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"When the topic of global governance or post-national governance arises, it generally does so in the context of the co-operation between nation states, international agreements and the role of international organizations. As opposed to this, global governance through the self-organization of transnational civil society is rarely discussed. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to demonstrate the scope and limitations of global governance through civil society self-organization. The case of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), which is now deemed a success, has been selected to demonstrate this phenomenon at work. What is involved here is a globally distributed environmental label for the certification of sustainably managed forests. The FSC shows how a private civil society regime can be implemented, how its implementation can be controlled and how violations can be sanctioned. It may be stated that the case of the Forest Stewardship Council is a form of global governance without nation-state involvement that can be viewed as a complete alternative to global governance through nation states. The rapid spread of the FSC system was enhanced by the dynamic combination of civil society self-organization with market mechanisms. Moreover, the FSC system fills a gap that arose from the political failure at the level of international regimes. However, it has become clear that national forest protection standards are needed for the FSC system to function smoothly. The FSC system cannot replace national legislation and its implementation by an effective administration. The fact that the FSC can rely not only on its own internal means of sanction (i.e. withdrawal of certification), but can also resort to boycotts as a potential external instrument of sanction is undoubtedly a key factor behind the success of the FSC. However, the analysis also shows the limits of global governance through selforganization: As no nation state has the norm-setting monopoly, the FSC system competes with other certification systems in many countries throughout the world. Overall, the FSC system can be deemed a success. Private standards appear to work best if a specific combination of self-organization and market mechanisms comes to fruition, if the non-state systems are embedded in nation-state systems, if resources are available outside the system that can, if necessary, be used to mobilize consumers and if the problems that necessarily arise from the competition of certification systems can be overcome." (author's abstract)
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