Two blind men and an elephant? Using regime theory and organization theory to explain processes of structural design in regime-dependent environmental IGOs

• Main Author: Nygaard, Lynn P
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: Norwegian
• Subjects: hovedoppgave statsvitenskap miljøvern regimeteori organisasjonsteor i

This thesis stems from the assumption that it is important to have a theory or conceptual model that can be used to understand how regime-dependent environmental IGOs end up looking the way they look and working the way they work. Despite the growing numbers of such organizations, there is currently no model or theory that can be applied without hesitation. Instead, there are two different practical approaches: regime theory and organization theory. Regime theory would seem relevant because a regime-dependent environmental IGO is indeed part of a regime. Organization theory would also seem relevant because a regime-dependent environmental IGO is an organization. However, these two theories have shown little interest in regime-dependent IGOs (environmental or otherwise). Thus the first research question of this thesis is to what extent regime theory and organization theory are even capable of sufficiently capturing processes of structural design in regime-dependent environmental IGOs. To answer this question, the thesis introduces a methodological framework called the ASEP framework. This framework was designed to organize discussions of both theory and study objects in terms of agent, structure, environment, and process. By applying the framework, it is argued that a sufficient theoretical explanation for structural design processes in regime-dependent environmental IGOs would be one that takes into account the following: that agents comprise people, states, and other IGOs; that structure reflects both the why (the purpose of the IGO in the general regime) and the how (the specific formal normative structure); that environmental influence comes from three main holds: the political environment (the constellation of state interests), the scientific environment (the nature of the environmental issue area), and the institutional environment (the norms, rules, and institutions with which the IGO interacts; and that there is some kind of process mechanism that explains change over time. The thesis then introduces regime theory (as exemplified by utilitarianism) and organization theory (as exemplified by contingency theory). Application of the ASEP framework shows that both of these theories fall short of a sufficient explanation at a theoretical level. The example of the IPCC as a real-world illustration of a regime-dependent environmental IGO then demonstrates that these shortcomings also have implications for the empirical study of these kinds of organizations