ABSTRACT
This chapter sets out some theoretical grounds upon which corporations can be viewed as public actors in the context of a globalized world polity, alongside the state and inter-governmental agencies which are more traditionally viewed as public within liberal analysis. The ideology of liberalism is very commonly associated at least within discussions of matters of international political economy with a firm normative commitment to the institutional autonomy of the economic sphere. Correspondingly, liberal analysis is associated with a strong commitment to the view that corporations, as economic actors, should be cast as private and thus unburdened with any demanding requirements for the discharge of public responsibilities. The special responsibilities accorded to public agencies are generally matched by special sets of rights associated with what is often termed the right to rule. Public agencies are accorded special sets of powers and privileges such as the power to make and enforce laws, the associated right to use force and violence.
