Transnational Civil Society and the World Bank: Investigating Civil Society's Potential to Democratize Global Governance (Interest Groups, Advocacy and Democracy Series) - Tapa dura

Christopher L. Pallas shows that while transnational activists have had significant impact on World Bank policy, their activities have not contributed to democratizing the Bank. Armed with clear definitions of democracy and legitimacy, Pallas shows that activists have been the most effective in pursuing their goals when acting in cooperation with powerful donor states and elites in the global North. In doing so, the transnational civil society has contributed to the marginalization of developing country governments and the disadvantaged groups they represent. Carefully researched and eloquently written, this book makes a significant contribution to the study of civil society in global governance.

- Johannes Urpelainen, Department of Political Science, Columbia University, USA

"Drawing on detailed case analysis, Chris Pallas provides a welcome, measured, provocative critique of easy assumptions about the relationship between civil society and democracy in global governance."

Jan Aart Scholte, School of Global Studies, University of Gothenberg, Sweden and Department of Political Science, University of Warwick, UK

Academics and practitioners alike recognize that global governance institutions suffer from a democratic deficit. Many have looked to transnational civil society as a means of remediation. Yet a clear gap has begun to emerge between normative hopes and empirical reality. Using new data from civil society engagements with the World Bank, this book shows how transnational civil society organizations prioritize pre-existing mission over responsiveness to claimed stakeholders, undertake activism in line with financial incentives, achieve impacts using elite channels of influence, and undercut the authority of developing country governments. It explores the structural roots of these patterns and examines their impact on democratic representation. It also offers practical advice for how these negative patterns can be moderated through new practices at the Bank and new norms within civil society.