Robust, Effective, and Democratic Global Governance for a World in Transition: Evidence From the ENSURED Expert Survey

This research report presents the first results of and technical information
from the ENSURED Expert Survey (n=763) carried out in August–September
2025. The expert survey consists of three parts. First, experts rated a
total of 110 international organisations (IOs) in terms of their effectiveness,
robustness, and level of democracy. While a few IOs score high on all three
qualities, most IOs show clear strengths and weaknesses: it seems difficult
to combine all three qualities. Second, experts assessed the likelihood
that key IOs will face challenges like member-state withdrawal, a resource
crisis, gridlock, or increased policy complexity in the near future. While
the withdrawal of a major member state will likely affect some types of
IOs, increased policy complexity is a challenge for which all IOs need to be
prepared. Furthermore, experts also expect that informal institutions and
regional organisations will serve as alternatives to formal IOs in the future.
Finally, in a conjoint experiment, experts assessed the importance of
various characteristics linked to effectiveness, robustness, and democracy
when it comes to carrying on in the face of different challenges. In this
context, state compliance emerges as an important feature. Reaction
speed is particularly relevant when IOs face resource crises, while policy
initiatives taken by IO leadership can especially break gridlock. This expert
survey has also resulted in two Open Access datasets, which will provide
an important resource for IO scholars.