Bulletin n. 1-2/2014
November 2014
CONTENTS
  • Section A) The theory and practise of the federal states and multi-level systems of government
  • Section B) Global governance and international organizations
  • Section C) Regional integration processes
  • Section D) Federalism as a political idea
    • Merran Hulse
    Actorness beyond the European Union: Comparing the International Trade Actorness of SADC and ECOWAS
    in Journal of Common Market Studies , Volume 52, Issue 3, May 2014 ,  2014 ,  547-565
    Actorness is no longer the preserve of the European Union. Due to their participation in interregional relations, other regional organizations are developing and institutionalizing the requirements of international actorness, but insofar as a comparative framework for systematically comparing and contrasting actorness across different organizations is lacking, it is difficult to predict the likely outcomes of such relations. Taking a comparative regionalisms approach, this article develops a comparative and generalizable framework of actorness. Adding to the extremely limited literature on non-EU actorness, the model is tested in an analysis of the actorness of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in the field of international trade negotiations. Despite SADC's stronger identity and presence, it is ECOWAS – having more effective decision-making and better capabilities – that possesses greater actorness – a fact likely to impact on inter-regional outcomes.
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