Is Bruce Bueno de Mesquita's "selectorate theory" applicable to global governance? When the selectorate (in this case members of the international system) expands, for example decolonization after WW2, in order for the "hegemon" to sustain legitimacy, it is more likely to provide public goods instead of paying the "winning coalition" off--simply because it would be far too costly to provide private goods to every single member of the coalition. This might explain the effort of the US to promote public goods such as free trade.
I'm not sure whether BDM's theory can be applied like this, but it sure sounds interesting if it can. What do you think? Comments appreciated!
