Using negotiation to promote legitimacy

An assessment of proposals for reforming the WTO

Bibliographic Data

ID3696104
AuthorsCecilia Albin (Uppsala University, corresponding author)
Year2008
Volume84
Issue4
Pages757-775
Publication date2008-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Affairs (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0020-5850 • E-ISSN: 1468-2346
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1111/j.1468-2346.2008.00736.x
OpenAlexW2056066498
LanguageEN
Citations received12

How can negotiations be conducted to promote the legitimacy of international institutions such as the World Trade Organization (WTO)? Can negotiation procedures be designed so as to strengthen the WTO as an institution and the agreements it concludes? One reason for which the legitimacy of the organization is being questioned is its decision-making—especially negotiation—procedures. These have contributed significantly to recent setbacks in WTO talks. Yet proposals for procedural reform have not been subject to much discussion or review, in particular with no regard to content which may boost legitimacy. Justice and other values associated with legitimacy have generally not been addressed by trade experts, and conceptual tools for identifying what practical form their inclusion could take are lacking. This article reviews a variety of proposals, formal and informal, for reforming the WTO's negotiation procedures. It develops an approach to procedural justice which is used to identify the justice content in these proposals, based on four main principles. Drawing on this analysis, the article concludes by highlighting promising elements of reform. In so doing, it brings research literature on justice and negotiation to bear on current debates over the legitimacy deficit in international institutions, using the WTO as a significant case. More practically, the article helps to identify what more legitimate negotiation procedures may mean and require, and how their justice content may be assessed and increased

Economic Justice · Epistemology · Institution · Law and economics · Legitimacy · Negotiation · Political science · Procedural justice · Public relations · Sociology · Variety (cybernetics) · Computer Science · Global trade, sustainability, and social impact · International Arbitration and Investment Law · Law · Public Administration · World Trade Organization Law