Overview

Governance 440: Global Governance and Law provides the tools and concepts relevant to understanding how practices of governance function in contemporary societies and toward what ends. It overviews some of the central debates on global governance and international law, especially in regard to violence and the use of force, human rights, economic transactions, and the environment. A number of key questions are discussed in relation to these debates. What is governance for? Where does accountability lie? How does law function? Who is being governed? Who participates in governance? Students will gain a broad understanding of some of the issues and potentialities for governance and law in global politics. The course does not assume that students already have a background—in global governance and law, however, it provides a sophisticated introduction to some of the key concepts and how those concepts can be applied to contemporary practices.

The course is divided into four parts. The first part explores different approaches to explaining law and governance at the global level.  It also reviews the development of law and governance processes and institutions at the global level and the factors that influenced these developments. The second part covers global legal governance and the use of violence, and the relationship of the UN, and International Criminal Tribunals to the laws of war. The third part examines the expansion of international law into new areas, such as the development of international agreements and legal instruments to protect such things as human rights and the environment. The fourth part explores law and governance in the economic realm; it reviews the major financial institutions, their origins and the sources of law in these areas. It also explores the impact of global social movements on the key multilateral economic institutions that govern the global political economy: the International Monetary Fund ( IMF), the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization (WTO).  In Governance 440 students develop a sophisticated understanding of the intellectual terrain of governance and law in a globalized world.

Outline

Part I: The Politics and History of Global Governance and Law

Part II: Governing the Use of Force through Law

Part III: The Expansion of International Law and Global Governance

Part IV: Law, Governance, and Globalization

Evaluation

To receive credit for GOVN 440, you must submit all the required course assignments and complete them to the satisfaction of your tutor. To receive credit for the course you must achieve an overall course and examination grade of “D” (50 percent) or better. The passing grade for the final examination is also a “D” (50 percent). The weighting of the assignments and exams are outlined below.

TME 1: Theory Paper	TME 2: Research Essay	Final exam	Total
20%	30%	50%	100%

To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University's online Calendar.

Course Materials

Textbooks

O'Brien, Robert, Anne Marie Goetz, Jan Aart Scholte, and Marc Williams. 2000. Contesting global governance: Multilateral economic institutions and global social movements Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press.

Reus-Smit, Christian, ed. 2004. The politics of international law. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press.

Sands, Philippe. 2006. Lawless world. London: Penguin.

Other Materials

The course materials include a student manual, study guide, assignment manual, and a reading file.