Dr Hai Yang1
1University of Macau, Macau, China
Biography:
Hai Yang is an assistant professor at the Department of Government and Public Administration, University of Macau. His research centres around the legitimacy and (de)legitimation in global governance. His research output has appeared or is forthcoming in International Studies Review, International Affairs, Global Policy, Cambridge Review of International Affairs, among others.
Abstract:
Most IO delegitimation analyses focus on how an IO fails to live up to widely accepted normative standards, which leads to perceptions of legitimacy deficits. This focus, while useful for understanding the increasing levels of contestation around IOs, introduces an important blind spot, leaving out public criticism directed at IO representatives. An IO can be delegitimated by practices that contest the appropriateness of its governance and those that question the trustworthiness of its representatives. In this article, we address this blind spot by showing how distrust towards IO representatives features prominently in IO delegitimation. To that end, we synthesize insights from two distinct yet related strands of literature: trust and legitimacy. Specifically, building on the interpersonal trust literature, we identify the set of attributes commonly associated with trustworthiness and highlight how their absence can erode IO audiences’ trust towards IO representatives. Empirically, we use the UNFCCC as an illustrative case and show how the legitimacy of the focal IO in global climate governance has been undermined by a lack of trust towards oil-producing COP presidencies.