Introduction

Under globalization, individuals' opportunities, life plans and choices are influenced not only by the political decisions of their own national governments, but also by various non-state actors. Regional and international organizations set up by states themselves, and powerful private actors such as transnational corporations, affect the opportunity space and choices of individuals directly. Other such actors have great indirect effects, by influencing the scope of decisions available to national governments, the expected results and thus the strategies that states pursue – with important consequences for citizens.

Such globalization affects the value of even well-functioning democracies which can no longer buffer their own citizens from the effects of actors outside their territorial borders – if they ever could (Ruggie 1982). Thus, many are concerned about the global structures that frame the opportunities and choices of individuals: the rules and practices that specify the actors, the scope of decision they may take and that influence their choices. Some actors such as states and interstate organizations are legally authorized to make binding decisions, at various territorial levels that often overlap, such as the European Union (EU) and United Nations (UN) bodies. Other actors such as transnational organizations or regulatory networks are evidence of more diffuse forms of ‘governance’: they have de facto power to get things done, sometimes without legal competence to command compliance (Czempiel 1992, Rosenau 1992).