Beyond a Seat at the Table

Abstract

Abstract Debates on the legitimacy of global governance pay remarkably little attention to whether and how developing countries can influence global governance. Instead, the focus lies significantly on addressing legitimacy challenges such as access and exclusion in global governance. Despite their merits, these debates often stop short of addressing a crucial question: How can weak states harness increased participation in global governance if they are ill-equipped to do so? To respond to this question, this article lays down a framework of mechanisms that might induce more influence by developing countries. The article makes two claims. First, we should understand influence as the combination of two skills: translation of global governance and empowerment to defend the interests of a country at global decision-making processes. Second, increased influence by developing countries must be stimulated by leveraging both domestic capacities (actor-level mechanisms of influence) and resources available at the international system (system-level mechanisms).