Intergovernmental Organization - Participation and Involvement

Participation and Involvement

There are several different reasons a state may choose membership in an intergovernmental organization. But there are also reasons membership may be rejected. These reasons are explored in the sections below.

Reasons for participation:

1. Economic rewards: In the case of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), many different countries receive economic benefits from membership in the free trade agreement. For example, Mexican companies are given better access to U.S. markets due to their membership.
2. Political influence: Smaller countries, such as Portugal and the Netherlands, who do not carry much political clout on the international stage, are given a substantial increase in influence through membership in IGOs, such as the European Union. Also for countries with more influence such as France and Germany they are beneficial as the nation increases influence in the smaller countries' internal affairs and expanding other nations dependence on themselves, so to preserve allegiance
3. Security: Membership in an IGO such as NATO gives security benefits to member countries. This provides an arena where political differences can be resolved.
4. Improve democracy and the likelihood of democratic survival: It has been noted that member countries experience a greater degree of democracy and those democracies survive longer.

Reasons for rejecting membership:

1. Loss of sovereignty: Membership often comes with a loss of state sovereignty as treaties are signed which require cooperation on the part of all member states.
2. Insufficient benefits: Often membership does not bring about substantial enough benefits to warrant membership in the organization.