Interplay: Exploring Institutional Interaction

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Interplay Exploring Institutional Interaction

• A Summary

Thomas Gehring Bamberg University Sebastian
Oberthür Vrije Universiteit Brussel
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Contents

• What is Institutional Interaction/Interplay?
• Why Is (Studying) Institutional Interaction
  Important?
• Progress under IDGEC
• Selected Main Findings
• Selected Implications

Interplay Exploring Institutional Interaction
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1. What is Institutional Interaction?

• Institutional interaction exists if one
  institution affects the institutional development
  or the effectiveness (performance) of another
  institution.
• Two basic distinctions
• Horizontal and vertical interaction
• Positive/synergistic versus negative/disruptive
  interaction

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2. Why is (Studying) Institutional Interaction
Important?

• As a result of the increasing density of
  institutional arrangements, global environmental
  governance is increasingly the result of the
  interplay of multiple institutions.
• This is increasingly recognized and felt by
  policy-makers (as reflected, for example, in
  discussions under many multilateral environmental
  agreements).
• gtIn order to properly understand (and be able to
  influence) global environmental governance, we
  need to take account of the complex reality of
  institutional interaction.

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3. Progress under IDGEC

• Enormous growth of conceptual and empirical
  studies on institutional interaction.
• Progress has been particularly pronounced
  regarding horizontal interaction among
  international institutions.
• Research has produced a number of important
  findings...

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4. Selected Main Findings

• Institutional interaction is omnipresent in
  global environmental governance and produces
  significant effects.
• There are a variety of types of institutional
  interaction characterized by varying driving
  forces and governance effects.
• Synergistic interaction is at least as common as
  disruption among institutions.

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5. Selected Implications

• Opportunities for rational design of
  co-governance by multiple institutions are
  currently limited (as compared with individual
  institutions).
• Debate on reforming global environmental
  governance
• puts in question rationale for creating world
  environment organization
• shifts focus from conflict to potential for
  synergy
• Reveals new opportunities for and constraints of
  policy-making