A Multistakeholder Governance Agenda: What Are the Opportunities?

Coalitions of state and nonstate actors are increasingly engaged in policymaking realms that once were solely reserved for sovereign nations. The growth of this approach, known as multistakeholder action, has paralleled diminished trust in the legitimacy and effectiveness of traditional global governance structures.

Multistakeholder action continues to evolve, and, according to this policy memo, understanding when and where it should be used is key.

This memo outlines instances when the multistakeholder approach proved successful, such as the 2014 People’s Climate March. However, it states that more case studies are needed in order to better understand and replicate effective multistakeholder action. Also, going forward, according to the memo, the biggest challenges to the multistakeholder approach lie in coordination and accountability.

On October 26–28, 2016, experts and policymakers from academia, government, international organizations, and civil society gathered at the Airlie Center outside Washington, DC, to participate in the Stanley Center’s 57th annual Strategy for Peace Conference. This year’s conference featured autonomous roundtables where experts focused on policy ideas, challenges, and recommendations in four key global issue areas: climate change, genocide prevention, nuclear security, and global governance.

This policy memo captures the major discussion points and policy recommendations from the roundtable on “A Multistakeholder Governance Agenda: What Are the Opportunities?” chaired by Heather Hurlburt, director of the New Models of Policy Change project at New America.