Balancing Bureaucracy and the Individual: Institutional Reform and Peace Operations
Author(s)
Picco, Giandomenico
Abstract
Modern institutions, both national and international, have by and large achieved their central goal: to keep the irrationality of the individual (namely the sovereign) outside the decision-making process. The collective decision-making process that has evolved is thoroughly internalized in our daily lives. Although it may seem provocative, I have started to wonder whether this success has caused even greater problems, especially in the United Nations. By emphasizing the collective to the detriment of the individual, the institution has become a shield for individual accountability and has forgotten the importance of individual genius and initiative. A new theory of institutions, which combines the strength of their structures with the genius of individuals, should be developed.
