Legitimacy and international public authority : the evolution of IAEA safeguards
Abstract
Using the IAEA as a case for focused study, this thesis argues that the construction and
reconstruction of the Secretariat’s legitimacy has been dependant upon several different
legitimating influences at different stages in the IAEA’s evolution. In brief, it will be
demonstrated that early on, in the absence of clear non-proliferation norms, power
wielded by critical and self-interested actors functioned as the primary legitimator –
promoting early development and insulating the organization from outside pressures.
However, based upon this particular case, I will also argue that state power alone is
insufficient to guarantee legitimacy and the exercise of international public authority,
especially in light of the degree to which these institutions are increasingly expected to
challenge the territorial sovereignty of member states. In order for an organization to
acquire adequate legitimacy to exercise public authority over the long term, it must
develop beyond the point at which state power is instrumental, and assume a degree of
organizational autonomy. This happened with the evolution of organizational expertise
recognizing the IAEA’s bureaucracy as an authority, development of specific
nonproliferation rules and norms that placed the IAEA in authority, and “right” processes
within the bureaucracy that reinforced these and other substantive norms, positioning the
Secretariat as a trusted agent within international society. Thus, the development of a
professional identity, successful norms and rules, and the elaboration of a “right” process
were key to the creation of legitimacy, and as a consequence, the Secretariat’s exercise of
public authority in support of the safeguards regime.
Type
Thesis, PhD Doctor of Philosophy
Collections
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