Political Science Publications Political Science 1979 Intergovernmental Organizations and Foreign Policy Behavior: Some Empirical Findings James M. McCormick Iowa State University, [email protected] Young W. Khil Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/pols_pubs Part of the American Politics Commons, Defense and Security Studies Commons, Other Political Science Commons, and the Policy Design, Analysis, and Evaluation Commons The ompc lete bibliographic information for this item can be found at http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/ pols_pubs/28. For information on how to cite this item, please visit http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/ howtocite.html. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Political Science at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Political Science Publications by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Intergovernmental Organizations and Foreign Policy Behavior: Some Empirical Findings Abstract In this study, we evaluate whether the increase in the number of intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) has resulted in their increased use for foreign policy behavior by the nations of the world. This question is examined in three related ways: (1) the aggregate use of IGOs for foreign policy behavior; (2) the relationship between IGO membership and IGO use; and (3) the kinds of states that use IGOs. Our data base consists of the 35 nations in the CREON (Comparative Research on the Events of Nations) data set for the years 1959-1968. The ainm findings are that IGOs were employed over 60 percent of the time with little fluctuation on a year- by-year basis, that global and "high politics" IGOs were used more often than regional and "low politics" IGOs, that institutional membership and IGO use were generally inversely related, and that the attributes of the states had limited utility in accounting for the use of intergovernmental organizations. Some of the theoretical implications of these findings are then explored. Disciplines American Politics | Defense and Security Studies | Other Political Science | Policy Design, Analysis, and Evaluation Comments This is an article from The American Political Science Review 73 (1979): 494, doi:10.2307/1954893. Posted with permission. This article is available at Iowa State University Digital Repository: http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/pols_pubs/28 Intergovernmental Organizations and Foreign Policy Behavior: Some Empirical Findings* JAMES M. MCCORMICK YOUNG W. KIHL Iowa State University In this study, we evaluate whether the increase in the number of intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) has resulted in their increased use for foreign policy behavior by the nations of the world. This question is examined in three related ways: (1) the aggregate use of IGOs for foreign policy behavior; (2) the relationship between IGO membership and IGO use; and (3) the kinds of states that use IGOs. Our data base consists of the 35 nations in the CREON (Comparative Research on the Events of Nations) data set for the years 1959-1968. The main findings are that IGOs were employed over 60 percent of the time with little fluctuation on a year-by-year basis, that global and "high politics" IGOs were used more often than regional and "low politics" IGOs, that institutional membership and IGO use were generally inversely related, and that the attributes of the states had limited utility in accounting for the use of intergovernmental organizations. Some of the theoretical implications of these findings are then explored. The growth of intergovernmental organiza- policy forum, the kinds of nations that use tions (IGOs) has been astounding since the end them, and what impact such organizations have of World War II. Although only about 100 on the conduct of foreign policy behavior. IGOs existed in 1950, the number of such In this study, we address some of these organizations has reached well over 250 by the concerns by investigating empirically the link- mid-1970s (Wallace and Singer, 1970, pp. 272, age between foreign policy behavior and the use 275-80; Kegley and Rochester, 1971, pp. of intergovernmental organizations. Specifical- 403-04; and the Yearbook of International ly, we examine two interrelated sets of ques- Organizations, 1974, 1977). Moreover, this tions. The first set of questions focuses upon growth has occurred not only in terms of the aggregate use of IGOs: (1) To what extent geographical distribution of such organizations do nations employ IGOs for conducting foreign but also in terms of functional issues with policy? (2) To what extent do nations use the which they deal. Despite a considerable litera- various types of IGOs (e.g., global versus ture documenting this growth in the number regional and "high politics" versus "low poli- and types of IGOs, only a scant amount of tics") for this behavior? (3) Have these patterns research relates this institutional growth to changed over time? A second set of questions their use for coordinating foreign relations examines the characteristics of nations that act among nations.1 Thus we know little about the or interact with one another through IGOs. In extent to which nations use IGOs as a foreign particular, we focus upon the relationship between IGO membership and IGO use and between the national attributes of states and *Support for this research was provided by the IGO use. The questions addressed here are: (1) Iowa State University Grants Committee in the form Is IGO membership related to the use of these of an initiation grant to the first author. Special organizations? That is, do nations that hold thanks are due Charles Hermann and his co-investi- memberships in a large number of IGOs also gators on the CREON Project for allowing use of these tend to employ them more frequently than data in this study. The Inter-University Consortium those without such extensive memberships? for Political and Social Research provided a copy of Similarly, does this pattern hold when we the CREON data set after the CREON investigators examine the relationship between membership released it for use in this project. We also thank several and the use of various types of organizations reviewers for their constructive comments on earlier drafts. Neither the original collectors of the data, the (global, regional, high politics, and low poli- Consortium, nor the reviewers bear any responsibility tics)? (2) To what extent are specific national for the analyses or interpretations presented here. attributes (such as the relative size of the 1For a review of the empirically based research on country and the level of economic develop- international organizations, see Alger (1970). Also, see ment) related to IGO use by nations? Do small, Kihi (1971) for a previous study of IGO-nation-state developing states, for example, utilize IGOs linkage. more extensively than large, developed states? 494 This content downloaded from 129.186.176.188 on Tue, 28 Jun 2016 19:23:47 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 1979 Intergovernmental Organization and Foreign Policy Behavior 495 What differences exist between states in their outside of it.3 When the behavior occurred use of the different types of IGOs? within an international organization, the name Three important concepts frame our subse- of the specific IGO was coded so that we knew quent discussion: IGOs, IGO use, and foreign the exact context in which the foreign policy policy behavior. While we discuss foreign policy action took place. behavior below, let us now define IGOs and The CREON data consist of 11,665 foreign IGO use. The term intergovernmental organiza- policy events initiated by some 35 nations tions (IGOs) refers to those organizations which gathered during randomly selected quarters have nations as members in contrast to non- (January-March for 1961, 1965; April-June for governmental organizations (NGOs) which have 1960, 1963, 1967; July-September for 1964, individuals and private groups as members. The 1966; and October-December for 1959, 1962, specific definitional criteria used to identify 1968) to represent the 1959-1968 decade. IGOs followed the standards set down by the Although the rationale for the selection of the United Nations and the Yearbook of Inter- CREON nations, the definition of what consti- national Organizations: "All organizations es- tutes a foreign policy event, and a description tablished by agreements to which three States of the extensive precautions in collecting and or more are parties. ." Using these criteria, coding these events are fully reported elsewhere the IGOs included here ranged from such (Hermann et al., 1973, esp. pp. 15-31), we well-known organizations as the United Nations need to identify three potential data problems and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to in using the CREON data set and to offer some such lesser-known organizations as the Cocoa caveats about making inferences from it. Producers Alliance and the International Com- The first potential problem is that only a mission for the Protection of the Rhine. IGO sample of nations is used in the analysis. While use refers to any activity by a nation in which the set of states in the CREON sample is an intergovernmental organization is engaged as obviously not wholly representative of the a forum for fostering national policy, as an nations in the international system, nonethe- instrument of that policy, or as an arena for less, a cursory inspection of the CREON list in coordinating behavior with other states.2 Some the appendix makes clear that many of the illustrations of foreign policy behavior within principal types of states have been included. IGOs (taken from the data set discussed below) For example, the CREON nations not only might be helpful in clarifying our definition. represent a wide variation in physical size, Activities within IGOs ranged, for example, political orientation, and economic develop- from the United States giving assurances to ment, but also include all geographical areas of their NATO allies against external threats, to the world.