Chairs as policy entrepreneurs in multilateral negotiations

Abstract

Abstract Chairs have a significant potential effect on the bargaining structure and conduct of multilateral negotiations, addressing collective action problems that arise in decentralised bargaining. We examine the role of the Chair as a policy entrepreneur in multilateral negotiations, identifying the parameters that increase the Chair's entrepreneurship potential and condition the outcome of the Chair's entrepreneurial activities. We cluster the identified parameters in three groups of organisational attributes, comprising the Chair's mandate , available resources and (formal) constraints , in particular decision-making rules. We use this typology to analyse four important case studies within the UN setting.