Corporatism goes global: international organizations, NGO networks and transnational business

Ottaway presents an evaluation of the UN Global Compact, which was launched in 1999 to bring big business, labour, civil society and government together to deal with contentious issues of human and workers rights, environment etc. In this the UN used corporatism to complement representative and participatory democracy. Observations:

• Tying different organisations into cooperative relations can weaken the contribution of each and create a new bureaucracy, particularly in that cooperation between essentially unrepresentative organisations is of doubtful representational benefit to people.
  
• Tripartite councils are good for temporary responses to tensions but are not successful in the long run for meaningful representation of interest groups.
  
• Corporatism is supposed to bring a reconciliation of views, but the state can dominate, hand pick groups, and is not neutral. Hence, corporatism can be used as system of control, with government as gate keeper, bringing compliant organisations to the table and excluding others. However, global corporatism is emerging more strongly as NGOs are challenging the international system - and is thus both innovative and defensive.

In summary, Ottaway notes that there are opportunities in new information and inputs and the enhancement of pluralism, but risks in the inequality in partnerships, their lack of representativeness, the costs of bureaucratisation, and the fact that they may give disproportionate influence to well organised, astute NGOs.

(Adapted from WHO/TARSC)