International Institutions

International institutions are the organizations, treaties, and sets of rules through which states and other actors coordinate action across borders, including the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the International Criminal Court. They grew after the First and Second World Wars as states sought to prevent conflict and manage the global economy. Robert Keohane argued that institutions help states cooperate by providing information and lowering transaction costs, and Stephen Krasner analyzed international regimes as shared principles and rules. John Meyer and colleagues' world society theory explained how international organizations spread common models of education, human rights, and the state. Michael Barnett and Martha Finnemore showed that international bureaucracies can become autonomous actors with power of their own, and Susan Strange stressed the structural power of finance. Immanuel Wallerstein and Robert Cox argued that institutions reflect the interests of dominant states. Joseph Stiglitz criticized the policies of the International Monetary Fund. Critics point to a democratic deficit and unequal voting power. Today the concept informs research on global governance, development, law, health, and the legitimacy of multilateralism.