How the United Nations Works: Structure, Voting Rules and Global Governance

The United Nations was founded in 1945 when 51 countries signed the UN Charter at the San Francisco Conference, according to the organization's own account on un.org. It now counts 193 member states and is headquartered in New York, with major offices in Geneva, Vienna and Nairobi.

The Charter set up six main organs to run the organization: the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the Trusteeship Council, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and the Secretariat. Each has a distinct membership, voting system and mandate, which explains why UN decisions can move quickly on some issues and stall for years on others.

The General Assembly: one country, one vote

The General Assembly is described by the UN as its "chief deliberative, policymaking and representative organ," bringing together all 193 member states with one vote each. It approves the UN budget, sets member financial assessments, elects the non-permanent members of the Security Council, and appoints the Secretary-General on the Council's recommendation, according to un.org.

Voting rules differ by topic. Un.org states that a two-thirds majority is required for "important questions" — recommendations on peace and security, elections to the Security Council and ECOSOC, and budgetary matters — while a simple majority decides other questions. In practice, the UN notes that most resolutions are adopted without a formal vote, by consensus reached through prior negotiation among member states.

The Security Council: 15 seats, five vetoes

The Security Council, tasked under the Charter with primary responsibility for international peace and security, has 15 members: the five permanent members — China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States — and ten elected members serving two-year terms, according to the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and un.org. Each member has one vote, but non-procedural resolutions need the affirmative vote of nine members including all five permanent members' concurrence — meaning any one permanent member can block a resolution by voting no.

CFR reports that an abstention or absence by a permanent member does not count as a veto, and purely procedural decisions, such as setting a meeting agenda, cannot be vetoed at all. Since 1945, CFR says Russia (including the Soviet Union) has cast the most vetoes, 162, followed by the United States with 95, while France and the UK have not used the veto since 1989.

Who runs day-to-day operations

The Secretariat carries out the "day-to-day work of the UN as mandated by the General Assembly," according to un.org, with the Secretary-General as chief administrative officer. Under Article 97 of the Charter, the Secretary-General is appointed by the General Assembly on the Security Council's recommendation, according to un.org.

ECOSOC, with 54 members elected by the General Assembly to staggered three-year terms, coordinates economic, social and environmental policy across UN agencies, per un.org. The ICJ, seated in The Hague, settles legal disputes between states and issues advisory opinions. The Trusteeship Council, which once supervised territories moving toward independence, suspended operations on 1 November 1994 after its last trust territory achieved self-government, and now meets only if its president or a majority of members requests it.

Who pays for the UN

The regular budget is financed by assessed, mandatory contributions from all member states, calculated roughly every three years by the General Assembly using a formula based on gross national income, debt burden and per capita income, according to CFR. For 2026, CFR reports the regular budget was about $3.5 billion, with the United States assessed at 22 percent — the maximum ceiling allowed, roughly $760 million — and China at 20 percent, up from 6.3 percent in 1946.

Why reform is hard

CFR notes that countries including Brazil, Germany, India and Nigeria have pushed for expanded Security Council representation, arguing the current structure does not reflect today's geopolitics. Amending the Charter requires a two-thirds vote of member states that must include all five permanent members, which CFR describes as a high bar that has kept the Council's composition largely unchanged since 1945, even as criticism of veto-driven paralysis — including over the war in Ukraine — has grown.