A Polycentric World Order and the Supply and Demand of Global Public Goods
A Polycentric World Order and the Supply and Demand of Global Public Goods

Summary/Abstract: The word “polycentric” has been regularly used to describe a more diffused multipolar world order. However, the concept of polycentrism has a much richer history in social science and may be applied more broadly as an analytical framework. It could serve to explain one of the biggest gaps in the global governance system, between the demand and supply of global public goods. Global governance scholars traditionally assume that the gap is caused by the lack of delivery and that international governmental organizations (IGO) are the weakest point. In other words, they dream of about a global executive power. This paper argues, that in order to better understand the governance of world order, we should stop instead use better analytical tools. The polycentric approach shows that the problem lies not only in supply, but equally on the demand side of global governance.

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