"Against the background of globalization and the erosion of the power of the nation state, a debate in political science is currently taking place which focuses on the notion of global governance, and which considers whether a new framework of international regulation is likely to be established. To date, little importance has been attributed to global trade unions and transnational industrial relations in this debate. Conversely, it has hardly affected research on industrial relations and trade unions so far. This paper discusses the efforts of various subdisciplines to identify new international regulatory mechanisms and examines the possibilities for their integration under the umbrella of the governance concept. It is argued that trade unions, like other social actors, assume functions of articulation, steering, participation, and legitimization and thereby contribute to establishing a "world social order". Rudiments of a global system of social regulations can be identified, but gains in international regulation cannot compensate for the losses in the ability of nation states to steer events, particularly in the domains of collective bargaining and economic policy. Furthermore, it recognises the structural shortcomings of the overall global governance architecture, namely limited range and deficits in implementation and democracy."

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