Global Governance: Pure Rhetoric or a New Perspective? A Review Essay

Abstract

This paper examines usefulness of the concept of global governance in understanding world politics. More specifically it aims at answering two questions: On the practical level, is there global governance in operation in the world today?  In other words, is the world we are living function more with institutions and norms of global governance? On the theoretical level, can global governance framework offer us anything more than traditional theories of international relations to comprehend world politics? The paper first proposes a new method to classify the literature on global governance. After analyzing the works and arguments of the main camps of the debate, the paper answers both questions affirmatively. Global governance theory can contribute to our understanding especially with regard to multiple actors and multiple layers of politics, and historical change in IR.