Revolutionary Aspects of Formal Inter-governmental Organizations

Abstract Formal inter-governmental organizations ( FIGO s) combine inter-governmentalism and bureaucracy. FIGO s (e.g., the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the World Health Organization, the World Trade Organization)—are among the most visible bodies in global governance. FIGO s also are regularly accused of stasis, as both the popular press and the scholarly literature depict them as entities that are not seriously considering alternatives to the status quo. Associating them with stasis is simplistic, however, for it misses how revolutionary FIGO s are and also glosses over how stasis that does exist is connected to FIGO s’ revolutionary aspects. Analyzing formal inter-governmental organizations at three levels, this article makes a three-part argument: 1) at the level of the international system, FIGO s are a transformation (a substantial change in circumstances); 2) at the level of policy areas and regimes, FIGO s are transformative (something that changes circumstances); and 3) at the level of individual organizations, FIGO s are transformed (facing changed circumstances), in ways that risk stasis.