(De)Legitimation and the Composition of Audiences

AbstractThis chapter explores how and why the composition of audiences of (de)legitimation varies across two key types of global governance institutions (GGIs), namely intergovernmental and nongovernmental institutions. It does so through a comparative study of the United Nations Framework Conventions for Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), holding the policy field of sustainable development constant. Theoretical expectations on variation across these two types of GGIs relate to institutional set-up, democratic normative structures, and politicization. Factors related to institutional set-up and governance mandates as expected contribute significantly to explaining the composition of audiences of both GGIs, albeit in different ways. Explanations related to global and domestic democratic normative structures have become more central over time for the composition of audiences of the UNFCCC compared to the FSC. Politicization stands out as an important factor for explaining the activation of self-appointed audiences in the case of the UNFCCC. Yet, politicization does not appear to be decisive for who was targeted by the UNFCCC. In comparison, politicization is an important explanation for who is targeted by the FSC, as manifested in its attempts at countering critique.