Unequal Actors in Equalising Institutions Negotiations in the United Nations General Assembly

Does size matter in international negotiations? This book examines the interplay between an institutional design that expresses the principle of the equality of states and the real world size differences of states in an innovative, multi-method investigation of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

Panke demonstrates that size-related capacities influence states' participation and effectiveness in international negotiations. Based on extensive interviews with diplomats of smaller and bigger states in a variety of geographical regions, this book develops a theoretical framework linking resources and incentives to states' inclination of formulating national positions and acting upon them. It distinguishes between the policy-initiation, negotiation and decision-taking stages in the policy cycle, illustrating the difference in activity between nations, which affect the dynamics and outcomes of negotiations between member states.

This book reveals that there are real and politically significant limits to the effects of size and identifies specific conditions under which smaller states can punch above their weight. It will appeal to scholars of political science, international relations, diplomacy, comparative politics and public policy.

Diana Panke holds the Chair of Multi-level Governance at Albert-Ludwigs University of Freiburg, Germany. Her research interests include multi-level governance, particularly international organisations and regional organisations, and she has worked on the role of small states in the European Union and small states in international negotiations, as well as legalisation and compliance beyond the nation-state. She has also specialised in European Integration and Comparative European Union Politics.

1. Introduction
2. The United Nations General Assembly: Formal Equality and Size Differences
3. Theory
4. Empirics I: Active Participation
5. Empirics II: Effective Participation in the UNGA
6. Conclusions