Global Policymaking
The Patchwork of Global Governance

This book provides a new theoretical framework for the study of global governance and applies it to three vital United Nations global policies.

Vincent Pouliot (Author), Jean-Philippe Thérien (Author)

9781009344951, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 16 March 2023

280 pages, 1 b/w illus. 12 tables
23.5 x 15.5 x 2 cm, 0.62 kg

'Vincent Pouliot and Jean-Philippe Thérien show convincingly that global policymaking can be understood not as functional responses to global problems but as the outcome of struggles about transboundary practices and universal values. Seeing global governance as a bricolage of global policymaking allows a better understanding of the intricate relationship of common goods justifications and power relations. Global Policymaking is one of the most important books on global governance.' Michael Zürn, Director at the Berlin Social Science Center (WZB), and Professor, Freie Universität Berlin

This book analyzes the politics of global governance by looking at how global policymaking actually works. It provides a comprehensive theoretical and methodological framework which is systematically applied to the study of three global policies drawn from recent UN activities: the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015, the institutionalization of the Human Rights Council from 2005 onwards, and the ongoing promotion of the protection of civilians in peace operations. By unpacking the practices and the values that have prevailed in these three cases, the authors demonstrate how global policymaking forms a patchwork pervaded by improvisation and social conflict. They also show how global governance embodies a particular vision of the common good at the expense of alternative perspectives. The book will appeal to students and scholars of global governance, international organizations and global policy studies.

Introduction: the politics of global governance
1. Global policymaking: from public goods to bricolage
2. The making of global policies: analytical framework and methodology
3. The sustainable development goals: planning without a blueprint
4. The Human Rights Council: institution-building by doing
5. The protection of civilians: policymaking by fits and starts
6. Key Trends in the Making of Global Policies: A Comparative Synthesis
Conclusion: grasping the patchwork of global governance.

Subject Areas: International relations [JPS]