ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of research in political science and business administration on the role of private actors in emerging global governance structures. Literature in political science has begun discussing the role of private actors in global governance but rarely specifically analyzes the role of corporations. In an effort to systematize the various labels that have been used to describe the relations of Multinational Corporations (MNCs) with society, Matten et al. developed an ‘extended view of Corporate Citizenship’, which takes into account the new, political, role of MNCs in global governance. Analysis of the way corporate social responsibility is implemented at the level of the firm indicates whether corporations are actually part of emerging global governance structures. The governance of the nation state and the private economy are separated spheres in which the state provides the rules of the game and corporations act within this framework.
