Chesterman: The Appointment of Executive Heads of International Organizations

Simon Chesterman (National Univ. of Singapore - Law) has posted The Appointment of Executive Heads of International Organizations (excerpted from the chapter on "Executive Heads" in The Oxford Handbook of International Organizations, Jacob Katz Cogan, Ian Hurd & Ian Johnstone eds., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

This essay surveys the different procedures by which international organizations appoint their executive heads — whether designated president, secretary-general, managing director, or some other title. Such procedures vary according to their formal processes, ranging from the appointment by a plenary body or a subgroup to cases in which appointment is delegated to a specific set of member states, as well as in the informal influence that certain member states may have. Regional and national criteria may play a role, including various forms of rotation by region or alphabetical order of member states. Less attention tends to be paid to the qualifications of executive heads. The full chapter includes a discussion of the appointment as well as functions and independence of executive heads of international organizations.