Multinational Initiative Network Research In Global Governance

While globalization has helped to forge deeper and wider transnational ties,it has also facilitated the emergence of Transnational Advocacy Networks(TANs),a type of network based on common values,common discourse and seamless information flow.Today,TANs are engaging in a variety of activities in many areas of global governance.As a result,their influence and role have attracted more and more attention from international relations(IR)scholars,for they advance our understanding about the diversity of actors on international stage,while avoiding the state-centered perspective of static IR theory.Having said that,many of existing research do not offer a more rigourous definition and conceptualization of TANs,nor have they advanced a coherent and systematic research agenda.For example,global civil society,transnational social movement,international non-governmental organizations are often used interchangeably.Furthermore,although existing research have tried to explain the behaviors and outcomes of TANs with theories such as political opportunities and norm transmission,they have not paid enough focus on when and why some TANs can achieve their goals successfully,while others have failed,despite operating under similiar external and structural conditions.This is the main question that this paper purports to answer.To understand the increasingly important role and effect of TANs in today's pluralized global civil society and global governance,this dissertation has conducted a thorough,extensive and relevant literature search on the topic,in order to develop on existing body of research,while making new contributions.To study the systemic and unit-level effects of TANs,the paper introduces the concept of “performance,” which consists of four parts: process,output,outcome and influence.Information,collective action and the tensions of network are also key variables of performance.Social capital can increase the information amount of the network,improve collective action and mitigate the tension of the network,so it too is an important variable to determine the performance of TANs.Social capital has three demensions: structural,relational and cognitive.Each dimension has differential effects.To illustrate this argument,International Campaign to Ban Landmines(ICBL)and ISEAL Alliance have been selected as case-studies.Both of them were established by international non-governmental organizations that have common values and goals.Both have had a big influence on global goverance.The paper shows that the level of performance and social capital of ICBL and ISEAL Alliance are high,which can be attributed to their respective strategic choices in different stages of development.Through a detailed analysis,this paper has verified the causal powers of variables in explaining the above case-studies.