The key global actors in contemporary global politics: VCE Politics
“The types of global actors (states, regional groupings, institutions of global governance and non-state actors) and the perspectives and interests they bring to global issues and crises”
The study design defines global actors as states, regional groupings, institutions of global governance and non-state actors. States hold sovereignty and the widest range of power (for example the United States and China). Regional groupings such as the European Union and ASEAN pool or coordinate members' influence. Institutions of global governance such as the United Nations coordinate cooperation but depend on member states and can be paralysed by vetoes. Non-state actors, which include transnational corporations such as Apple, NGOs such as Amnesty International, individuals and terrorist groups, exert economic, soft or disruptive power. Each has distinct aims, roles and power, and they constantly interact.
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What this dot point is asking
The study design defines global actors as states, regional groupings, institutions of global governance and non-state actors. You should be able to explain, for each type, their aims (what they want), their roles (what they do) and their power (their capacity to influence outcomes), compare them, and judge how much each shapes a global issue or crisis. Expect questions that ask you to analyse the interests, power and perspectives of actors in the issue or crisis you have studied, supported by current examples.
The answer
Global politics is the interaction of many actors pursuing competing aims. The study design names four types of global actor.
States
A state is a political entity with defined territory, a permanent population and widely recognised sovereignty. States remain primary actors because sovereignty gives them supreme authority within their borders and legal equality with other states.
- Aims. Survival, security, sovereignty, prosperity and influence. These are pursued as national interests.
- Roles. States make and enforce law, conduct diplomacy, wage war, sign treaties and join organisations.
- Power. States command the widest range of instruments: military forces, economies, diplomacy and cultural reach. The United States and the People's Republic of China are the clearest examples of states whose power shapes the whole system.
Regional groupings
Regional groupings are formal organisations of states in a region, such as the European Union, ASEAN or the Pacific Islands Forum.
- Aims. To advance members' shared economic, security and political interests, and to strengthen the region's voice.
- Roles. Setting regional rules or norms, providing forums for negotiation, coordinating responses to regional problems and speaking for members in wider forums.
- Power. Derived from members and limited by them. The European Union can act in trade and regulation with real force because members have pooled authority, while ASEAN works largely by consensus and non-interference, which limits what it can do when members disagree.
Institutions of global governance
These institutions have global scope and are made up of states. They facilitate cooperation and peaceful relations between states, enforce global rules and law and help settle disputes. The United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund and the International Criminal Court are examples. Older materials call them intergovernmental organisations (IGOs). The VCAA keeps them separate from non-state actors.
- Aims. To manage cooperation on security, trade, finance, health, development or the environment.
- Roles. Setting rules, providing forums for negotiation, coordinating responses, resolving disputes and delivering programs.
- Power. Derived from member states and limited by them. The United Nations Security Council can authorise force, yet the veto held by its five permanent members often paralyses it, as seen in the deadlock over Ukraine after Russia's 2022 invasion.
Non-state actors
Non-state actors are all the other actors on the global stage. The study design lists transnational corporations, individuals, non-government organisations such as Human Rights Watch or Greenpeace, and terrorist groups or international criminal networks.
- Transnational corporations (TNCs). Private firms that own or control production in more than one country. Their aims are profit, market share and growth. Their power is economic and structural: the largest, such as Apple, Amazon or the oil firm Saudi Aramco, can move investment, set industry standards and lobby governments, giving them leverage over the states that host them.
- Non-government organisations (NGOs). Aims range from humanitarian relief to advocacy. Their power is usually soft: Amnesty International and Greenpeace shape agendas through reporting, campaigns and public pressure.
- Individuals. High-profile people can set agendas or move resources across borders through wealth, fame or moral authority.
- Terrorist groups and criminal networks. They pursue political or criminal aims, often through violence. Their power is disruptive: it forces states to respond.
Comparing the actors
States still dominate because they hold sovereignty and the broadest instruments of power, but the other actors increasingly constrain and challenge them. A useful exam move is to rank actors by the type of power they wield and to show how they interact: a TNC lobbies a state, an NGO pressures an institution of global governance, a regional grouping coordinates its members' stance, a terrorist group provokes a military coalition.
States, regional groupings, institutions of global governance and non-state actors (which include transnational corporations, individuals, NGOs and terrorist or criminal groups). States are primary because they hold sovereignty; the others increasingly challenge and constrain state power without replacing it.
Examples in context
Example 1. An institution of global governance constrained by its members. The United Nations Security Council is the only body that can lawfully authorise the use of force, yet its veto means a single permanent member can block action. Russia's veto after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine shows how such an institution's power is hostage to the very states it is meant to discipline.
Example 2. A non-state actor rivalling states. Saudi Aramco's annual revenue exceeds the GDP of many United Nations member states. Decisions it makes about oil production ripple through energy prices, inflation and the foreign policy of importing states, illustrating structural economic power held by a private actor.
Some answers imply states, regional groupings, institutions of global governance and non-state actors all wield the same kind of power. They do not. States hold sovereignty and the widest range of instruments, while the others wield narrower forms of economic, soft or disruptive power. Marks come from comparing the type and scale of each actor's power, not from listing them as equals.
Try this
Q1. Identify the four types of global actor in the study design. [4 marks]
- Cue. States, regional groupings, institutions of global governance and non-state actors.
Q2. Explain the aims, roles and power of institutions of global governance, using one example. [6 marks]
- Cue. Aims: coordinate shared goals. Roles: set rules, provide forums, settle disputes. Power: derived from and limited by member states. Example: the United Nations Security Council and the veto.
Q3. Analyse the extent to which states remain the most powerful global actors. [10 marks]
- Cue. States hold sovereignty and the widest instruments of power, but regional groupings, institutions of global governance, TNCs and other non-state actors increasingly constrain them. Reach a defensible judgement.
Exam-style questions
Questions in the style of VCAA exam questions on this dot point, each with a worked answer. They are written by ExamExplained unless tagged "Past paper"; the year shows the paper a question is modelled on.
2020 VCAA-style (previous design)3 marksExplain one role of the state in global politics. Provide a specific example to support your response.Show worked answer →
Three marks: identify one role, explain it, and back it with a specific example.
A core role is that the state is the primary actor that exercises sovereignty: it makes and enforces law within its territory and represents its population in dealings with other actors, for example by signing treaties, joining IGOs and conducting foreign policy.
A specific example: Australia negotiating and ratifying trade agreements and representing its citizens at the United Nations and in regional bodies. Markers want a clearly named role, a short explanation of what the state does in that role, and a real example, not a generic statement that "states are important".
2023 VCAA-style (previous design)7 marksCompare the power of two intergovernmental organisations from the following list: United Nations (UN), International Monetary Fund (IMF), International Criminal Court (ICC).Show worked answer →
Seven marks for a "compare", so build explicit points of similarity and difference between two IGOs, not two separate descriptions.
Take the UN and the IMF. Compare their sources of power: the UN's power is political and normative (Security Council authorisation of force and sanctions, legitimacy, peacekeeping), while the IMF's is financial (lending to states in crisis, attaching policy conditions that reshape national economies).
Compare scope and limits: the UN is near-universal (193 members) but its Security Council is hamstrung by the veto; the IMF wields decisive leverage over borrowing states but little over wealthy ones that never need its loans, and its conditionality is criticised as intrusive.
Compare effectiveness: the IMF can directly change a borrowing state's budget policy, arguably more concrete power over those states than the UN's contested enforcement. The top band needs sustained comparison (both organisations weighed against the same criteria) and a judgement about whose power is greater and in what domain.
2022 VCAA-style (previous design)20 marks'Due to globalisation, states are not the central actors of global politics today.' To what extent do you agree?Show worked answer →
A 20 mark essay built around a clear position. Define globalisation (deepening interconnection of economies, communications and politics) and the claim that it has displaced states from the centre.
Argue a thesis. A strong, defensible line is that globalisation has empowered other actors (TNCs, IGOs, NGOs, non-state actors) and constrained states, but states remain central because they alone hold sovereignty, control territory, make binding law and command military force.
Body: weigh the evidence. For the claim, show TNCs such as Apple rivalling state economies, IGOs such as the EU binding members, and NGOs shaping agendas. Against it, show states reasserting control (border closures and economic intervention during COVID-19, sanctions and security policy over Ukraine) and note that other actors still operate within rules set by states.
The marks sit in the judgement: reach a sustained, evidenced position on "to what extent", using contemporary examples from the last 10 years and accurate key terms.