Governance at global level
In order to solve problems such as the refugee crisis, countries must work together at international level. This requires big changes in the way in which states make and implement policy. Leiden researchers analyse these changes and advise policymakers on best practices.
Many of the problems facing society today go further than national borders: just consider such issues as the refugee crisis, global warming or the global banking crisis. Various international organisations, such as international aviation authorities, world health organisations and world trade organisations, have been founded to solve such problems. International agreements are also reached, but their implementation is the responsibility of the individual states. This can cause problems.
Internationalisation and national parliaments
Countries need to work closely together to reach agreements, and these agreements must be implemented in a clear fashion, but it is debatable whether all governments implement the agreements in a democratic and humane manner. ‘With a global climate agreement, we in Europe know what we need to do,’ says researcher Kutsal Yesilkagit. ‘But is the same true of China, or India? Will these governments implement agreements that have been reached in Paris in such a way that it does not affect local farmers?’
Leiden researchers such as Yesilkagit research the effect of this internationalisation on individual states: how do politicians and the authorities there implement policy? How do international partnerships come about? Is the policy implemented in a way that is backed by a state’s citizens? The researchers mainly focus here on how states deal with regulations such as international banking supervision or managing greenhouse gases. The knowledge that they gather will enable them to advise on the implementation of international policy.
Parliament sidelined
Yesilkagit: ‘An important effect of the implementation of global agreements is that the political establishment, the parliament of a country, is increasingly becoming sidelined. In the field of energy, we are seeing more and more that the implementation bodies of countries (ministries, agencies, quangos and so on) enter into partnerships with fellow organisations in other countries. This is a big shift. In the past only the diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs discussed these problems with ‘foreigners’. Transnational incidents, such as Volkswagen’s ’defeat device software, are no longer solved by a diplomat but by a civil servant. He or she goes to Brussels and reaches agreements on behalf of the Netherlands on acceptable standards. Such collaboration may be much more effective, but if civil servants are the ones reaching agreements with other countries, parliament is then excluded. Do these agreements still reflect the wishes of the public in the individual countries? There is constant tension between what is effective and democratic legitimacy.’
Tomorrow’s policymakers
Research at Leiden into the effect of internationalisation on the relationship between politics and governance is new to the Netherlands, and unique to Leiden. The researchers want to use the knowledge that they acquire to advise policymakers, but they also see it as important baggage for their students, the policymakers of tomorrow.