Global Policy

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• Lessons from outperformance in the Indian financial sector

  We examine predictions and outcomes for the Indian financial sector in the pandemic period to (i) build a case for re‐examining our understanding of the sector and (ii) improve risk perceptions and policy design. Reasons for outperformance include reforms that led to a better balance between discretion from public sector dominance and the excess volatility of market‐based systems. This diversity, as well as divergence of the Indian credit cycle from the global credit cycle, was protective given the sustained external risks. It put the sector in a position to support the domestic recovery, despite global quantitative tightening. Public sector banks contribute to diversity. Non‐bank financial companies reach the unbanked sectors and improve financial inclusion. Regulatory excesses and absence of liquidity support contributed to persistence of financial stress. Policy lessons are for countries to avoid policy over‐reaction, aim for diversity, different types of exposures, some uniformity in financial sector regulation, with the appropriate balance between discipline and support, in order to reduce risks. There are lessons from India's more broad‐based regulation for the narrow bank‐based regulation in advanced economies, which is increasing global financial fragilities and risks. The share of markets has risen so much there that diversity is falling.

• Debating Conflict, war and revolution: Introduction to the special section
• Inequalities and content moderation

  As the harms of hate speech, mis/disinformation and incitement to violence on social media have become increasingly apparent, calls for regulation have accelerated. Most of these debates have centred around the needs and concerns of large markets such as the EU and the United States, or the aggressive approach countries such as Russia and China adopt to regulate online content. Our focus in this article is with the rest, the smaller markets at the periphery of the advertising industry, and the deep inequalities that current approaches to content moderation perpetuate. We outline the depth of the unequal practice of moderation, particularly across Africa, and explore the underlying political and economic factors driving this gap. While recognizing content moderation has many limitations, we conclude by underlining potential approaches to increase oversight in content moderation.

• War in World Society: Towards a new order of global constitutionalism?

  In world society, all wars are world wars and so is the present war in Ukraine even if the use of violence is broadly restricted to the Ukrainian area (a restriction imposed clearly imposed by global politics). World society emerged between 1750 and 1850 together with the first world wars and world revolutions that were fought on all continents and oceans (1). There is no society beyond world society any longer. The world society pushes (but by no means sufficiently) (a) law and politics to institutionalise a world constitution and (b) social actors to culturally symbolise global mindsets, world views and normativity (2). Yet, only a second wave of world revolutions and world wars between 1900 and 1950 caused the rise of autonomous world law that enabled a now interrupted but still lasting global process of fully inclusive democratisation (3). However, the rise of world law in 1945 was followed by its fall after 1989, and the present wars in Ukraine and beyond come close to a complete destruction of world law. There is only a small chance to end the use of violence in Ukraine that cannot and should not lead to sufficient victory of one of the warring parties but to a reconstruction and new foundation of world law and the constitutional order of the world. The alternative is not the national state but failed states and anomia (4).

• Civic ecosystems and social innovation: From collaboration to complementarity

  This article introduces civic ecosystems as a concept and set of practical approaches to social innovation. It draws on several examples of civic ecosystems in action to highlight their main characteristics and to provide insights and lessons for applying ecosystem approaches to social innovation in practice. The discussion of civic ecosystems is placed in the broader context of the rise of ecosystem thinking among social change practitioners, researchers, technologists and funders. The article argues for a paradigm shift in social innovation from networks as vehicles for collaboration to ecosystems as catalysts for complementarity.

• Issue Information
• Influencers as institutions: Impact of digital politics in the Global South

  The digital space has become indispensable for campaigns around the world. However, it is not obvious how digital influence translates to leverage on‐ground action, particularly in its impact on protest movements that challenge the status quo. In our study, we seek to clarify these conceptual issues with the idea of influence in digital politics and develop a framework to understand its institutional impact, particularly in the Global South. Taking two prominent movements, #BlackLivesMatter, which was successful in changing the state's policy on racism, and #AntiCAA in India, a similar movement that achieved less success, we develop a comparative framework that can be applied to understand the limits of digital influence in the Global South. Highlighting the difference in their institutional contexts, we show that digital influence emerges not only in terms of its positive impact but also in the negative impact it can have when the state and its institution seek to counter the protests.

• Labour provisions in trade agreements and women's rights in the global south

  The effect of trade liberalisation on women has been hotly contested. Here, we take a step back and explore the effect of the institutions underlying trade on freedoms for women in the Global South. We build on the literature showing that the design of trade agreements matters for social welfare outcomes and argue that labour provisions in preferential trade agreements (PTAs) can contribute to improved women's rights. We assess this claim using statistical evidence and find a robust, positive correlation between labour provisions in PTAs and civic freedoms for women and no robust relationship with economic or political freedoms for women. Our study aims to establish an empirical link between PTA design and women's rights, suggesting new policies are needed to better balance economic globalisation with social goals in the current protectionist era.

• Sweden's image in the world: Still a ‘model’?

  Sweden has long been regarded as a ‘model’ for societal development. Recently, with the rise of an anti‐immigrant party and negative news coverage of crime, the image of a progressive Sweden has frayed. Positive models for societal development have existed in the past and included the United States during the heyday of modernization theory. This paper argues that positive models are useful, partly to crystallize options among the much‐debated varieties of capitalism, and partly as ideals which can be held up by social thinkers and publics as aspirations for the good society. This paper reviews the evolution of the Swedish model from a ‘middle way’ between Soviet communism and American capitalism to a welfare state under strain. It also examines how the Swedish model has been reinforced by its high international standing. The perceptions of Sweden abroad and domestically have changed in recent years. While these perceptions have correctly identified challenges not just for Sweden but also for other countries with similar problems, Sweden's government and civil society may be able to address them. The paper explores the lessons that can be learned from the current shortcomings and potential renewal of the strengths of the Swedish model, including its wider influence.

• Health systems appraisal of the response to antimicrobial resistance in low‐ and middle‐income countries in relation to COVID‐19: Application of the WHO building blocks

  COVID‐19 has inflicted both beneficial and damaging effects on health systems responding to antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Data shows that the positive impacts of the pandemic (including enhanced hygiene, mask wearing and widespread use of personal protective equipment), are likely to have been overshadowed by the negative effects: emerging AMR pathogens and mechanisms; further outbreaks and geographic spread of AMR to non‐endemic countries; rising infections from multidrug‐resistant pathogen; an overall higher burden of AMR. The multisectoral complexities of AMR and the totality of health systems challenge our ability to understand the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on country responses to AMR. In this analysis, we synthesise international evidence characterising the role of the pandemic on the six key building blocks of health systems in responding to AMR across low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs). We apply systems thinking within and between the building blocks to contextualise the impact of one pandemic on another.

Featured documents

• Meet in the Middle: Terrorism and Centrist Party Vote Shares in Legislative Elections

  Scholars have found that terrorism can influence political behavior in democracies by affecting citizens’ emotions such as anxiety and fear. However, researchers have yet to examine how terrorism affects vote choice cross‐nationally. The few studies that have investigated terrorism's effect on vote ...

• The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Science‐Diplomacy Nexus

  In this article, we address the climate change issue through the lens of science diplomacy. We contribute to analyzing the mechanisms by which, in the international climate regime, the issues of science intermingle with those of diplomacy. We use the term ‘nexus’ to designate the interactions...

• Five Reasons Why Export Credit Institutions Should Measure and Report their Social Impact

  Export credit agencies (ECAs) are facing similar challenges when branding and marketing their services to small businesses. Communicating the social impact of ECAs is beneficial when reaching out to new customers, building a stronger internal culture or responding to government policies....

• The Corporate Governance of Public Banks before and after the Global Financial Crisis

  During the 2008–09 financial crisis, many states were forced to nationalize faltering private banks. But also public banks ran into trouble and market actors continue to worry about their stability and crisis resilience. During the crisis, German public Landesbanken and Spanish public Cajas were...

• Towards a Third Generation of Global Governance Scholarship

  Global governance is widely viewed as in crisis. Deepening interdependence of cross‐border activity belies the relative absence of governance mechanisms capable of effectively tackling major global policy challenges. Scholars have an important role to play in understanding blockages and ways...

• Using Regulatory Sandboxes to Support Responsible Innovation in the Humanitarian Sector

  The global regulatory community continues to explore new approaches to supervising innovation. Among these, so‐called ‘regulatory sandboxes’ are proving to be particularly appealing to the financial sector as it seeks to promote technological and data‐driven innovation. These ‘playgrounds’ for...

• Understanding the Connections between the EU Global Strategy and Somali Peacebuilding Education Needs and Priorities

  This paper examines the connections between identity politics and European Union (EU) aid effectiveness in peacebuilding education in Somalia. It engages with a severe educational challenge, which is that a lack of capacity in rigorous educational design and/or implementation across Somali...

• The Big (data) Bang: Opportunities and Challenges for Compiling SDG Indicators

  Official statisticians around the world are faced with the herculean task of populating the Sustainable Development Goals global indicator framework. As traditional data sources appear to be insufficient, statisticians are naturally considering whether big data can contribute anything useful. While ...

• Is the AIIB a China‐controlled Bank? China’s Evolving Multilateralism in Three Dimensions (3D)

  Is the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank a China‐controlled bank? This basic question highlights the issue of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank’s (AIIB) international credibility, especially as a multilateral institution. AIIB president Jin Liqun recognized the ‘multilateral challenge’...

• The Role of Integrated Thinking in Changing Corporate Behaviour