Jutta M. Joachim & Birgit Locher
Multi-Level Governance and Civil Society: Comparing the Influence of
Non-State Actors in the United Nations and the European Union
1. Introduction
Over the course of the past decade, there has been a burgeoning literature on the role of non-
governmental organizations (NGOs) in international relations. Scholars have examined their
contributions to global governance focusing on different issue areas ranging from
environment, to development and human rights, In this respect their strategies or tactics (e.g.
Beyer, 2004; Rucht, 2001; Burgerman, 2001; Brühl, 2003), their impact on agenda-setting
(Locher, 2005; Joachim, 2003; Gordenker et al. 1995), the creation of norms or the
enforcement of these norms (e.g. Clark, 2001; Klotz, 1995; Keck and Sikkink, 1998; or Price,
1998) have been of particular interest. Furthermore, questions regarding the emergence of a
global civil society (e.g. Kaldor, 2003; Anheier et al. 2001; Boli and Thomas, 1997; or
Wapner, 1996) or the consequences for states’ sovereignty have also been addressed (e.g.
Clark, Friedman, and Hochstetler, 2000).
Scanning through this literature, three tendencies are evident: First, scholars, for the
most part, have either focused on the role of NGOs in international organizations or adopted a
“second image reversed perspective,” examining how NGOs can use their achievements at the
international level to motivate change in the domestic arena either via what Keck and Sikkink
(1998) have called the “boomerang effect” or via a “spiral model” as Risse and his
collaborators (Risse, Sikkink and Ropp , 1999) have argued. It is striking that all these works
presuppose an understanding of the political environment as either a “one-“ or a “two-level
game” (Sikkink, 2003). In fact, up to now little research exists which moves beyond a
traditional level-understanding of the political and international space. This is surprising
since NGOs as well as states increasingly engage in what has been identified as a multi-level
environment (Tarrow 2002; Sikkink, 2003), i.e. a new type of space where opportunities for
influence not only exist at the national or the international level, but also below at the local
and in between at the regional level.
Second, current literature on NGOs is primarily based on single cases, studying the
impact of NGOs either in a particular organization or a certain issue area. To this date, and
apart from few exceptions,
comparative research projects are scarce (Zürn, 1998). While
1
See, for example, O’Brien (2001); Hochstetler et al. (2000); Pollack (1997); Warleigh (2000); Risse, Sikkink
and Ropp (1999); Keck and Sikkink (1998); or Zito (1998).
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