?

In this volume, we have brought together a number of studies, which seek to address these and other related questions. We approach regional organizations as an outcome of regionalism, which we understand as forms of regional institution building, ranging from international cooperation to highly legalized integration. In order to grasp multiple dimensions of the complex nature of regionalism, we propose four distinct perspectives—or “roads”—to the study of regionalism. The four roads will broadly follow the four questions raised in the previous paragraph and structure the contributions to this volume. Accordingly, we introduce the reader to the phenomenon of regionalism in the first part of this book by dealing with reasons for setting up or joining regional organizations (ROs). Secondly, we aim to find out why institutions are designed in specific ways. The third perspective on regionalism looks at how domestic factors influence state behavior on the regional level. Lastly, the fourth approach seeks to determine and explain the impact of regional organizations on their member states.

Conceptualizing Regions, Regionalism, and Regional Organizations

Before we start to construct our roads to regionalism, it is necessary to lay the groundwork of the crucial concepts employed in this volume. Already the term “region” itself is a contested concept. A basic understanding is that regions are constituted by groupings of territorial units in geographical proximity, constituting a spatially bound and contiguous area (Hurrell 1995: 333–334, Sbragia 2008). Yet, the study of regionalism inevitably touches upon the more contested elements of “regions.” Indeed, apart from signifying a geographic space, the term is also charged with a political dimension. Therefore, to obtain political, social, and/or economic importance, a region must display a certain degree of mutual interdependence (Nye 1968).

While scholars from an economic background tend to reduce regions to integrated market places (Bhagwati 1993, Mansfield and Milner 1999), the contributions to this volume define regions as political ideas and administrative units as well. As such, we subscribe to the idea that regions are socially constructed, spatial ideas, which follow concepts of community and society. This includes shared aspects of cultural identity (for example, religion and language), which foster a common socio-cultural understanding of a region. As van Langenhove points out, regions stem from a two-fold process: “they are imagined and they are created in an institutional way” (2011: 1). Consequently, as readers will see throughout the book, different understandings of regions have influenced the institutional design of ROs as well as the degree of cooperation and integration among its member states.1

The studies in this volume share a conceptualization of regionalism as a stateled project based on intergovernmental negotiations and treaties (Breslin and Higgott 2000, Gamble and Payne 1996). In addition, most scholars “would agree that regionalism includes processes and structures of region-building in regard to closer relations on economic, political, security and socio-cultural level” (Börzel 2012). This clearly distinguishes regionalism from processes of regionalization, which describe an increase of intra-regional social and economic interaction of private actors.

The observable outcome of regionalism can take different forms, ranging from cooperation to integration. The latter means a transfer and pooling of sovereignty rights to a third body, usually a regional organization (Börzel 2012). In order to be classified as a regional organization, they need to have more than two member states in geographical proximity,2 have exclusive membership and serve multiple purposes.3

Four Roads to Regionalism

In this volume we propose four guiding questions, which provide a coherent and comprehensive framework for the research on regionalism. In this we attempt to cover multiple dimensions of regionalism. While a number of scholarly contributions to the “New Regionalism” debate were published in recent years, they tend to provide detailed analyses of specific aspects of regionalism or a single regional organization (Cai 2010, Dieter 2007, Pevehouse 2005, Ribeiro Hoffmann and van der Vleuten 2007, Thomas 2008). In contrast, this volume covers multiple regional organizations in a comparative perspective. In the absence of a general theory on the development and effects of regional organizations, we combine numerous theoretical and analytical approaches to the study of regionalism in one overarching research framework. In this approach, we sympathize with the call by Warleigh-Lack and colleagues for a bridging of European Integration studies and the New Regionalism Approach (Warleigh-Lack and Rosamond 2010, Warleigh-Lack et al. 2011).

Genesis and Growth

First, we analyze the genesis and growth of regional organizations: when, how and why are they created, and what can be said about their developmental paths? Why do states choose to join or remain outside a regional organization? These are questions that have occupied the literature on regionalism for a long time. In particular, theories of European integration have influenced our understanding of the drivers of regional integration. Liberal intergovernmentalism and neofunctionalism offer different accounts of why states form, join or leave regional organizations.

For liberal intergovernmentalism, regional integration can be traced back to member states’ preferences, which are in turn shaped by domestic actors. Following the logic of liberal IR theory, states are seen as transmission belts for societal interests and are the primary unit of analysis. Regional integration can then be understood as the result of bargaining processes between member states (Moravcsik 1991, 1993, 1998).

Neofunctionalism, in contrast, puts emphasis on the concept of spillovers, elites, and supra-national actors (Haas 1958, 1961, Lindberg 1963).4 For neofunctionalists, regional integration is driven by functional spillovers in the context of interdependence: cooperation in one field induces pressure to integrate in another, for example, as a result of unintended consequences. Political spillover, on the other hand, occurs when domestic elites shift their attention to the level above the nation state, prompted by increasing transnational exchange or the belief that problems cannot be solved domestically. Additionally, supra-national actors are important for neofunctionalism as they become “agents of integration” (Niemann 1998). We argue that these theories, although developed in the European context, can inspire the study of regionalism in general.

To account for the importance of functional pressures as well as governments’ decision-making, it is useful to distinguish between demand and supply factors driving regionalism (Mattli 1999). The demand side follows the logic of economic gains, by assuming that economic integration is likely to require increasingly sophisticated safeguards, namely integrated governance. However, demand is necessary, but not sufficient for integration. On the supply side, Mattli argues that actors need to establish commitment institutions to minimize violations of cooperation rules, and that success depends on the existence of a paymaster country willing and able to bear distributional costs (Mattli 1999).

Our research agenda is not limited to theories of regional integration. Especially when we seek to understand why third states decide (not) to join a regional organization, it is fruitful to consider arguments from other parts of International Relations theory. Examples are neorealism—with its focus on security concerns that could stimulate regional cooperation or conflict—and neoliberal institutionalism, which highlights the importance of economic interdependence. To account for the enlargement of ROs, there is a range of rationalist arguments regarding the costs and benefits of accession to a RO (Schimmelfennig and Sedelmeier 2002).

Institutional Design

A second focal point of this volume is the institutional design of regional organizations. Given the striking similarities but also differences that can be observed between organizations, it is of great utility to explore different ways of characterizing and accounting for them. Contributions in this volume use three main concepts and explanatory approaches: the Rational Design of International Institutions (RDII), the legalization concept, and the diffusion concept aiming at a more process-oriented account for the institutional design of international organizations.

Originally developed by Koremenos, Snidal, and Lipson, the RDII can be employed to categorize and map international organizations while at the same time pointing out factors capable of explaining differences and similarities (Koremenos et al. 2001). Rooted in rational-choice theory, five dimensions of international institutions are identified: membership, scope, centralization, control, and flexibility (Koremenos et al. 2001: 768–773).5 The independent variables accounting for the specific institutional design are distribution and enforcement problems, the number and asymmetries of actors, and uncertainties about behavior, the state of the world, and other actors’ preferences (Koremenos et al. 2001: 773–780).

Abbott, Keohane, Moravcsik, Slaughter, and Snidel have added the concept of legalization to the study of international organizations (Abbott et al. 2000). Legalization, as the name indicates, focuses primarily on the analysis of legal documents creating formal institutions. It thereby allows for a more differentiated comparison of specific types of policy fields or of international organizations. The legalization concept measures three distinct characteristics of international organizations: precision “means that rules unambiguously define the conduct they require, authorize, or proscribe”; obligation describes the extent to which actors are legally bound by arrangements; and delegation addresses the degree of authority of independent third parties “to implement, interpret, and apply the rules; to resolve disputes; and (possibly) to make further rules” (Abbott et al. 2000: 401).6

Mapping differences and similarities is, however, only the first step of analysis. In a second step, the specific forms of institutional designs need to be explained. Although the three approaches and general IR as well as regional integration theory provide explanatory factors, the concept of diffusion is a fruitful framework that specifically addresses institutional design. Diffusion is defined as a process in which “the adoption of innovation by member(s) of a social system is communicated through certain channels and over time and triggers mechanisms that increase the probability of its adoption by other members who have not yet adopted it” (Levi-Faur 2005: 23). Sociological institutionalism has developed three analytical mechanisms to describe processes of institutional diffusion: through international coercion, emulation or mimicry (Campbell 2004, Di Maggio and Powell 1983, Henisz et al. 2005, Jepperson and Meyer 1991).

Member States’ Behavior in ROs

Third, we examine how member states act within regional organizations and what explains their behavior. More precisely, this research question focuses on factors that determine the level of commitment to, and compliance with, regional initiatives. Compliance in this regard means that member states follow the rules set at the regional level, for example, by implementing decisions on time. Commitment goes beyond these duties, indicating a preference to deal with problems at the regional level. Thus, the concept of commitment is linked to voluntary decisions, whereas compliance is determined by member states’ capabilities or willingness.

The level of regional commitment can be influenced by the structure of the domestic political system, for example, the regime type. Although there exists an extensive body of literature on democracy in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, relatively little research has been conducted on the effects that regime types might have on the international level. In particular, characteristics of national political systems such as neopatrimonialism can impact on state behavior (Bach 2005, Mansfield et al. 2002, 2008, Rüland 2009).

With regard to compliance, the question as to why states sign agreements and make commitments that they do not fulfill is a subject of debate. One approach focuses primarily on enforcement: from this perspective compliance is best ach...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• List of Contributors
• Foreword by Anja Jetschke
• Acknowledgments
• List of Abbreviations
• PART 1: INTRODUCTION
• PART 2: GENESIS AND GROWTH
• PART 3: INSTITUTIONAL DESIGN
• PART 4: MEMBER STATES’ BEHAVIOR
• PART 5: EFFECTS ON MEMBER STATES
• PART 6: CONCLUSION
• Index