Boletim de Economia e Política Internacional – n. 37 (set-dez 2023)

Call for papers

Special issue: International relations of subnational governments

Submission deadline: July 31, 2023

The articles must be sent to Este endereço de email está sendo protegido de spambots. Você precisa do JavaScript ativado para vê-lo.

Over the last few decades, subnational entities have been intensifying their international activities, a phenomenon known as paradiplomacy, distinct from the traditional international relations undertaken by sovereign States. Such growth is linked to the deepening of globalization and its effects in several areas such as the location decisions of individuals and companies, meaning that the majority preferences at the national level are not necessarily shared at subnational levels; the reduction of transport and communication costs, which allow for interactions previously hampered by high transaction costs; the diversification and complexity of topics dealt with at the international stage, increasing the quest for participation from a greater variety of actors; and the growing emphasis by international organizations on the connections between global and local dynamics. In this sense, the Greek prefix para-, of the term paradiplomacy, introduces the idea of parallel, which can either be in line with the foreign policy carried out by the central government, or can go in a different or even antagonistic direction to that. And, in a context of increasing political polarization within countries, with marked spatial traits, it would not be surprising an increase in the international actions of subnational governments, especially when chaired by politicians not aligned with the central government. It should also be noted that, just as countries compete for attracting investments, talent, tourists, events, among others, states and municipalities within a same country compete with each other. In this sense, paradiplomatic activities are used to promote the competitive advantages of subnational entities.

However, despite the increasing engagement of subnational entities in international activities, this field of study remains under-researched. The aim of this special issue of the Boletim de Economia e Política Internacional (BEPI) is to contribute to raising our comprehension on the subject, through the publication of studies that focus both on theoretical and conceptual developments, as well as on empirical issues, whether on a comparative basis (including quantitative analyses), or through case studies. We expect that the studies give special attention to the institutional and organizational aspects involved in the international relations of subnational entities – what are the institutions that promote them, how are they structured, what are their objectives and goals, how is their performance measured, among other issues.

This special issue will accept articles dealing with international relations carried out by subnational entities such as states, provinces and municipalities, indirect administration bodies linked to them, as well as consortia and/or other mechanisms of collective action integrated by subnational entities, having as counterparties similar entities abroad, as well as national States, supranational organizations, multilateral organizations, the business private sector and/or civil society organizations in other countries. The articles must be structured in such a way as to develop satisfactory answers to well-specified and delimited questions.

Among the study topics (but not limited to them) we suggest:

- theoretical-conceptual discussions about the role of subnational entities in the formulation and execution of foreign policy – paradiplomacy – should foreign policy be carried out solely by the central government? – how to tackle situations in which the international relations actions undertaken by subnational entities conflict with the central government’s foreign policy?

- theoretical-conceptual discussions about public governance in cross-border spaces, in which everyday interaction ends up requiring urgent decisions, only possible with the support of paradiplomatic actions.

- the political economy of paradiplomacy – how do different interest groups influence paradiplomatic actions? – to what extent have changes in the country’s pattern of external economic insertion encouraged paradiplomacy, especially in regions strongly reliant on agribusiness and mining? – to what extent has the greater political polarization observed in recent years encouraged subnational governments to pursue their own foreign policies, without central government intermediation?

- the socioeconomic impacts of the international relations of subnational entities – to what extent does the private sector benefit from paradiplomatic actions? – do subnational international actions generate spillover effects for other subnational entities?

- the activities performed by state, province and/or municipal bodies for international relations.

- the activities performed by investment, export and/or tourism promotion agencies at the state, province and/or municipal level.

- international development cooperation provided and/or received from abroad by subnational entities.

- horizontal scientific-technological cooperation with foreign entities.

- international partnerships in sustainable development projects – transnational ecological corridors.

- external financing of public policies and investments in infrastructure.

- international cooperation networks between states, provinces and/or municipalities (eg Mercociudades, Foro Consultivo de Municipios, Estados Federados, Provincias y Departamentos del Mercosur (FCCR), twin cities).

- intermunicipal consortiums at border regions.

- urban planning and management in cross-border arrangements.

- engagement of subnational entities in international negotiations conducted by sovereign States (for example, Mercosur-European Union Trade Agreement).

- engagement of subnational entities in the implementation of international commitments assumed by sovereign States (for example, emission reduction targets of the Paris Agreement).

- organization and promotion of international events (eg Olympics, UN Conferences).

- case studies about the international action of subnational entities in specific situations (for example, policies against Covid-19).

- studies on the actions performed by states, provinces and/or municipalities in response to international migration flows.

Guidelines for authors:

- The article must be edited in Microsoft Word or in a compatible text editor (doc or docx extensions). It must contain the authors’ full names (de-identification will be carried out by the editors before submitting the article to reviewers).

- The article should not exceed 15,000 words (excluding references and annexes). It must also contain an abstract of up to 200 words, and up to five keywords.

- The article may be written in English or in Portuguese. Citations must be translated into the language of the text – that is, if the language of the text is English, citations in other languages must be translated into English (at the authors' discretion, the citation in the original language may be included in a footnote).

- References must be included at the end of the article following the pattern (Author, year, page (when applicable)).

- If the article is accepted for publication, graphs, tables, figures, and maps must be sent separately, preferably in editable format. They must be sequentially numbered (according to the type) and include title, source of data (with URL indication, whenever possible) and indication of authorship (when applicable).

- The articles must be sent to Este endereço de email está sendo protegido de spambots. Você precisa do JavaScript ativado para vê-lo.