Non-state actors in Economic Diplomacy

Abstract

Both the centrality and the legitimacy of the state's role in policy-making has tended to be taken for granted within much domestic and international political scholarship and practice- at least in the context of liberal democratic institutional arrangements. It is generally expected that state actors will have a range of central roles in the conduct of economic diplomacy, including representation of particular interest groups or constituencies, technical administration and representation of national interests on the international stage. Both the efficacy and legitimacy of these roles are being challenged due to effects of globalisation such as increased pressures from global capital, increasingly 'deep integration' of national economies and the changing character and rising influence of the non-state actors that comprise the subject of this chapter.