国际组织变革理论的演进与启示

Theorizing Changes in International Organizations:Theoretical Evolution and Implications

国际组织正式制度和组织文化处于不断演变的进程中。对国际组织变革规律的理论研究不断深化对结构、施动者、变革机制这三个问题的认识,围绕国家中心主义和国际组织中心主义两大路径,形成了诸多中层理论。在国家中心主义路径下,理性选择制度主义、历史制度主义、制度竞争、委托—代理等理论将国家视为国际组织变革的关键施动者,认为不断变化的国家利益和国家间权力博弈可推动国际组织制度设计的改变。在此基础上,学者们分析了国家推动国际组织改革的策略选择问题。国际组织中心主义路径则将组织文化视为决定国际组织行为的结构性因素,重视国际官僚的施动性。理念流动、认知演化和官僚政治等国际组织内动力机制能推动组织文化变革。上述研究使人们对国际组织变革逻辑有了较全面认识:若想推动国际组织深度变革,就需整合来自国家、国际官僚和其他国际行为体的变革推力,并同时重视物质和观念要素的影响。

The formal institutional design and organizational culture of international organizations(IO)are constantly evolving.To explain such changes,researchers have developed many mid-level theories to deepen our understanding of the structure that sustains an IO’s design,culture,and behavior,the driving forces of change,and different mechanisms of change.Most middle-level theories have been constructed around two major courses:the state-centric approach and the IO-centric approach.Under the state-centric approach,rational design,historical institutionalism,institutional competition,and principal-agent theories regard states as the key drivers of change and argue that states,based on their interests and power,can directly change an IO’s institutional design.On this basis,scholars analyzed states’strategic choices in promoting the reform of IOs.The IO-centric approach regards organizational culture as a structural factor that determines the behavior of IOs and attaches importance to the agency of international bureaucracy.Scholars have proposed that the internal dynamics of IOs,such as the flow of ideas,cognitive evolution,and bureaucratic politics,can promote ideational changes in IOs.On the basis of the above theories,we now have a more comprehensive understanding of the logic of change in IOs.If we want to promote deep reforms of IOs,we need to bring together multiple forces,including states,international bureaucrats,and other international actors.We also need to pay attention to both material and ideational drivers of IO evolution.