From: =?iso-8859-1?B?RGFuaWVsIFBpbul1?= <danielfrp-AT-hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: BHA: RE: Social and Historic forces as empirical proof in TR?
Date: Wed, 14 Jan 2004 16:27:28 +0000



Carrol,

You´re right, dynamics of their own _is_ quite vague. But nonetheless i used it to convey the sense that the actions of non-state actors in world politics have causal powers of their own - e.g. the IMF has cautinoned the US about their current economic policy, and this has had/will have fairly direct effects on stock markets and probably on policy formulation, by the US, other states, and other economic agents (such as TNC´s). Despite the fact that the IMF is often described as "dominated" by the US (a view to which, i confess, i adhere), here they can be seen as effecting "governance" over US (and international) economic policy in a fairly independent manner, albeit in a "soft way".

Which brings me to the second point, that you sem to equate "governance" with "state power", and in turn both with "government". Then you define state-power as "military power" and/or "police power". Fair enough, the State is a constraining mechanism, and maybe you prefer to look at it in a Weberian way, as a territorial monopoly of legitimate violence. But what about non-coercive phenomena in politics? Does governing _necessarily_ involve coercion or the threat thereof? Is managing not a part of governance, and if so does all managing require police-power? 

What about other more subtle forms of power, such as the production of meaning and consent? Do States have the monopoly on those too? What about influence, does it rest primarily on military power? Even your assertion that "state power (qua miliary/police power) still resides in nation states" is increasingly coming under fire, with the privatization of security...

I think it would be deceptive to call the UN or the WTO _sovereign_ bodies, or to say that they are governing bodies in the sense of (state-power based) government, but i also think it very plausible and fairly accurate as describing them as bodies of (global/regional) governance.

If not, how on Earth do you explain what the European Commision does in the EU? They are not a state, they are not sovereign, they do not tax directly, they do not yield any military power of their own. And yet, it is taking European states to court, in order to constrain them to keep to the budgetary policies agreed upon (or imposed on them, whatever way you prefer). There is a direct and causal effect between the initiatives (or ruling) of the Commision and policy outcomes at a national, regional - and, arguably - global level as well. If you do not call this governance, what _do_ you call it? And if power rests soley or primarily with states, and consists mostly of coercive means, how do you explain the examples above?

I think you are reducing governing (both government & governance) to power, and, even then, to coercive/physical/material forms of power. And I think that for the picture to be more accurate, you would also need to look at the questions os authority and legitimacy.

I have no beef at all with your position that the "major issue of our time" is to deal with the current pre-eminent role of the US within the international system/society, and its effects for the structure of world order - in fact that is pretty much the focus of my postgrad studies & research. But i would not go so far as subsuming everything under it, or, for that matter, overstating the dimension of "(imperial) state-power" vis-avis other forms of power and authority.

Cheers,

Daniel




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