ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with a discussion of why the involvement of PMSCs in security governance requires legitimation at all. It argues that their status as ‘security governors’ not only hinges upon their ability to exercise governance functions traditionally associated with the state – agenda setting, implementation of security agendas, monitoring of their own activities, and rule setting – it also requires legitimation of these companies if they want to establish and preserve their presence in the realm of security. The second section introduces the concept of norm entrepreneurship to study how the ‘legitimation game’ between NGOs and PMSCs unfolds. It involves (1) debates over the application of a norm to a new actor (PMSCs) or a new practice (private provision of security, framing) and (2) attempts to codify and ‘harden’ existing norms (legal institutionalization). In reviewing research on PMSCs and legitimacy, the chapter identifies four norms around which norm entrepreneurial activity is likely to revolve: the functionality of force, accountability, just cause, and the state’s monopoly over violence. The third section combines insights from theories of organizational learning and functionalism to single out explanations for why and when norm entrepreneurs move from framing to legalization.
