Faith-Based Accountability Mechanism Typology

The conditions associated with the stability of democratic globalgovernance have been a leading concern of political sociology. Globalization, asituation of “governance without government,” has accountability gaps that InternationalNongovernmental Organizations—religious and secular—bridge with activism. Theystrengthen democratic norms by exercising soft power as accountability mechanisms ininternational relations. Religious and secular accountability mechanisms differ instructure and function. This article presents a Faith-Based Accountability Mechanismtypology that outlines a set of attributes for an exercise of religious soft power thatmight strengthen the democratic process in global governance. A coalition service modelthat preserves the public trust in appropriate contexts is developed in contrast tomonopolistic religious surveillance models. The typology is illustrated with case studydata from the 2011 Interfaith Summit in Bordeaux, France