The Norm Life Cycle of UN Reform: “Delivering as One and UN System-Wide Coherence”
Abstract
[...] This paper aims for two objectives. First, it tries to analyze the complex reform process
of Delivering as One at the country level, followed by system changes at a later stage. To
explain the emergence of new norms and the transition, we apply a theoretical framework
that Martha Finnemore and Kathryn Sikkink had developed in 1998 to explain political
change: The Norm Life Cycle (NLC). Guided by the research question of how the Delivering
as One reform process came into existence, I will analyze each NLC stage in detail and
generate some propositions about the origins of the new norms, the mechanisms by which they
exercise influence, and the conditions under which those new norms become so influential
that they change business as usual. Moreover, I will study the role of norm entrepreneurs,
norm leaders, norm messengers, and message entrepreneurs, and make use of the organizational
platforms that Finnemore and Sikkink proposed in order to explain the complexity of
the UN System and the negotiation dynamics among the stakeholders. The platform analysis
supports my arguments in favor of the need of a fourth stage of the NLC when it comes to
global systemic changes, such as within the United Nations Development System. [...]
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