Accountability for Effectiveness in Global Governance

by John Kirton (Editor), Marina Larionova (Editor)

The global community confronts a comprehensive and interconnected array of compelling economic, development and security challenges which require effective global governance. At the centre of world governance stand the new plurilateral summit institutions; the G8 and G20, and UN summits on subjects such as sustainable development and climate change. Many observers and participants regard the performance of these summits as inadequate and doubt their ability to cope with increasingly complex and numerous global challenges.

This book critically examines how effectively central global institutions comply with their commitments and how their effectiveness can be improved through accountability measures designed to raise compliance and deliver better results.

Expert contributors assess compliance and accountability at the key global institutions to provide an important resource for policymakers and scholars in political science, governance and accountability

Review
"A definitive reference book on Global Governance. Experts and students alike will gain a great deal from reading this excellent piece of work and will learn how G20. G7/8, BRICS execute their governance role in various spheres." - Prof. Maxim Bratersky, National Research University – Higher School of Economics, Russia.

"As the global economy has become progressively integrated, global economic problems – from climate change to financial crises – have become more interconnected as well. These global problems call for globally coherent policy responses. Such responses, in turn, call for global governance. Understanding the institutions of global governance, the determinants of compliance and policy effectiveness and an empirical framework for policy accountability are issues of first-rate importance for policy makers, academics, business leaders and all other responsible citizens. This book is a masterful collection of issues and institutions responsible for global and regional governance. The editors and authors are to be congratulated for creating an extremely insightful and important volume. It is essential reading for all those seeking to grasp how countries and regions coordinate their policies in search of mutually beneficial outcomes." - Dennis Snower, President, Kiel Institute for the World Economy

"Are the G7, G20, BRICS, and UN summits merely photo opportunities or do they translate pledges into tangible accomplishments? The contributors to this deeply researched volume highlight not just the extent of governmental compliance with international soft law initiatives but also the factors supporting these outcomes. Essential reading for anyone interested in the realities of 21st-century government." - Professor Simon J. Evenett, University of St. Gallen

About the Author
John J. Kirton is a professor of political science and the Co-director of the G20 Research Group, the Global Health Diplomacy Program and the BRICS Research Group, and Director of the G7 Research Group, all based at Trinity College at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto.

Marina Larionova, PhD, is head of the Center for International Institutions Research of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration and Co-director of the BRICS Research Group.