Book Chapter
The Global Path

The Westphalian paradigm suggests that sovereign nation-states formally constitute the only legitimate institutions of international policy creation, enactment, and enforcement. This paper seeks to highlight the policy potency of nongovernmental organizations by turning to a debate that questions the relevancy of the Westphalian paradigm. One of the most contentious points in this debate is the role and legitimacy of the various actors involved in globalization. The mechanism of ‘soft law’ is discussed, which allows non-state actors to participate — in an increasingly formalized way — in policy processes traditionally and even exclusively populated by sovereign nation states. Ostrom et al.’s Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework is used to clarify the institutional implications of non-sovereigns in policy formation. Ultimately, the soft law mechanism illustrates that the informal sector is gaining access — as and through NGOs — to powerful policy networks where formal sovereignty is decreasingly relevant.