Norm transmission in networks of intergovernmental organizations

This project examines the conditions under which networks of intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) can serve as "transmission belts" for the diffusion of norms among states. It develops a model of norm diffusion that can account for variation in the extent to which states influence the normative environment of the IGOs to which they belong, as well as variation in the receptiveness of states to the signals they receive from different types of IGO. This model is used to test competing hypotheses about the role that socialization and coercion play in the transmission of a number of different norms concerned with states' human rights practices. The results suggest that IGO-mediated norm diffusion plays a surprisingly important role in many different issue areas, and that the pattern of norm diffusion is most consistent with one in which IGOs facilitate norm transmission among their member states through their ability to provide venues for inter-state socialization.