This week in class there was a lot of discussion about legitimacy. Legitimacy is not only having the right to do something (authority), but also the capacity. If someone with authority lacks the capacity to do something on their own and they are able to authorize someone else acting on their behalf, this could also be seen as a source of legitimacy. Where the authority comes from is the power behind the legitimacy. In the international realm, any actor has to have legitimacy in order to be taken seriously. Another key to becoming a legitimate force in the international environment is public support.
The United Nations is a good example of a legitimate source of authority with no standing army, so no muscle. Public decisions, like the ones made by the UN, are binding on all its members regardless of whether or not they voted for the decision. How can they enforce something that in a country does not want to without breaking the rules and norms of sovereignty?
Broadly the answer is public support. The United Nations is not 100% beloved by everyone everywhere, but they are transparent in their operations (or as transparent as the security measures will allow them to be) and provide an equal battleground for all member-states. They have the eye of the public, even if not its support and could influence the population of nearly any country, expose a corrupt government to its people, ruin relations between states, or any other controversial conspiracy. This source of power, power of the public eye, is what I think is truly the key to global governance. Economically countries are intertwined now and generally need to save face at times to preserve those relationships.
Yet, public relations can only go so far and actors can only care so much about what others may think. This is where violence comes into play. The use of force can be chosen in case of extreme violations. Though the UN has no standing army, they have the armies (or whatever military contributions available) from each member country. The UN is able to exert legitimacy by authorizing those with the capacity to carry out their decisions.
Clarification: the only legally binding decisions made at the UN are the UN Security Council Resolutions. General Assembly Resolutions are non-binding. However, resolutions passed by consensus are often followed. This suggests that the "law" are "enforcement capability" may not be necessarily required for legitimacy and rule-following.
ReplyDelete