The Consequences of IO Legitimacy Crises

Abstract

Abstract This chapter provides a quantitative test of the explanatory framework. The analysis of 32 international organizations (IOs) reveals both the negative and positive effects of legitimacy crises on three dimensions of an IO’s capacity to rule: material capacity, institutional capacity, and decision-making capacity. It also finds that crises, under some conditions, have no effect at all. The likelihood and direction of effects depend on the features of the targeted organizations, on the type of legitimacy crises as distinguished by different audience conceptions, and on the precise type of consequence under study. Specifically, the chapter confirms the negative effect on the material and decision-making capacity of IOs when legitimacy crises are constituted by state and nonstate actors, constituent and external actors. In addition, it shows that resource cuts are more likely to be made when members of both elites and masses join forces to challenge an IO, and that a downturn in decision-making is related to crises years in which member state representatives dominated public critique. However, the chapter also confirms the positive effects related to particular types of legitimacy crises. The heterogeneity of legitimacy audiences is linked to a higher likelihood of a growing institutional capacity and decision-making in the long term. The statistical analysis also supports the expectation that several IO characteristics, such as pooling, transnational access, and the scope of the mandate, positively affect the likelihood of growth in its capacity to rule in the wake of a legitimacy crisis.