Thomas Sommerer

Reforming Global Institutions in an Era of Geopolitical Strain: Evidence from 15 Case Studies - Research Report | ENSURED Global governance is often described as being in crisis, yet demand for effective international cooperation has never been higher. Drawing on ENSURED's 15 case studies, this report asks: How can inter...

🏛️New report on global institutions!

Drawing on ENSURED's 15 case studies, our latest research by @hdijkstra.bsky.social shows that reform is far from straightforward, but there remains unexploited potential.

@tsommerer.bsky.social @claraweinhardt.bsky.social @fasosmaastricht.bsky.social
👇

Robust, Effective, and Democratic Global Governance for a World in Transition: Evidence From the ENSURED Expert Survey - Research Report | ENSURED Based on the ENSURED Expert Survey, this report offers a global assessment of how 110 international organisations (IOs) are coping in today’s turbulent world.

🚨🗣️ ENSURED Expert Survey

New research by Soetkin Verhaegen, @hdijkstra.bsky.social & @tsommerer.bsky.social offers a global assessment (based on a survey of 763 experts) of how 110 international organisations are coping in today’s turbulent world.

@maastrichtu.bsky.social @unipotsdam.bsky.social
👇

CfP for the ECPR General Conference 2026!!

Submit your papers now to one of the magnificent panels in our Section!

Between Stability and Stagnation: The Performance and Openness of International Organisations in a Changing Global Order - Research Report | ENSURED As global governance faces rising geopolitical pressures, understanding how IOs are performing is increasingly vital. Drawing on two updated datasets, this report maps how IO effectiveness and inclusi...

New ENSURED report from @tsommerer.bsky.social &
@haeunchoi.bsky.social examines how IOs are performing under rising geopolitical and democratic strain.

Based on 2 updated datasets (1980–2023), it offers a system-wide view of IO performance and openness in today’s global order.

What they found 👇

Reforming the World Health Organization After the COVID-19 Pandemic: Diagnosis and Prognosis - Research Report | ENSURED How well has the World Health Organization’s reform agenda since 2020 addressed the longstanding and emergent challenges the organization faces? The post-COVID-19 reform agenda shows significant momen...

📝 REPORT: WHO Reform

During COVID-19, all eyes were on the World Health Organization (WHO) 👀. It exposed structural weaknesses and underlined the (already-existing) need for reform.

In a new ENSURED report, Óscar Fernández and Mirko Heinzel (Maastricht University) take stock of these reforms 👇

Moving Global Biodiversity Governance Forward: How to Strengthen the Convention on Biological Diversity - Research Report | ENSURED More than 30 years after the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) came into force, the world is still struggling to slow biodiversity loss. Is the CBD still up to the task?

🌻It's been 30+ years since the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) entered into force. Is the CBD still getting the job done?

In a new ENSURED report, Franziska Petri, Jayati Srivastava, Edith Drieskens & Noa Lameire examine the state of biodiversity governance👇
@kuleuvenuniversity.bsky.social

Interesting new study on the CoE Framework Convention on #AI 👇

The Global Governance of Sex and Gender: Women's and LGBTQI+ Rights Amid Regress, Reform, and Resilience - Research Report | ENSURED After decades of progress and some landmark wins, women’s and LGBTQI+ rights are becoming increasingly contested on the global stage. How resilient is human rights governance in the face of pushback?

📢NEW REPORT!

Increasingly, women’s and LGBTQI+ rights are being contested on the global stage.

In ENSURED’s latest report, Ha Eun Choi & @andrealiese.bsky.social chart how resilient human rights governance is in the face of contestation. 👇

@unipotsdam.bsky.social

Effects of Popular Legitimacy on International Organizations: An Elite Survey Experiment | The Journal of Politics Whether or not popular legitimacy matters for international organizations (IOs) is a topic of extensive assumption but little rigorous research. A key obstacle has been the methodological difficulties...

Does popular legitimacy matter for international organizations? In our new article @thejop.bsky.social, @tsommerer.bsky.social and I provide unique experimental evidence that politicians are responsive to popular legitimacy when deciding on the authority and resources of IOs.
doi.org/10.1086/735474

We look forward to connecting and collaborating with colleagues exploring similar questions about global governance and autocratization.

Positions on the project will be announced soon — stay tuned!

In APPIO, we will examine how shifts toward autocracy among member states influence IOs’ decision-making. APPIO will develop and expand three core datasets across 72 IOs on the decision output, scientific output by international bureaucracies, and sponsorship of resolutions by autocratizing states.

ZU/Michael Scheyer UP/ Ernst Kaczynski.

How does autocratization affect the capacity of IOs to tackle global challenges? @debremaria.bsky.social and I receive funding from @dfg.de for a 3-year project on 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗰𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 and 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗢𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 (𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗜𝗢) @unipotsdam.bsky.social & @Zeppelin Uni

New publication with @tsommerer.bsky.social looking at changes of IO membership composition as a consequence of autocratization.

Are non-democracies taking over?

Available open access here:

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

➡️https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00108367251364170

Please join us for the launch of our E&IA Roundtable: 'Global Governance in Hard Times.'

Presentations: Faude+Karlsrud; @yoramhaftel.bsky.social & @stephofmann.bsky.social; @ninareiners.bsky.social; Julia Morse; @mstephen.bsky.social.

Comments: @hbirk.bsky.social; @tsommerer.bsky.social.

Details:

How do international organizations change as the consequence of autocratization? A new article in @coco-journal.bsky.social
with @debremaria.bsky.social explores how regime transformations affect IO membership composition.

Are non-democracies taking over?

➡️ journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

How does the EU frame its role in multilateral governance? Where are its narrative strengths&weaknesses?

Join us @ Robert Bosch Stiftung in Berlin, 18:00, Sept 9 for a discussion on this & other questions about strategic communications for multilateralism.

Register: ensuredinberlin.eventbrite.com

📢 Out now: 5 new ENSURED reports on the state of multilateralism!

Topics include:

💼 Trade-related agendas & the WTO:
🌱 The Paris Agreement at 10:
🌐 The WTO Pandemic Agreement:
🧳 UN Compacts on Migration & Refugees:
🪙 Regulating Digital Currencies:

🔗: www.ensuredeurope.eu/publications

Publications | ENSURED: Shaping Cooperation for a World in Transition

For a more in-depth analysis of the state of democracy in IOs, delve into ENSURED’s latest round of research reports!

📖: www.ensuredeurope.eu/publications

Hot off the press: ENSURED’s first 5 research reports! 🥳🎉

Multilateralism: What's working, what isn’t & where is room for reform?

A deep dive:
🛠 WTO reform
🌱 UNFCCC decision-making
💉 IP-Public Health nexus
⚖️ UN HRC
💻 Cyberspace governance

Read the reports 👉 www.ensuredeurope.eu/publications

Two Questions of Sovereignty: China and the Third World Countries in the United Nations General Assembly (1971–1990) Abstract. Respect for sovereignty is a hallmark norm for the coalition between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Third World/Global South countr

My article “Two Questions of Sovereignty: China and the Third World Countries in the United Nations General Assembly (1971–1990)” is now available (open access) with Global Studies Quarterly. Thank you to everyone’s advice throughout the process.
academic.oup.com/isagsq/artic...

Still cannot believe it: the United Nations Security Council Resolution Authors (UNSCRA) dataset is out in the @jpeaceresearch.bsky.social 🥳



Read here why the data is important and use it widely for your research: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

🌐 What is the state of global governance?

@tsommerer.bsky.social sees it as 2 sides of the same coin:
🪙 There is a sense of stagnation. And yet...
🪙 IOs have often proven to be 'sticky'.

This cautious optimism is backed by 2 key data sets — which Thomas & his team will update as part of ENSURED!

A must-read on the role of autocracies in international politics these days: @debremaria.bsky.social shows in her comparative analysis how regional organizations legitimate authoritarian rule and shield dictators from domestic oppositon and sanctions.

Hi #ISA2025! Please join us today to celebrate and discuss Leah R. Kimber's new book, a sociological analysis highlighting the increased exclusion of civil society despite their apparent inclusion in global governance institutions 🇺🇳

It's available OA: bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/civil-societ...

Packed room and motivated audience in windowless basement of ISA conference hotel on Sunday 4pm to present our @ensured.bsky.social project on EU support for global governance transformation

And, yes, the sun still in Chicago...

Panel: Effectiveness, Robustness, and Democracy of International Institutions - Event | ENSURED This ISA panel presents research on international institutions in the realms of climate change, global trade, and migration.

📅 ENSURED goes Chicago!

Next week, we're hosting an #ISA2025 panel on global governance around climate, trade & migration.

🗣️: @gettingthekenksout.bsky.social, @claraweinhardt.bsky.social, @hdijkstra.bsky.social, @franziskapetri.bsky.social, @tsommerer.bsky.social, @andrealiese.bsky.social & more!

New work on legitimacy and IOs by @tsommerer.bsky.social and @jonastallberg.bsky.social published in the @thejop.bsky.social. Full article here: doi.org/10.1086/735474

With various wonderful ENSURED colleagues @andrealiese.bsky.social @tsommerer.bsky.social @claraweinhardt.bsky.social @liliantsourdi.bsky.social @franziskapetri.bsky.social and others. Concept and case studies on trade, migration, climate 👇

🚨 #Data alert 📣 We just released #ParlLawSpeech – full texts of more than 40k bills, 28k laws, and 3 mio. parliamentary speeches from 7 countries (AT, CZ, DE, DK, ES, HR, HU) and the EU! If you study democracy with #TextAsData / #NLP methods, this is for you! A short 🧵 (1/3) #PoliSkyData #polisky