The Other World Wide Web: Global Public Policy Networks

Abstract

Whining is a central feature of the debate on how best to meet the challenges of globalization. Traditional political institutions, we are told, are ever less capable of dealing with all the problems that lie ahead. The nation-state? Passe. International organizations? A story of failure rather than success. There are few newspaper or journal contributions that do not leave us with a certain sense of helplessness. Is this a form of millennial depression? By concentrating on these old and well-worn stories, we may be missing a quiet revolution. Equating political change with political institutions masks a simple truth: Individuals and groups, not bureaucracies or formal institutions, drive innovation and learning. Change is a bottom-up process, not a top-down steering committee. The advent of global public policy networks is a case in point. These networks are loose alliances of government agencies, international organizations, corporations, and elements of civil society such as nongovernmental organizations, professional associations, or religious groups that join together to achieve what none can accomplish on its own. Surveys by the World Bank in 1999 identified some 50 dif-

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