Can transparency strengthen the legitimacy of international institutions? Evidence from the UN Security Council
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3918145 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Vegard Tørstad (0000-0003-3884-3436, Department of Political Science, University of Oslo & Department of Law and Governance, BI Norwegian Business School, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 61 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 228-245 |
| Publication date | 2024-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Peace Research (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-3433 • E-ISSN: 1460-3578 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/00223433221123996 |
| OpenAlex | W4353066663 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 42 |
Can transparency enhance the legitimacy of international institutions? As transparency has become a widely applied procedural standard in international politics, a range of institutions have implemented transparency reforms under the presumption that increased transparency can elicit support among relevant audiences. This article evaluates whether increased transparency in the UN Security Council leads to enhanced legitimacy perceptions among UN member-states. The article first traces the history of Security Council reform since 1990 and draws on interviews with diplomats and observers to describe a transparency reform the Council enacted in 2006. Next, the article uses longitudinal content analysis to empirically probe the legitimation effects of that transparency reform. The empirical analysis is based on an original dataset of 4,303 legitimacy statements made by UN member-states in annual UN General Assembly debates over the periods 1990-2006 and 2006-18. The findings cast doubt over the potential of transparency reform to improve the Council's legitimacy; instead they suggest that increasing the direct participation of the wider UN membership may be a more viable legitimation strategy. This article contributes to existing international legitimacy literature by providing empirical evidence on the relationship between transparency and legitimacy, and by demonstrating which institutional features that affect the perceived legitimacy of the Security Council
Legitimacy · Legitimation · Political science · Politics · Presumption · Public relations · Transparency (behavior) · E-Government and Public Services · Law · Political Influence and Corporate Strategies · Public Administration · Social Media and Politics
The Opening Up of International Organizations
The legitimacy and legitimation of international organizations
The Moral Purpose of the State
Cosmopolitan Justice and Institutional Design
United Nations Millennium Declaration
Enhancing diversity and representation within the United Nations Security Council
The UN Security Council, normative legitimacy and the challenge of specificity
Myths of Membership
Global governance and legitimacy
The Legitimacy of Global Governance Institutions
Case Studies
The quest for legitimacy in world politics – international institutions’ legitimation strategies
Legitimacy and institutional change in international organisations
Institutional sources of legitimacy for international organisations
From actual to perceived transparency
The illusion of UN Security Council reform
Legislation and Adjudication in the UN Security Council
Years of Transparency Research
Transparency is not Enough
The performance of international organizations
The Legitimacy of the UN Security Council
Legitimacy and Authority in International Politics
Open-Door or Closed-Door? Transparency in Domestic and International Bargaining
When Does Transparency Generate Legitimacy? Experimenting on a Context‐Bound Relationship
Transparency actually
Institutional Sources of Legitimate Authority
A Re-assessment of the Concept of Political Support
Legitimacy and the UN Security Council Agenda
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2023 - 2026 (4) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |