Business and governance: Transnational corporations and the effectiveness of private governance

Global governance is the political attendant phenomenon and aftereffect of globalization. Defined as “multi-actor, multi-level political decision-making”, global governance emphasizes political consequences of globalization as increased political capacities of non-state and supra-national actors. From the perspective of various observers, most notably business actors – particularly transnational corporations (TNCs) – are the major political beneficiaries of globalization. However, their capacities’ expansion has different dimensions: developments in activities and strategies in the field of lobbying, of agenda setting power and of discursive influence in public debate.