FOR 2409:  Overlapping Spheres of Authority and Interface Conflicts in the Global Order

• Subject Area: Social and Behavioural Sciences
• Term: from 2017 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 277531170

The proposed research group, 'Overlapping Spheres of Authority and Interface Conflicts in the Global Order' (OSAIC), focuses on the rise of conflicts at the interfaces of overlapping spheres of authority. Spheres of authority are governance complexes in which at least one (public or private) institution is recognized as authority for a limited number of issues. With the increase of institutional density in the international realm, we start out from the assumption that interface conflicts across different spheres of authority as well as authority conflicts within such spheres proliferate. We speak of an interface conflict when relevant actors perceive rules to be directly contradictory or when they perceive them to diverge in such a way that the simultaneous attainment of the regulatory objectives of the different spheres of authority is seen to be impossible. Interface conflicts can be detrimental to regulatory coherence and governance effectiveness within and across spheres of authority and to the coherence of the global order as a whole. At the same time, interface conflicts can be productive by identifying institutional deficiencies in a given sphere of authority and by creating an opportunity structure for institutional change. In any case, interface conflicts create a demand for finding appropriate ways of tackling them. However, the question of how, and with which consequences this demand is met is an empirical one. Against this backdrop, the proposed research unit seeks to grasp the variety of interface conflicts empirically, to describe the variations in responses to interface conflicts, to explain the observed variance, and to develop a principled normative framework for the assessment of existing practices. We aim at generating systematic knowledge on how the governance activities of horizontally and vertically aligned spheres of authority are coordinated and on the normative quality of this coordination. The research program consists of four components each of which is associated with a guiding question. First, how can interface conflicts be identified? Second, how can we grasp the set of observable responses to interface conflicts? Third, how can variance in responses be explained? Fourth, by which normative concepts can the observed practices be reconstructed? Thus, our approach enables grasping, explaining and normatively assessing variance in the responses to interface conflicts. In doing so, we contribute to theoretical progress and advance empirical knowledge on the responses to interface conflicts. The specific innovation of the OSAIC research group consists in the application of our encompassing notion of a system of overlapping spheres of authority that is able to integrate different analytical perspectives on interface conflicts.

• DFG Programme: Research Units

Projects

• Conflict of Norms - Conflict of Laws - Conflict of Systems? On the Conditions of Normative Conflict in International Law (Applicant Möllers, Christoph )
• Coordination Funds (Applicant Zürn, Michael )
• Evolving Internet Interfaces: Content Control and Privacy Protection (Applicant Jachtenfuchs, Markus )
• Management of Interface Conflicts in African Security Governance (Applicant Geis, Anna )
• Responding to Norm Collisions: Procedural Norms and Interface Management in Fragmented Areas of Transnational Politics (COLLISIONS) (Applicants Holzscheiter, Anna ;  Liese, Andrea )
• Responses to Interface Conflicts: How Spheres of Authority Handle Conflicting Rules (RESPONSES) (Applicant Zürn, Michael )

• Partner Organisation: Schweizerischer Nationalfonds (SNF)
• Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Michael Zürn