Conconverging Methods of Administrative Governance at the Supranational Level -- The Role of Civil Society
II° Lisbon International Workshop on Global Administrative Law - "Global Administrative Law(s): Unity and Diversity of Global Administrative Regimes", 2015
12 Pages Posted: 23 Dec 2015 Last revised: 24 Dec 2015
Date Written: December 4, 2015
Abstract
This paper is divided in three parts. Part I briefly introduces a few examples of coalitions of civil society actors operating at the supranational level. These coalitions advocate for topics as diverse as environmental protection, global poverty, transparency, social innovation and fight to corruption; and they cooperate with a vast range of supranational organisations, including the European Union, the United Nations, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and the World Bank. Seven factors are identified as crucial to explain the emergence of such civil society coalitions. Chief among these factors is the fact that these coalitions represent a necessity for both supranational regulators and civil society actors. The former need to efficiently address the topics they are demanded to regulate, and to overcome issues of legitimacy and accountability. The latter are interested in searching for effective ways to participate in the construction of supranational governance. Part II of this paper reflects on the role of the described coalitions of civil society actors in shaping closer connections between methods of administrative governance pertaining different supranational regulators. A preliminary distinction between the contribution given by single non-state actors and by civil society’s coalitions to the evolution of the supranational legal order is presented. The analysis rests on a claim of similarity between the impact of single nonstate actors and civil society coalitions on the elaboration of principles of administrative law in the supranational legal space. However, this paper claims that only the latter potentially contribute to the meaningful interaction between methods of supranational administrative governance. In order to elucidate this potential, two forms of convergence between administrative systems, namely attractiveness and imposition, are introduced. Part II of this paper suggests that administrative convergence through supranational coalitions of civil society actors encompasses both attractiveness and imposition, and should be therefore classified as a third type of convergence. To conclude, Part III of this paper envisages a number of tensions experienced by supranational coalitions of civil society actors that may raise doubts about civil society coalitions’ desirability as drivers of harmonized principles of administrative governance at the supranational level.
Keywords: civil society, democracy, accountability, globalization, World Bank, WTO, NGO, ONG, participation, administrative law, transparency, coalition, network, convergence, European Union, environment, politics, non-state actors, media, communication, technology
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation