Debating the International Legitimacy of the G20: Global Policymaking and Contemporary International Society
| Date | 01 February 2013 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1758-5899.2012.00175.x |
| Published date | 01 February 2013 |
| Author | Steven Slaughter |
Debating the International
Legitimacy of the G20: Global
Policymaking and Contemporary
International Society
Steven Slaughter
Deakin University
Abstract
There have been growing debates about the legitimacy and the future of the G20 (the Group of Twenty) leaders
forum despite this forum playing a prominent role in response to the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. While states within
the G20 assert the legitimacy of the G20, states outside the G20 actively question this forum’s legitimacy. This article
contends that while the G20 is important to contemporary global governance and efforts to create a common
framework of rules for global capitalism, this ongoing debate demonstrates that the legitimacy of the G20 is
fundamentally uncertain and problematic because the G20’s membership and connection to existing forms of
multilateralism remain contentious. This article contends that G20 leaders need to consider these issues in light of the
prevailing expectations of states in contemporary international society.
Policy Implications
•Given the scale and complexity of global problems and the large number of states and International Organisations
(IOs), the G20 is going to be an important forum for timely global agenda setting and decision making at an exec-
utive level.
•However, the G20 faces a range of challenges in attempting to develop and sustain its legitimacy. Importantly, legiti-
macy is not an abstract concept, as it derives from the prevailing norms and institutions in international society.
•Since the emergence of the G20 there have been ongoing debates about the legitimacy of the G20 in international
society, where it is clear that considering the views of nonmember states and the relationship of the G20 to existing
forms of multilateralism are important.
•Consequently, consideration ought to be given to measures to strengthen the legitimacy of the G20, including stron-
ger connections between the G20 and core multilateral bodies like the UN, as well as developing avenues of interac-
tion between the G20 and the public in its member states, as well as transnational NGOs and business interests.
In 2008, the debate in the international commu-
nity about how to deal with the emerging eco-
nomic storm focussed on how we could evolve
a coordinated, global policy response in a
manner which both maximised the political
legitimacy of that response, while at the same
time maximising the effectiveness of that
response (Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs
(Rudd, 2011a)).
There has been a growing debate about the legitimacy
and the future of the G20 leader’s forum, despite this
forum playing a prominent role in coordinating the
international response to the 2008 Global Financial
Crisis. In the light of this crisis, the G20 was elevated
to being the preeminent forum for economic diplomacy
in place of the smaller G8 leader’s forum and the G20
finance ministers and central bank governors’ forum
(G20 FM ⁄CBG). The G20 leader’s forum consists of the
leaders of 19 economically powerful states, the EU pres-
ident and the heads of a range of IOs. Importantly the
G20 and preceding forums of the G system were estab-
lished outside the normal protocols of multilateral inter-
national law and the United Nations (UN), as well as
having no constitution, ongoing secretariat or budget
and thus no capacity to act independently of its mem-
Global Policy Volume 4 . Issue 1 . February 2013
Global Policy (2013) 4:1 doi: 10.1111/j.1758-5899.2012.00175.x ª2012 London School of Economics and Political Science and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Research Article
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