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Reform of the United Nations Security Council: Equity and Efficiency

Author

Listed:
  • Matthew Gould

    (Westminster Business School, University of Westminster)

  • Matthew D. Rablen

    (Department of Economics, University of Sheffield)

Abstract
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is critical to globalpeace and security, yet more than twenty years of negotiations over itsreform have proved fruitless. We use recent advances in the theory ofa-priori voting power to present a formal quantitative appraisal of theimplications for democratic equity and efficiency of the “structuralreforms” contained within eleven current reform proposals, as well asthe separate effect of expansion of the UNSC membership. Only tworeform proposals – the EU acting as a single entity, or a weakening ofthe veto power for Permanent Members – robustly dominate the statusquo against our measures of equity and efficiency. Several proposedstructural reforms may actually worsen the issues they ostensiblyclaim to resolve.

Suggested Citation

  • Matthew Gould & Matthew D. Rablen, 2016. "Reform of the United Nations Security Council: Equity and Efficiency," Working Papers 2016009, The University of Sheffield, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:shf:wpaper:2016009
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    File URL: http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/economics/research/serps/articles/2016_009
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Cited by:

    1. Matthew Gould & Matthew D. Rablen, 2016. "Equitable representation in councils: theory and an application to the United Nations Security Council," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 169(1), pages 19-51, October.
    2. Josep Freixas, 2020. "The Banzhaf Value for Cooperative and Simple Multichoice Games," Group Decision and Negotiation, Springer, vol. 29(1), pages 61-74, February.
    3. Hang Luo & Lize Yang & Kourosh Houshmand, 2021. "Power Structure Dynamics in Growing Multilateral Development Banks: The Case of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 12(1), pages 24-39, February.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    United Nations; United Nations Security Council; United Nations SecurityCouncil reform; equity; efficiency; voting power; square-root rule;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • D71 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Social Choice; Clubs; Committees; Associations
    • C71 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Cooperative Games
    • C63 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Computational Techniques

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