Regional Integration: Choosing Plutocracy

The international system is based on sovereign equality, yet states sometimes choose to cooperate through plutocratic governance arrangements, under which members of a multilateral accord delegate policymaking to the wealthiest state among them.  In 1995,  Russia created an economic integration agreement using plutocratic structures.  Prussia and South Africa led similar arrangements in their respective regions during earlier historical periods.  Numerous states joined these integration efforts.  Regional Integration answers the plutocracy question with a novel theory focusing on the political survival of the leadership.  In narratives laced with kings, diamonds, revolutions, and hyper-nationalism, Hancock traces the stories of  these states and their paths to plutocracy.

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Hancock argues that there are three governance structures states can use when designing integration accords: plutocratic, supranational and intergovernmental. The first, in which states delegate to a wealthy state, has been largely ignored by scholars yet is both a logical choice and one that several states have chosen over the last 200 years.