ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the analysis of the CITES compliance system shows that the adoption of administrative procedures has enhanced constraints upon power politics in some domains. In others, however, the procedural safeguards have been loosened, undermining the net gains associated with proceduralization. The risk that administrative procedures may serve to perpetuate pre-existing power imbalances is reflected in the apparent bias against less powerful states in CITES trade-suspension recommendations. A vignette of compliance decision making involving the United Arab Emirates (UAE) reinforces this chapter’s thematic analysis.
