Session 20: Emergence of Non-State Actors

One of the most prominent features of the global political system in the second half of the twentieth century is the significant surge numbers and importance of non-state actors. With the exponential growth of interdependence and communication between societies, multiple organizational structures have sprung up. The rise of these transnationally organized non-state actors and their growing influence on world politics have challenged the traditional theories of international relations, negating the fundamental assumption of state centric approach.

‘Transnational Relations and World Politics’, composed by Robert Keohane and Joseph Nye gives an overview of the new international actors. It further explains the difficulties in defining them and their implication for existing political theories. Persistent questions and problems have been posed by the authors in the domain of transnationalism. Scholars debate whether the non-state entities should be treated as distinct and autonomous actors or merely as instruments of states.

Decolonization coupled with the fall of communism and awareness regarding human rights has forced the states to acknowledge ‘persons’ rather than just citizens within a state. As a result, individuals have rights irrespective of their citizenship status within the boundaries of a state. People engage in transnational activities that may be socio-cultural, economic or political. They only take place when a new idea or norm emerges as explained by Sikkink and Finnemore. Models of change come into being through norm adoption. It can be observed that the environmental and human rights movements’ i.e. transnational activities are basically the product of norms and ideas and thus, constructivism and transnationalism may be branches of the same tree after all.

Non-state actors play a huge role in shaping the government policies especially now that the voice of the people is heard in a democratic system. Therefore, assuming that only the state is the sole actor in the world politics would be wrong especially in the contemporary system, where globalization and increased communication have greatly altered the way the world operates now.