EPISTEMIC GOVERNANCE AND SYNCHRONIZATION OF NATIONAL POLICIES

1. EPISTEMIC GOVERNANCE AND SYNCHRONIZATION OF NATIONAL POLICIES

2. Remarkable isomorphism Nation-states as copies of each other National anthems, flags, genres of art Global standards in describing and measuring society, culture and economy Yet no world government The global system

3. Applying the model of a state hierarchy to the global level The United Nations The World Bank International Monetary Fund The OECD The dominant role of dominance theories

4. The idea of superpowers The cold war framework Huntington’s clash of civilizations The U.S. Unilateralism Wilkinson’s point in “Unipolarity without Hegemony” (1999) The dominant role of dominance theories

5. The dominant paradigm argues that the international system is driven by anarchy, egoism, groupism and power politics (Donnelly 2008) Dependency theory and world systems theory The world is dominated by the “core” comprising the global north The realist paradigm in international politics

6. Emulation Stresses the role of rationalized “world culture” that gradually permeates the world, causing growing homogeneity Actors as agents constituted by world culture enact cultural scripts States and policymakers as unthinking conformists World society theory

7. The diffusion model The empirical picture: world models stemming from the global North to the global South The world history as “globalization” World society theory

8. The question of whether the world is becoming increasingly homogenous is different from the question of how national states synchronize their policies States that adopt models from others are not becoming part of world culture and society From globalization to synchronization

9. Rather, following other states’ policies, assessing the efficiency of different states and models and using all this information as justification for national policies is most common among developed countries Synchronization of national policies takes place through such interdependent decision making It is seldom easily recognizable “policy diffusion” From globalization to synchronization

10. Table 1: Frequency of references to other countries in parliamentary debates in Canada, The United Kingdom and the United States (%) National differences

11. Table 2: Frequency of references to other countries in parliamentary debates in Argentina, Chile and Mexico (%)

12. The bulk of the synchronization of national policies is voluntary Of course states or any other actors in the interdependent world are never free to do what ever they wish – decisions are adaptations to external conditions Epistemic governance

13. Governance in national, subnational or supranational contexts is always a power play Power is most efficient when it is able to hide its own mechanisms Hence the simple view of power as external coercion, as a pure limit set on freedom, is part of its acceptability (Foucault) Epistemic governance

14. Epistemic governance does not refer to a particular form or resource of power, for instance “soft power”in contrast with coercion We study governance as ways by which actors work on people’s conceptions of reality in order to make them behave in a particular way This entails strategies that affect people’s wishes and aspirations, but (a threat of) military force and economic constraints are also means to affect people’s conceptions of the situation and hence make them adopt a particular line of action Epistemic governance

15. Supranational contexts IGOs and INGOs Cross-national comparisons, benchmarking, ‘best practices’ Country reviews and recommendations Conditions imposed on governments for economic assistance or loans Epistemic governance

16. National contexts Policymakers and stakeholders Scientists and policy experts Citizens through the media Opinion polls Demonstrations Introducing references to other countries as justification for or against reforms Epistemic governance

17. Introducing catchwords and phrases The national interest and group interests Articulating a group interest as the common national good Articulating the global good also as the national interest Subnational contexts Introducing international or national comparisons as justifications for policies Introducing catchwords and phrases Constructing shared local interests articulated with group interests Epistemic governance