Christer Jönsson

Negotiations in the EU: Bargaining or problem-solving?

EU negotiations are characterized bythe coexistence of a bargaining and a problem-solving approach. The permanence of EU negotiations discourages tough bargaining behaviour, as does the prevalence of strong consensus norms. On the other hand, evidence exists of very confrontational behaviour that often leads to lowest common denominator solutions. We argue that the mode of negotiation to be found in the EU decision-making processes is contextually determined. Empirically it is demonstrated that day-to-day negotiations in the EU are to a large extent problem-solving exercises. Under certain circumstances, however, conflictual bargaining occurs. The pattern varies with, therefore, level of politicization and type of policy, and according to the stage in the decision-making process. We also suggest that processes of learning have resulted in changes in the EUs negotiation style: problem-solving has become increasingly institutionalized within the EU machinery.

Compliance and Post-Agreement Bargaining

Most literature on international cooperation focuses on the phase leading up to the signing of a treaty, while neglecting the dynamics of bargaining in the aftermath of an international agreement. Reviewing existing literature, we find that bargaining theory deals almost exclusively with the pre-agreement phase and that the enforcement and management schools in the study of compliance are predominantly static in their orientation. We present a framework for analysing the dynamics of compliance bargaining — which can be understood as a process of bargaining between the signatories to an agreement already concluded, or between the signatories and the international institution governing the agreement, which pertains to the terms and obligations of this agreement — and explore compliance bargaining in the EU in light of this framework. Specifically, the EU case illustrates third-party, as opposed to self-help, enforcement and points to sources of bargaining power in compliance bargaining.

Interorganization Theory and International Organization

This article explores the applicability of a conceptual framework derived from interorganization theory and network analysis to the study of international organization. The framework emphasizes the pivotal role of linking-pin organizations and of boundary-role personnel within these organizations in transnational networks. A set of issue-specific and organization-specific factors accounting for variance in network structure and performance are tentatively identified, and a number of working hypotheses are formulated. The framework is applied to one case study of a recent international aviation issue with political implications, the so-called Show Cause Order-an attempt by the US Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) to challenge the fare-coordinating role of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) prescribed by the postwar international aviation regime. (Less)

Communication: An Essential Aspect of Diplomacy

Communication is generally regarded as an essential aspect of diplomacy. Proceeding from an understanding of diplomacy as a transhistorical phenomenon, this article distinguishes a number of pertinent dimensions of the communicative aspects of diplomacy and proffers examples taken from different eras and geographic regions. With a focus on continuity and change, the article analyzes the basic aspects of diplomatic communication and the gathering and transmission of information, as well as two important options in the diplomatic repertoire: verbal versus nonverbal and public versus private communication. Two processes of continuity and change––the ritualization of diplomatic communication and technological development––are discussed. The article concludes that todays diplomatic communication cannot be seen as the result of any unilinear process. Variations within the distinguished dimensions do not follow an evolutionary pattern but reflect historical contingency.

Explaining the Transnational Design of International Organizations

Past decades have witnessed a shift in international cooperation toward growing involvement of transnational actors (TNAs), such as nongovernmental organizations, multinational corporations, and philanthropic foundations. This article offers a comprehensive theoretical and empirical account of TNA access to IOs. The analysis builds on a novel data set, covering formal TNA access to 298 organizational bodies from fifty IOs over the time period 1950 to 2010. We identify the most profound patterns in TNA access across time, issue areas, policy functions, and world regions, and statistically test competing explanations of the variation in TNA access. The central results are three-fold. First, the empirical data confirm the existence of a far-reaching institutional transformation of IOs over the past sixty years, pervading all issue areas, policy functions, and world regions. Second, variation in TNA access within and across IOs is mainly explained by a combination of three factors: functional demand for the resources of TNAs, domestic democratic standards in the membership of IOs, and state concerns with national sovereignty. Third, existing research suffers from a selection bias that has led it to overestimate the general importance of a new participatory norm in global governance for the openness of IOs.

IGO-NGO relations and HIV/AIDS: Innovation or stalemate?

This paper is concerned with the emergence of transnational cooperative structures in response to AIDS. Of chief concern are efforts to create and maintain links among and between intergovernmental organizations (IGO) in the UN system and the many heterogenous organizations usually included under the nongovernmental organization (NGO) label. After discussing the nature of the AIDS issue the authors focus upon the various ways of framing the AIDS issue and the effort by the Global Program on AIDS to coordinate IGO and NGO activities. In closing they identify lessons and insights of broader applicability emanating from the AIDS case. The paper discusses the nature of AIDS AIDS as a medical problem AIDS as a human rights problem AIDS as a socioeconomic problem forging IGO-NGO links an international NGO forum informal networking NGOs and AIDS-related foreign assistance representation formal versus informal coordination costs of network building degree of organization and expertise.

Health systems research in Lao PDR: capacity development for getting research into policy and practice

BackgroundLao PDR is a low-income country with an urgent need for evidence-informed policymaking in the healthcare sector. During the last decade a number of Health Systems Research (HSR) projects have been conducted in order to meet this need. However, although knowledge about research is increasing among policymakers, the use of research in policymaking is still limited.MethodsThis article investigates the relationship between research and policymaking from the perspective of those participating in HSR projects. The study is based on 28 interviews, two group discussions and the responses from 56 questionnaires.ResultsThe interviewees and questionnaire respondents were aware of the barriers to getting research into policy and practice. But while some were optimistic, claiming that there had been a change of attitudes among policymakers in the last two years, others were more pessimistic and did not expect any real changes until years from now. The major barriers to feeding research results into policy and practice included an inability to influence the policy process and to get policymakers and practitioners interested in research results. Another barrier was the lack of continuous capacity development and high-quality research, both of which are related to funding and international support. Many of the interviewees and questionnaire respondents also pointed out that communication between those conducting research and policymakers must be improved.ConclusionThe results show that in the case of Lao PDR, research capacity development is at a crucial stage for implementing research into policy and practice. If research is going to make a consistent impact on policymaking in the Lao health care sector, the attitude towards research will need to be changed in order to get research prioritised, both among those conducting research, and among policymakers and practitioners. Our findings indicate that there is awareness about the barriers in this process.

Sphere of flying: the politics of international aviation

International civil aviation appears to be a pertinent yet largely overlooked issuearea to study in the light of recent discussions about the changing international system. In this article the evolution of the international aviation system from its inception early in this century is analyzed in terms of regime changes. Three different regime periods are delineated, and possible explanations of the observed regime changes are discussed. On the face of it, the development of international aviation seems to conform with the overall global trend toward complex interdependence. Yet it also raises a number of questions concerning interdependence that might be addressed in the study of other issue-areas. These concern the links between politico-economic issue-areas and military security, the degree of harmony or conflict associated with interdependence, and the role of states generally—and the United States in particular—under conditions of complex interdependence.

Transnational Actor Participation in International Institutions: Where, Why, and with What Consequences?

The nature of global governance is changing, as are the standards by which we judge its legitimacy. While international institutions were long the exclusive preserve of national governments, the past decades have witnessed a gradual and partial shift from interstate cooperation to more complex forms of governance, involving participation by transnational actors, such as non-governmental organizations (NGOs), advocacy networks, party associations, and multinational corporations. Increasingly, states and international institutions are engaging transnational actors as policy experts, service providers, compliance watchdogs and stakeholder representatives. The World Bank, for instance, draws on the expertise of NGOs in the formulation of country reports, engages in operational collaboration with civil society actors in the field, and conducts policy dialogue through the NGO-World Bank Committee. Whereas only 21 percent of all World Bank funded projects involved civil society participation in 1990, this figure had risen to 72 percent in 2006 (World Bank, 2009). The United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) provides another example, engaging transnational actors by offering NGOs accreditation to its meetings, operating a Global Civil Society Forum, and drawing on civil society in the implementation of its programs.

Physico- Chemical Characteristics and Functional Properties of Starch and Dietary Fibre in Grass Pea Seeds

Physico-chemical and functional properties of starch and fibre in raw and processed grass pea seeds were evaluated. Whole grass pea seeds were found to contain 41 % starch and 17 % total dietary fibre (2 % soluble and 15 % insoluble) on dry matter basis. Examination by using scanning electron microscopy revealed oval shaped starch granules with an average width of 17 μm and length of 25 μm. Raw sample had a gelatinization onset temperature of 62 °C and two endothermic transition peaks at about 73 °C and 94°C. in addition the starch isolated from grass pea flour was shown to have a transition enthalpy (ΔH) of 10 Jg -1 , The viscosity of the raw sample (using a Brabender amylograph) reached peak maximum at 80-95°C, decreasing during the 30 min holding time (at 95 °C) followed by an increase during cooling to 50 °C. Raw whole seed flour was shown to have a water absorption and water solubility index (WSI) of and 16 %, respectively. Samples that had been cooked for 60 min had a lower WSI than those cooked for 30 min: this was further reduced in the samples cooked after soaking. The carbohydrate extracted from raw flour was found to be mainly high Mwt carbohydrate (55 %), eluted at Kav < 0.2.