The fall of the Berlin Wall, followed by the collapse of the Soviet Union, had a profound impact on world politics, changing the global balance of power and bringing about new ways of dealing with international problems. The growing interdependence of countries that resulted from an increasing integration of trade, finance, and people popularized the idea of global governance among Western scholars and policymakers.
In this context, the growing importance of actors in international governance, such as the United Nations, the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the World Bank (WB) indicated the arrival of a new era, one in which increasing political and economic integration was to facilitate more effective and coherent responses to problems affecting more than one state or region. In time, however, many began to criticize global governance institutions for their tendency to privilege certain countries over others, thereby undermining national sovereignty. The global institutions also faced criticism for their failure to address a growing democratic deficit in the operation of global governance structures.
In this regard, the development of global civil society was viewed by scholars with great optimism as a means to democratize global governance (Smith et al., Transnational Social Movements and Global Politics, 1997; Keck and Sikkink, Activists Beyond Borders, 1998; Florini, The Third Force, 2000). It was argued that the growing influence of global civil society organizations (CSOs) would strengthen the power of non-state actors and build their capacity to challenge the old state-centric international system. Also, the emergence of global CSOs would give a voice to those discontented with the current state of the international system and render it more accessible to the general public, especially in the West (pp. 8–9). Starting with Keck and Sikkink (1998), several scholars, including Florini (2000), examined the multiple ways in which transnational civil society (TCS) contributed to the democratization of global governance. The critics, on the other hand, challenged these hopeful views and questioned the democratizing potential of the TCS, usually highlighting power imbalances between large northern NGOs and CSOs from developing countries, as well as the economic and political constraints that might undermine the autonomy of TSCOs and the effectiveness of their activities (pp. 10–12).
The diversity of views regarding the role of TCS in global governance points to a need for further research and analysis. In this context, the study of transnational civil society and its role in establishing a new, more democratic international order published by Christopher L. Pallas in 2013 assumes great importance. The author goes beyond a simple acknowledgment of the growing influence of TSC and, with the goal of evaluating the impact of TSCOs on global governance, studies their behaviour as they attempt to influence such powerful international financial institutions as the World Bank.
The research utilizes three case studies: the tenth replenishment of funding for the World Bank’s International Development Association, the bank’s decision to cancel funding for the Arun III dam in Nepal, and the bank’s decision to allow borrowing countries to use their own national systems of management procurement for World Bank projects. Pallas used as his core study IDA-10, a landmark event that involved an unprecedented number of TCSOs from extremely diverse backgrounds engaging with the bank, supplemented with two additional cases examining the interactions between the World Bank, local governments, and TSCOs from the early and mid-1990s into the post-9/11 context. The case selection allowed Pallas not only to analyze the structure of transnational civil society campaigns advocating for change in World Bank policies, but also to study the mechanisms of TCS influence on policymaking at the World Bank, as well as the results of TCS engagement on stakeholder representation in transnational policymaking (pp. 12–13).
The book is based on the author’s extensive research involving work with TSCO, government, and World Bank documents; a series of interviews with senior government, bank, and civil society leaders; and participant observation of World Bank policymaking workshops (p. 13). Organized into eight chapters, the book offers a straightforward and logical structure, allowing the reader to follow the author’s argument with ease. Pallas opens his tome with an introductory chapter presenting the research problem and succinctly summarizing the author’s research strategy and main findings. It also offers an insightful discussion of the definitional ambiguity that surrounds the concepts of transnational civil society (TCS), transnational civil society organizations (TCSOs), and international non-governmental organizations (INGOs). This introduction is followed by a theoretical chapter that offers a framework for assessing the TSC contributions to democratization—one then applied throughout the book. The chapter establishes a standard of TCS’s democratic legitimacy for use in the assessment of TCS activities. Building on the work of Anders Uhlin (Anders Uhlin, “The Democratic Legitimacy of Transnational Actors: A Framework for Analysis,” in A. Uhlin and E. Erman, eds., Legitimacy Beyond the State? Re-examining the Democratic Credentials of Transnational Actors, 2010), Pallas divides the concept of democratic legitimacy into three parts: inputs (such as grassroots participation), throughputs (such as transparency), and output (mainly impact) (pp. 23, 30). He argues that the evaluation of TCS’s democratic credentials should include not only endogenous characteristics such as representation, transparency, and participation, but also the impact of TCS activities on marginalized populations (pp. 23–32). The author points out that when TCSOs engage in global governance, they are acting as an authority (p. 36). This role of authority renders their democratic legitimacy dependent on context, and it should ideally “reflect the stated interests of at least some groups of stakeholders or otherwise increase citizen control over policymaking at the institution” (p. 44). This idea proves especially important when TCSOs are working in a democratic state; otherwise, civil society risks undermining the local democratic system (p. 45).
Pallas devotes the following four chapters to a discussion of IDA-10, covering the chronology of events, main actors, their roles, interests, and strategies of engagement with the World Bank, the dynamics of interaction among various TSCOs, the World Bank, and borrowing state governments, and final outcomes. The author demonstrates how the activism of more than forty organizations from six different countries that addressed nearly a dozen issues had a profound impact on World Bank operations, thereby confirming the thesis about the global reach and membership of TCSOs. In response to TCSO pressure, the World Bank increased participatory decision-making, engaged its critics, and cultivated allies among TCSOs (p. 66). In that sense, TCSO activism confirmed the growing influence of TCSOs on global governance institutions. At the same time, the dynamics of TCSO relations within TCS and its engagement with the World Bank and state governments demonstrated significant imbalances in power between donor and borrower nations, inequalities in North-South interactions, and some features of political elitism whereby certain civil society actors used their connections to advance the interests of some stakeholders over those of others (p. 67). What is perhaps even more concerning is the impact of TCSO actions on the populations and governments of developing countries, which under particular circumstances can lead to the marginalization of governments in a developing country, thereby undermining the democratic legitimacy of TCSOs. Overall, given the complexity of the problem, the author concludes his discussion by highlighting the importance of a context-based analysis of TCSOs activities, especially when evaluating their impact on the domestic policies of developing countries (pp. 126–128).
Chapter 7 continues the analysis by examining the two additional cases of the Arun III anti-dam campaign and the World Bank adoption of country systems for procurement. The chapter confirms the earlier findings that although TCS does help improve citizen control over the World Bank, it also continues to manifest significant problems with democratic inputs, demonstrating continuing elitist trends and power imbalances. Chapter 8 summarizes the research findings and addresses the following question: Under what conditions or constraints can TCS become an effective force for the democratization of the World Bank?
The study enriches extant literature on TCS and highlights the current limitations of TCS impact on global governance. While the data collected makes it clear that transnational civil society has global reach and membership, as well as the potential to diversify and democratize global policymaking, the author also demonstrates that this potential has yet to be fully realized. More than commonly acknowledged, TSCOs are atomized and divided by disparities in power and resources between SCOs, whereas the goals, interests, and engagement strategies of CSOs are heavily influenced by the pre-existing beliefs of professional activists, the financial incentives created by their donors, their position in the structure of global governance, and their capacity to exploit state power in advancing their policy agendas.
Transnational civil society has abundant influence on the World Bank, and some changes, like improved transparency and accountability, have facilitated improved stakeholder influence over the institution. However, the most effective channels of influence, including partnerships with the World Bank’s powerful donor states, remain accessible primarily to elite organizations based in the Global North. A strong commitment to pre-existing missions, coupled with financial constraints, inhibit dialogue among organizations and make it difficult for TCSOs to respond to the concerns of local stakeholders. These problems with democratic inputs have adverse consequences for the democratic outputs of TCSOs, often resulting in situations in which the actions of TCSOs do not reflect the interests of affected populations. The book therefore reaches the fundamental conclusion that TCS has not only failed to democratize policymaking at the World Bank, but may have actually worsened some stakeholders’ marginalization, especially if they hail from developing countries. At the same time, the author remains positive and proposes four policy initiatives that could fix the existing problems and strengthen TCS’s impact on global governance: increasing formal dialogues between the Bank and civil society; limiting state power in Bank decisions; holding individual TCSOs accountable; and making TCS more representative of those populations on whose behalf TCSOs actually speak (pp. 162–164).
Pallas’s book makes a valuable contribution to the literature on TCS and its role in global governance. It provides insights into the various factors that undermine TCS’s democratic credentials and weaken the autonomy and sovereignty of governments in developing countries. I highly recommend this volume to anyone committed to understanding the ambiguous impact of TCSOs on global governance and pondering the question of what changes are required in the current operation of TCS to finally realize the ultimate goal of establishing a more democratic international order.
