DefinePK

Abstract

The paper analyses one of the pertinent debate upon the question of the independence of the International Organizations (IO) with respect to their host states in the international politics domain employing the social constructivist lens. The study draws upon Weber’s bureaucratic approach to establish IOs as independent actors. It is argued that IOs independent-rational legal authority, control over information and expertise, establish them as independent bureaucratic structures. To assess this line of reasoning the counter arguments of the materialist perspectives - realist and neoliberal institutionalist - are critically discussed and gaps in the literature are highlighted. The paper concludes that both realist and neoliberalist perspectives are theories for states and state behaviour; hence, they widely remain state-centric and overlook the bureaucratic nature of IOs which grants them independent authority. Therefore, to understand the independent authority of IOs they should be viewed as bureaucracies.