medlemsstaters

Medlemsstaters, in Scandinavian usage, refer to the member states of an international organization. They are sovereign states that participate in the organization's governance and policy making by accepting its treaties and rules.

Membership grants representation in the organization's institutions, participation in decision making, and access to collective benefits and markets, in exchange for obligations such as abiding by the organization's charter, contributing financially, and implementing agreed policies.

The specifics of how a state becomes a member, what it can vote on, and how it may be suspended or expelled vary by organization. In the European Union, accession requires meeting the Copenhagen criteria and ratification of the treaties; within the United Nations, membership is open to all peace-loving states that accept obligations of the UN Charter, and admission is decided by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council.

The concept is widely used in international relations and comparative politics to describe the collective entities that share rights, duties, and responsibilities within a given forum.