Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-xtgtn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T05:08:23.644Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Politicizing International Cooperation: The Mass Public, Political Entrepreneurs, and Political Opportunity Structures

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 February 2021

Catherine E. De Vries ,
Sara B. Hobolt  and
Stefanie Walter
Get access

Abstract

International institutions are increasingly being challenged by domestic opposition and nationalist political forces. Yet, levels of politicization differ significantly across countries facing the same international authority as well as within countries over time. This raises the question of when and why the mass public poses a challenge to international cooperation. In this article, we develop a theoretical framework for understanding the nature and implications of politicization of international cooperation, outlining three scope conditions: the nature of public contestation, the activities of political entrepreneurs, and the permissiveness of political opportunity structures. By empirically examining these scope conditions, we demonstrate that politicization can have both stabilizing and destabilizing effects on international cooperation. Highlighting the systemic implications of politicization for international cooperation has important implications for international relations scholarship. Although international organizations may face challenges, they also have ways of being remarkably resilient.

Keywords

international institutionspublic opinionpoliticizationEuropean integrationpolitical entrepreneursreferendums
Type
Internal Challenges to the Liberal International Order: Political
Information
International Organization , Volume 75 , Special Issue 2: Challenges to the Liberal International Order: International Organization at 75 , Spring 2021 , pp. 306 - 332
Copyright
Copyright © The IO Foundation 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Achen, Christopher H., and Bartels, Larry M.. 2017. Democracy for Realists: Why Elections Do Not Produce Responsive Government. Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Ahlquist, John, Copelovitch, Mark, and Walter, Stefanie. 2020. The Political Consequences of External Economic Shocks: Evidence from Poland. American Journal of Political Science 64 (4):904–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bakker, Ryan, De Vries, Catherine, Edwards, Erica, Hooghe, Liesbet, Jolly, Seth, Marks, Gary, Polk, Jonathan, Rovny, Jan, Steenbergen, Marco, and Vachudova, Milada Anna. 2015. Measuring Party Positions in Europe: The Chapel Hill Expert Survey Trend File, 1999–2010. Party Politics 21 (1):143–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baum, Matthew A., and Potter, Philip B.K.. 2008. The Relationships Between Mass Media, Public Opinion, and Foreign Policy: Toward a Theoretical Synthesis. Annual Review of Political Science 11:39–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bearce, David H., and Jolliff Scott, Brandy J.. 2019. Popular Non-Support for International Organizations: How Extensive and What Does this Represent? The Review of International Organizations 14 (2):187–216.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bechtel, Michael M., Genovese, Federica, and Scheve, Kenneth F.. 2019. Interests, Norms and Support for the Provision of Global Public Goods: The Case of Climate Co-Operation. British Journal of Political Science 49 (4):1333–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berinsky, Adam J. 2009. In Time of War: Understanding American Public Opinion from World War II to Iraq. University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bird, Graham, and Willett, Thomas D.. 2004. IMF Conditionality, Implementation and the New Political Economy of Ownership. Comparative Economic Studies 46 (3):423–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bisbee, James, Mosley, Layna, Pepinsky, Thomas B., and Peter Rosendorff, B.. 2020. Decompensating Domestically: The Political Economy of Anti-Globalism. Journal of European Public Policy 27 (7):1090–102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Börzel, Tanja, and Risse, Thomas. 2018. From the Euro to the Schengen Crises: European Integration Theories, Politicization, and Identity Politics. Journal of European Public Policy 25 (1):83–108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Börzel, Tanja, and Zürn, Michael. 2021. Contestations of the Liberal World Order: From Liberal Multilateralism to Postnational Liberalism. International Organization 75 (2). <https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020818320000570>.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Broz, J. Lawrence. 2005. Congressional Politics of International Financial Rescues. American Journal of Political Science 49 (3):479–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Broz, Lawrence, Frieden, Jeffry, and Weymouth, Stephen. 2021. Populism in Place: The Economic Geography of the Globalization Backlash. International Organization 75 (75). <https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020818320000314>.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carmines, Edward G., and Stimson, James A.. 1989. Issue Evolution: Race and the Transformation of American Politics. Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cavaille, Charlotte, and Marshall, John. 2019. Education and Anti-Immigration Attitudes: Evidence from Compulsory Schooling Reforms Across Western Europe. American Political Science Review 113 (1):254–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chaudoin, Stephen. 2016. How Contestation Moderates the Effects of International Institutions: The International Criminal Court and Kenya. The Journal of Politics 78 (2):557–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Colantone, Italo, and Stanig, Piero. 2018. The Trade Origins of Economic Nationalism: Import Competition and Voting Behavior in Western Europe. American Journal of Political Science 62 (4):936–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Colantone, Italo, and Stanig, Piero. 2019. The Surge of Economic Nationalism in Western Europe. Journal of Economic Perspectives 33 (4):128–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Copelovitch, Mark, Hobolt, Sara, and Walter, Stefanie. 2019. Challenges to the Liberal World Order: Cause for Pessimism or Optimism? Journal of European Public Policy 27 (7):1114–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cooley, Alexander, and Nexon, Daniel. 2020. Exit from Hegemony: The Unraveling of the American Global Order. Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Vries, Catherine. 2018. Euroscepticism and the Future of European Integration. Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Vries, Catherine, and Edwards, Erica E.. 2009. Taking Europe to Its Extremes: Extremist Parties and Public Euroscepticism. Party Politics 15 (1):5–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Vries, Catherine, and Hobolt, Sara. 2020. Political Entrepreneurs: The Rise of Challenger Parties in Europe. Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Dellmuth, Lisa Maria, and Tallberg, Jonas. 2015. The Social Legitimacy of International Organisations: Interest Representation, Institutional Performance, and Confidence Extrapolation in the United Nations. Review of International Studies 41 (3):451–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dinas, Elias, and Riera, Pedro. 2018. Do European Parliament Elections Impact National Party System Fragmentation? Comparative Political Studies 51 (4):447–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, Geoffrey, and Menon, Anand. 2017. Brexit and British Politics. John Wiley and Sons.Google Scholar
Ezrow, Lawrence, De Vries, Catherine, Steenbergen, Marco, and Edwards, Erica. 2011. Mean Voter Representation and Partisan Constituency Representation: Do Parties Respond to the Mean Voter Position or to Their Supporters? Party Politics 17 (3):275–301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fearon, James D. 1994. Domestic Political Audiences and the Escalation of International Disputes. American Political Science Review 88 (3):577–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fernández-Albertos, José, Kuo, Alexander, and Balcells, Laia. 2013. Economic Crisis, Globalization, and Partisan Bias: Evidence from Spain. International Studies Quarterly 57 (4):804–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fetzer, Thiemo. 2019. Did Austerity Cause Brexit? American Economic Review 109 (11):3849–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flaherty, Thomas M., and Rogowski, Ronald. 2021. Rising Inequality As a Threat to the Liberal International Order. International Organization 75 (2). <https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020818321000163>.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foos, Florian, and Bischof, Daniel. 2019. Tabloid Media Influence Euroscepticism: Quasi-experimental Evidence from England. Working paper.Google Scholar
Frieden, Jeffry. 1991. Invested Interests: The Politics of National Economic Policies in a World of Global Finance. International Organization 45 (4):425–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodman, Sara Wallace, and Pepinsky, Thomas. 2021. The Exclusionary Foundations of Embedded Liberalism. International Organization 75 (2). <https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020818320000478>.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gray, Julia. 2018. Life, Death, or Zombie? The Vitality of International Organizations. International Studies Quarterly 62 (1):1–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grynberg, Charlotte, Walter, Stefanie, and Wasserfallen, Fabio. 2019. Expectations, Vote Choice, and Opinion Stability Since the 2016 Brexit Referendum. European Union Politics 21 (2):255–75Google Scholar
Guisinger, Alexandra. 2017. American Opinion on Trade: Preferences Without Politics. Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guisinger, Alexandra, and Saunders, Elizabeth N.. 2017. Mapping the Boundaries of Elite Cues: How Elites Shape Mass Opinion Across International Issues. International Studies Quarterly 61 (2):425–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haas, Ernst B. 1958. The Uniting of Europe: Political, Social, and Economic Forces, 1950–1957. Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Hagemann, Sara, Hobolt, Sara B., and Wratil, Christopher. 2017. Government Responsiveness in the European Union: Evidence from Council Voting. Comparative Political Studies 50 (6):850–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hainmueller, Jens, and Hopkins, Daniel J.. 2014. Public Attitudes Toward Immigration. Annual Review of Political Science 17: 225–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hobolt, Sara B. 2009. Europe in Question: Referendums on European Integration. Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hobolt, Sara, and De Vries, Catherine. 2016. Public Support for European Integration. Annual Review of Political Science 19:413–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hobolt, Sara B., Leeper, Thomas, and Tilley, James. 2020. Divided by the Vote: Affective Polarization in the Wake of Brexit. British Journal of Political Science. <https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123420000125>.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hobolt, Sara B., and Tilley, James. 2014. Blaming Europe? Responsibility Without Accountability in the European Union. Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hooghe, Liesbet, Lenz, Tobias, and Marks, Gary. 2019. A Theory Of International Organization. Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hooghe, Liesbet, and Marks, Gary. 2009. A Postfunctionalist Theory of European Integration: From Permissive Consensus to Constraining Dissenus. British Journal of Political Science 39 (1):1–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hug, Simon, and König, Thomas. 2002. In View of Ratification: Governmental Preferences and Domestic Constraints at the Amsterdam Intergovernmental Conference. International Organization 56 (2):447–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hutter, Swen, Grande, Edgar, and Kriesi, Hanspeter. 2016. Politicising Europe. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jurado, Ignacio, Léon, Sandra, and Walter, Stefanie. 2018. European Preferences for Brexit: Evidence from a Conjoint Experiment in Germany and Spain. Working Paper, University of Zurich.Google Scholar
Jurado, Ignacio, Walter, Stefanie, Konstantinidis, Nikitas, and Dinas, Elias. 2020. Keeping the Euro at Any Cost? Explaining Attitudes Toward the Euro-Austerity Trade-off in Greece. European Union Politics 21 (3):383–405.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keohane, Robert. 1984. After Hegemony: Cooperation and Discord in the World Political Economy. Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Koremenos, Barbara, Lipson, Charles, and Snidal, Duncan. 2001. The Rational Design of International Institutions. International Organization 55 (4):761–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kriesi, Hanspeter, Grande, Edgar, Lachat, Romain, Dolezal, Martin, Bornschier, Simon, and Frey, Timotheos. 2008. West European Politics in the Age of Globalization. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kuo, Jason, and Naoi, Megumi. 2015. Individual Attitudes. In The Oxford Handbook of the Political Economy of International Trade, edited by Martin, Lisa L., 99–181. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Lake, David, Martin, Lisa, and Risse, Thomas. 2021. Challenges to the Liberal Order: Reflections on International Organization. International Organization 75 (2). <https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020818320000636>.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lindberg, Leon N., and Scheingold, Stuart A.. 1970. Europe's Would-be Polity: Patterns of Change in the European Community. Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Lohmann, Susanne. 2003. Why Do Institutions Matter? An Audience-Cost Theory of Institutional Commitment. Governance 16 (1):95–110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mansfield, Edward D., Milner, Helen V., and Rosendorff, B. Peter. 2002. Why Democracies Cooperate More: Electoral Control and International Trade Agreements. International Organization 56 (3):477–513.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mansfield, Edward, and Rudra, Nita. 2021. Embedded Liberalism Reconsidered. International Organization 75 (2). <https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020818320000569>.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Margalit, Yotam. 2012. Lost in Globalization: International Economic Integration and the Sources of Popular Discontent. International Studies Quarterly 56 (3):484–500.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Margalit, Yotam. 2019. Economic Insecurity and the Causes of Populism, Reconsidered. Journal of Economic Perspectives 33 (4):152–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marks, Gary, and Wilson, Carole J.. 2000. The Past in the Present: A Cleavage Theory of Party Response to European Integration. British Journal of Political Science 30 (3):433–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Medrano, Juan Diez. 2010. Framing Europe: Attitudes to European Integration in Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Mendez, Fernando, and Germann, Micha. 2018. Contested Sovereignty: Mapping Referendums on Sovereignty Over Time and Space. British Journal of Political Science 48 (1):141–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mendez, Fernando, Mendez, Mario, and Triga, Vasiliki. 2014. Referendums and the European Union: A Comparative Inquiry. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Milner, Helen V. 1997. Interests, Institutions, and Information: Domestic Politics and International Relations. Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Milner, Helen V., and Kubota, Keiko. 2005. Why the Move to Free Trade? Democracy and Trade Policy in the Developing Countries. International Organization 59 (1):107–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moravcsik, Andrew. 1997. Taking Preferences Seriously: A Liberal Theory of International Politics. International Organization 51 (4):513–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moravcsik, Andrew. 1998. The Choice for Europe: Social Purpose and State Power from Messina to Maastricht. Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Morse, Julia C., and Keohane, Robert O.. 2014. Contested Multilateralism. The Review of International Organizations 9 (4):385–412.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mutz, Diana C. 2018. Status Threat, Not Economic Hardship, Explains the 2016 Presidential Vote. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 115 (19):E4330–39CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Naoi, Megumi, and Urata, Shujiro. 2013. Free Trade Agreements and Domestic Politics: The Case of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement. Asian Economic Policy Review 8 (2):326–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nguyen, Quynh, and Spilker, Gabriele. 2019. The Elephant in the Negotiation Room: PTAs Through the Eyes of Citizens. In The Shifting Landscape of Global Trade Governance: World Trade Forum, edited by Elsig, Manfred, Hahn, Michael, and Spilker, Gabriele, 17–47. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Norris, Pippa, and Inglehart, Ronald. 2019. Cultural Backlash: Trump, Brexit, and Authoritarian Populism. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Owen, Erica, and Johnston, Noel. 2017. Occupation and the Political Economy of Trade: Job Routineness, Offshorability and Protectionist Sentiment. International Organization 71 (4):665–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Page, Benjamin I., and Bouton, Marshall M.. 2008. The Foreign Policy Disconnect: What Americans Want from Our Leaders but Don't Get. University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Pandya, Sonal S. 2010. Labor Markets and the Demand for Foreign Direct Investment. International Organization 64 (3):389–409.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Putnam, Robert D. 1988. Diplomacy and Domestic Politics: The Logic of Two-Level Games. International Organization 42 (3):427–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riker, William Harrison Riker, Riker, William H., Riker, William H., and Mueller, John Paul. 1996. The Strategy of Rhetoric: Campaigning for the American Constitution. Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Rosendorff, B. Peter, and Milner, Helen V.. 2001. The Optimal Design of International Trade Institutions: Uncertainty and Escape. International Organization 55 (4):829–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ruggie, John. 1982. International Regimes, Transactions, and Change: Embedded Liberalism in the Postwar Economic Order. International Organization 36 (2):379–415.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schelling, Thomas C. 1978. Micromotives and Macrobehavior. W.W. Norton and Company.Google Scholar
Scheve, Kenneth, and Slaughter, Matthew. 2001. What Determines Individual Trade-Policy Preferences? Journal of International Economics 54 (2):267–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schneider, Christina. 2019. The Responsive Union: National Elections and European Governance. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Schneider, Gerald, and Cederman, Lars-Erik. 1994. The Change of Tide in Political Cooperation: A Limited Information Model of European Integration. International Organization 48 (4):633–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tallberg, Jonas, and Zürn, Michael. 2019. The Legitimacy and Legitimation of International Organizations: Introduction and Framework. The Review of International Organizations 14:581–606.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tomz, Michael. 2007. Domestic Audience Costs in International Relations: An Experimental Approach. International Organization 61 (4):821–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trubowitz, Peter, and Burgoon, Brian. 2020. The Retreat of the West. Perspectives on Politics, <https://doi.org/10.1017/S1537592720001218>.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van de Wardt, Marc, De Vries, Catherine, and Hobolt, Sara B.. 2014. Exploiting the Cracks: Wedge Issues in Multiparty Competition. The Journal of Politics 76 (4):986–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Voeten, Erik. 2019. Making Sense of the Design of International Institutions. Annual Review of Political Science 22:147–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Voeten, Erik. 2020. Populism and Backlashes Against International Courts. Perspectives on Politics 18 (2):407–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vreeland, James Raymond. 2003. The IMF and Economic Development. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walter, Stefanie. 2020. The Mass Politics of International Disintegration. Working Paper, CIS Series, Zürich.Google Scholar
Walter, Stefanie. Forthcoming. The Backlash Against Globalization. Annual Review of Political Science.Google Scholar
Walter, Stefanie, Dinas, Elias, Jurado, Ignacio, and Konstantinidis, Nikitas. 2018. Noncooperation by Popular Vote: Expectations, Foreign Intervention, and the Vote in the 2015 Greek Bailout Referendum. International Organization 72 (4):969–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waltz, Kenneth. 1979. Theory of International Politics. Addison-Wesley.Google Scholar
Weiss, Jessica Chen. 2013. Authoritarian Signaling, Mass Audiences, and Nationalist Protest in China. International Organization 67 (1):1–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wendt, Alexander. 1992. Anarchy Is What States Make of It: The Social Construction of Power Politics. International Organization 46 (2):391–425.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zaller, John R. 1992. The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zürn, Michael, Binder, Martin, and Ecker-Ehrhardt, Matthias. 2012. International Authority and Its Politicization. International Theory 4 (1):69–106.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zürn, Michael, and De Wilde, Pieter. 2016. Debating Globalization: Cosmopolitanism and Communitarianism as Political Ideologies. Journal of Political Ideologies 21 (3):280–301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: Link

De Vries et al. Dataset

Dataset

https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/GAAKFB
Link
Supplementary material: File

De Vries et al. supplementary material

Figures S1-S2 and Tables S1-S2

Download De Vries et al. supplementary material(File)
File 319.3 KB