Hiding in plain sight? International monitoring missions in authoritarian regimes

A key feature of global governance is the possibility to monitor governments alleged of non-compliance with international treaties.

Intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) routinely conduct on-the-spot monitoring missions to assess if governments are violating international conventions.

Authoritarian governments pose a particular challenge to IGO monitoring missions as they are known to manipulate information flows, deny wrongdoings, silence criticism, and prevent scrutiny that they perceive as threatening. Despite this, IGOs are often allowed to conduct on-the-spot missions in authoritarian states.

This research project is the first to address this puzzle by investigating why, when and under what conditions IGOs are allowed to conduct on-the-spot monitoring missions in authoritarian regimes. The project is novel in several ways.

Theoretically, it will draw on several literatures to explain why and under what conditions autocrats allow monitoring missions. Empirically, it will generate the first comprehensive global dataset on IGO monitoring missions.

Methodologically, it will adopt a robust research design, including quantitative and qualitative methods and the triangulation of evidence, to draw conclusions concerning broader patterns as well as causal mechanisms.

The project will advance a new research agenda on IGO monitoring missions, an area of research that has been overlooked in existing literatures.