Knowledge, Power, and International Policy Coordination

by Peter Haas (Editor)

Demonstrates that control over knowledge and information is an important determinant of international policy coordination and the difficulty of achieving it

The increasing complexity of the world's problems has escalated both the need for international policy coordination. With that in mind, the contributors to this volume assess what happens to the distribution of power when policymakers rely on the counsel of technical experts to make decisions of international importance. Because the way states identify and respond to problems depends not only on how policymakers understand of the issues but also on how the issues are represented by their advisers, the contributors examine the growing role that epistemic communities play in several facilitating governmental learning; articulating the cause-and- effect relationships of global problems; helping to discern state interests; framing the issues for collective debate; proposing specific policies; and identifying salient points for international negotiation.

Paperback

First published February 1, 1997

Reviews

[Nicholas Whyte]

http://nhw.livejournal.com/465768.html[return][return]Originally published as a single issue of the academic journal International Organisation (of which I had not previously heard) this is a very lightly edited repackaging of the papers from that journal by the University of South Carolina Press (of which I had also not previously heard). I got it because it puts forward the concept of an "epistemic community", a body of experts with shared goals and values who attempt to influence international policy by deploying the fruits of their scientific research, and suggests that this is a useful analytical tool in understanding why decisions are made the way they are in international politics.[return][return]When I was a little boy of, say, 23 or 24, I always assumed that big political decisions were made after finely-judged statesmanlike weighing up of all the available options, having ensured that as much information as possible is available to the decision-makers, and the "Yes, Minister" and "Yes, Prime Minister" were satires with little basis in real life. I have come to realise that if "Yes, Minister" and "Yes, Prime Minister" erred, it was in portraying the decision-making process as being much more rational than it often is. My own particular interest, both professional and personal, is in the role of knowledge in all of this - not only access to good information, but the inclination to use it, and that's what this collection of essays looks at.[return][return]The more convincing case studies examined here are mostly on the technical side - nuclear arms control, whaling, CFC's; on the more economic side, a good case is made for epistemic communities affecting international policy on trade in services and on food aid, less so on central banking and the establishment of the Bretton Woods institutions (though actually I think the last of these understates the case). For myself, of course, I've witnessed at close quarters the effect of non-government experts on international policy; and if there is such a thing as an epistemic community dealing with Balkan politics, I'm certainly in it. So I've found this book helpful in understanding how I do what I do, and also in fortifying myself against criticism from a) those on the official side who want to keep pesky NGO's out and b) other commentators who resent the fact that governments actually listen to us. I admit I skimmed some of it but there's plenty to come back to.

[Trav · Rating 3 out of 5]

Foreign policy choices of states cannot be understood solely by reference to power and interest, communities of experts play an important role that is largely ignored by realist and liberal theories of international politics. Haas's collection of essays examine how epistemic communities can play a significant role in shaping the foreign policy nationally and transnationally.Haas's and his co-contributors do not discount the role of systemic issues, but instead highlight that the structure of the system and the interaction of national interests cannot account for some of the actions that states have taken individually and collectively.

Haas states at p.2:

Recognizing that human agency lies at the interstices between systemic conditions, knowledge, and national actions, we offer an approach that examines the role that networks of knowledge-based experts—epistemic communities—play in articulating the cause-and-effect relationships of complex problems, helping states identify their interests, framing the issues for collective debate, proposing specific policies, and identifying salient points for negotiation.

[Nanto · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pernah terbit dalam Jurnal International Organisation, Special Isssue, Vol.46, No. 1, Winter 1992. menggagas konsep epistemic communities approach dalam pembentukan rejim internasional dengan beberapa kajian di bidang lingkungan hidup.