It's Ordered Chaos: What Really Makes Polycentrism Work

International Studies Review, vol. 23, pp. 1988–2018

Abstract

Abstract This forum reimagines polycentric governance. It develops ideas of “ordered polycentrism” that can help international relations scholarship make fuller sense of contemporary governance of global affairs. How can we theorize the implicit bonding forces that bring deeper order to the surface disorganization of polycentric governance? We offer a key corrective to actor-focused institutionalist understandings by showing how polycentrism also involves deeper relations and structures. Six contributions offer various avenues to theorize deeper order in polycentric governance, each with reference to a substantive issue area. Jens Steffek draws upon constructivist theory of “norms” to argue that standards acquire autonomous ordering power in polycentric governance of global business. Maryam Deloffre adopts a “metagovernance” perspective to identify norms as aspirational visions structuring the regulation of humanitarian assistance. Next, Frank Gadinger explores polycentrism through the lens of “practices” that organize the everyday activities by multiple actors such as negotiating as well as the objects, technologies and expertise they use in these governance efforts. Zeynep Mencutek highlights “techniques” as micro-carriers of ordering practices in polycentric governance of irregular migration, stretching the limits of institutional rules. Maria Koinova discusses “informality” as a deeper structuring force in the governance of transit migration and diasporas, and how it is shaped by state capacities, political regimes, and regional dynamics. Finally, Jan Aart Scholte adds “underlying order” through macro-frameworks and, with illustrations from Internet governance, suggests that polycentrism is structured through a threefold combination of norms, practices, and underlying orders. Together, the six commentaries offer a menu of ways that future research can explore order in what institutionalism has depicted as chaos.

Authors 6

1. Maria Koinova

   University of Warwick

   Affiliation as printed

   University of Warwick, UK

2. Maryam Zarnegar Deloffre

   George Washington University

   Affiliation as printed

   George Washington University, USA

3. Frank Gadinger

   University of Duisburg-Essen

   Affiliation as printed

   University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany

4. Zeynep Şahin Mencütek

   BICC - Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies · Toronto Metropolitan University

   Affiliation as printed

   Bonn International Center for Conflict Studies, Germany and Ryerson University, Canada

5. Jan Aart Scholte Aachen

   Leiden University · University of Duisburg-Essen

   Affiliation as printed

   Leiden University, Netherlands and University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany

6. Jens Steffek

   Technische Universität Darmstadt

   Affiliation as printed

   Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany