The International Authority Database
| Published date | 01 September 2021 |
| Author | Michael Zürn,Alexandros Tokhi,Martin Binder |
| Date | 01 September 2021 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.12971 |
The International Authority Database
Michael Z€
urn and Alexandros Tokhi
WZB Berlin Social Science Center
Martin Binder
University of Reading
Abstract
International organizations (IOs) are perceived as increasingly important, yet also severely challenged actors in world politics.
How authoritative are IOs, how do they exercise authority, and how has their authority evolved over time? The International
Authority Database (IAD) offers a novel measure of IO authority built from several aspects of an IO’s institutional design. We
provide systematic data on how IOs exercise authority across seven policy functions, using a representative sample of 34 IOs,
based on coding over 200 IO bodies, and covering the period 1920–2013. Empirical applications illustrate how the IAD
advances our understanding of IOs in novel and important ways.
Policy Implications
•Whereas international organizations (IOs) are frequently criticized for not having enough bite, our data reveals that their
authority has grown over time. This development might spark strong resistance against global governance, unless IO
authority is sufficiently legitimated. Policy makers should therefore work towards increasing their legitimacy by establish-
ing sufficiently robust mechanisms of accountability and transparency. Moreover, our data point policy makers to identify
institutional features of IOs that are in particular need of legitimation.
•Our data further reveals that authority is unevenly distributed across IOs. Some organizations, such as the European Union,
wield substantial influence over states; whereas others, such as the Bank for International Settlements, barely constrain
state sovereignty. Policy makers should consider such varying levels of authority when determining which IO can effec-
tively solve problems and which cannot. Policy makers should equally pay attention to the distribution of IO authority
within a given issue area. If the IOs tasked to tackle an important issue such as climate change lack significant authority,
the policy maker should work towards strengthening their institutional framework and policy mandate.
•We also find that IOs are less authoritative than their critics often suggest. The average IO exercises substantial authority
only across a limited number of policy functions. IOs have the highest authority when they set policy agendas and settle
disputes between states but, in most IOs, states remain largely in control over the organization and policy making. Policy
makers that defend IOs should use this insight when confronted with exaggerated claims about the loss of popular sover-
eignty.
•To strengthen the implementation capacity of IOs, policy makers should strengthen the monitoring and enforcement
authority of IOs. Among the functions we consider in our data, the monitoring and enforcement authority of IOs are rela-
tively weakly institutionalized. However, both functions are important to ensure that adopted decisions are implemented
by member states. Our data allow policy makers to identify IOs in which monitoring and enforcement provisions are
weak.
1.Introducing a new dataset on international
organization authority
A key demand in the debate surrounding the 2016 Brexit
referendum was for the United Kingdom (UK) to ‘take back
control’from European Union (EU) institutions.
1
In 2018, Uni-
ted States (US) National Security Advisor, John Bolton,
warned the International Criminal Court (ICC) against com-
ing ‘after us, Israel, or other US allies’in the Court’s investi-
gation of war crimes in Afghanistan (Bowcott et al., 2018).
At the 2020 G20 summit, leaders pledged to strengthen the
World Health Organization’s (WHO) mandate in coordinating
the international response to COVID-19 and asked the Inter-
national Labour Organization (ILO) and the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to monitor
the pandemic’s impact on employment (Wagner, 2020).
These episodes suggest that international organizations (IOs)
are considered as influential actors in international politics
constraining state sovereignty in various important ways.
They also suggest that some IOs are contested (not least for
they are considered too authoritative).
Both observations are supported by extant research on
IOs. Scholars have argued that IOs not only help states real-
ize mutually beneficial cooperation (Keohane, 1984) and
©2021 The Authors. Global Policy published by Durham University and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.Global Policy (2021) 12:4 doi: 10.1111/1758-5899.12971
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use,
distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Global Policy Volume 12 . Issue 4 . September 2021
430
Research Article
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