The Bank, the IMF, and the WHO: More Data of Functionalist Learning
Author(s)
Riggs, Robert E.
Abstract
Responses to a mailed questionnaire indicate that experience with the World Bank, the IMF and the WHO does not necessarily result in attitudes more favorable to those agencies or to international cooperation. Attitudes tend to be multidimensional, and increased experience is associated with favorable attitudes along some dimensions but not others. Despite functionalist assumptions to the contrary, attitudinal responses to participation in the work of functional agencies do not differ significantly from responses to participation in the more “political” United Nations. Rather, attitudes seem contingent upon the rewardingness of the experience. This, in turn, is affected by the respondent’s personal values, his domestic organizational milieu, the nature of the international organization, and the specifics of the respondent’s experience. These findings are not totally at odds with functionalist theorizing, but suggest additional variables that functionalism should take into account.
