Gianluca Ferraro

The establishment of marine protected areas in Senegal: untangling the interactions between international institutions and national actors

International institutions, understood as sets of rules contained in international agreements, are aimed at orienting national governments towards specific policy options. Nevertheless, they can determine a change in national policies and practices only if states are willing and capable of incorporating international obligations into their national legislations and ensuring their application and enforcement in areas that follow completely under national jurisdiction. The establishment of marine protected areas promoted by international agreements as a tool for the protection of marine resources represents an interesting case for revealing the complex interactions between international institutions and national actors. Particularly, the establishment of these areas in Senegal shows the salience of domestic constellations of actors who may support or undercut national commitments to international regimes: political elites, bureaucracies, the general public and target groups. By anchoring the empirical analysis to an actor-centred institutionalist perspective, the article explains how dynamic constellations of actors can distort the penetration of international objectives in the national policy framework. Different constellations of national actors can indeed bend international institutions at different moments: during the formulation of a new law in line with international obligations; in the definition of its implementation framework; and in the enforcement of national policies.

An Intra-National Perspective on Regime Implementation: The Case of Marine Fisheries in China - Keen Conficts and Hazy Contents

The international legal framework developed by the United Nations for the management and sustainable use of fisheries resources has not prevented the severe depletion of world fish stocks. In order to be effective, international agreements have to be voluntarily implemented by national governments. This process of domestic implementation has been little investigated by regime theory, despite the rich array of frameworks developed by policy studies. Therefore, this article seeks to contribute to regime theory through the use of insights coming from implementation research. In order to do so, the domestic implementation of international fisheries agreements in the People’s Republic of China is investigated. Responsible fisheries are not yet a common practice in China, although the country has adapted its legal framework to international requirements. The execution of new laws has been jeopardised not only by the lack of resources, but mainly by institutional conflicts and unclear policy contents.

International Agreements and the Salience of Domestic Politics: Locus, Focus and Gradus. The Case of Fisheries Policy Reforms in China and Senegal

Abstract International environmental agreements aim at orienting national policies towards the promotion of more sustainable behaviors by national actors. However, international agreements can affect national policies only if states are willing and capable of incorporating international obligations into their national legislations (enactment) and ensuring their application (or execution) and enforcement. The article analyzes the domestic implementation of international fisheries agreements along their enactment, execution, and enforcement in China and Senegal. The comparison reveals the political complexity that accompanies national fisheries policy reforms promoted by international agreements in developing countries.