The “Organizational Development” of International Organizations

Abstract
Inquiry into the nature and role of international organizations has not been a noticeably cumulative enterprise. Descriptive lacunae have been filled, new and more reliable techniques of observation and measurement have been introduced, and more sophisticated and powerful instruments of analysis have been brought to bear on various problems—all signs of change, even of progress—but the field as a whole remains “notorious for its lack of systematic and testable theory.” This state of affairs has been lamented generally and has been contrasted specifically with the situation which prevails in international organization's “stepfield” of regional integration. Here, previous paradigms and conceptual frameworks have been scrutinized critically and constructively; alternative measures and additional hypotheses have been proposed; originally divergent “perspectives” have acquired convergent properties; and speculative reformalizations have been advanced which seek to build upon past criticisms.

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