INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND WORLD POLITICS (Theories)

1

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND WORLD POLITICS

Chapter Two: Theory© Amy Sancetta/AP Photo; page 23

Copyright © 2013, 2009, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved

2

THEORY

• An intellectual construct that predicts or explains the world by offering explanations for law-like regularities

– Predictions tend to be generalized (such as the proposition that states will balance powerful actors in the system) rather than specific (that war will break out at a particular point in time)

– Theories can point to factors that increase or decrease the probability of certain events.

– Theories generate hypotheses about the relationship between variables that can be tested


3

HYPOTHESES

• A hypothesis states a causal relationship between variables

– Dependent variable – the phenomenon that we seek to explain (i.e. the outbreak of war)

– Independent variable – the factors that may be causally related to the dependent variable (the existence of an arms race)

– Intervening variables – may affect the relationship between the independent and dependent variable

• A hypothesis (i.e. “an arms race between two states leads to war”) should be testable through quantitative or qualitative methods and should be formulated in such a way that it can be proven to be false


4

LEVELS OF ANALYSIS

• As a framework for thinking about events in the international system, the levels of analysis divide causal factors into three categories:

– Individual – including leaders, advisers, and other individuals in government or the private sector

– State/society – public opinion, economic, political, or cultural attributes of the state or society

– International system – relationships between states, alliances, organization, distribution of power

• The levels of analysis framework helps to organize factors that influence outcomes


5

LEVELS OF ANALYSIS


6

MAINSTREAM IMAGES

• Realism – focuses on the balance of power among states

• Liberalism – considers states as well as individuals and organizations

• Economic structuralism – emphasizes material economic factors and class relations

• English school – views international society as composed of rules, ideas, and institutions along with power


7

ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES

• These approaches question the modernist, positivist, or “scientific” approach to international relations/world politics

– Constructivism – emphasizes the importance of ideas and ideational structures in the constitution of our world

– Feminism – focuses on gender as key to understanding international relations/world politics

– Postmodernism – searches for meaning in language and communication

– Critical theory – sees underlying role of power and interest


8

REALISM

• The international system is anarchic, meaning that it lacks a “common power” or central authority to enforce peace

– States are independent and not subject to any other authority– Human nature draws people into conflict– Anarchy creates a competitive dynamic as states seek power and

security– The acquisition of power by states tends to create equilibrium within

the international system


9

LIBERALISM

• World politics includes many different types of actors who are interconnected

– Within the international system, states can cooperate with one another despite the existence of anarchy

– Liberalism takes an inclusive approach that includes states as well as other actors like individuals and organizations

– International institutions are important actors in their own right, beyond just providing a venue in which states can interact


10

ECONOMIC STRUCTURALISM

• The nature of world politics is shaped by the global economic context, including economic and material structures

– Important actors include economic classes or blocs of states defined by their economic position in the global economy

– States belong to either the economically developed “core,” the “periphery” of poor states, or the in-between class of the “semi-periphery.”

– The capitalist economic system acts as a constraint on all states, whether their domestic economies are capitalist or not


11

THE ENGLISH SCHOOL

• State and non-state actors form an international society, ordered by both power and norms

– The emphasis on international society underscores the human dimension of international relations, in contrast to other images that treat the system as functioning in a mechanistic fashion

– The English School perspective on international relations is compatible with the emergence of a global civil society


12

WORLD VIEW – INTERPRETIVE APPROACHES

• Interpretive approaches to international relations/world politics question the scientific assumptions made by the four mainstream images. Where the mainstream images strive for objective knowledge about the world, the interpretive approaches question the possibility of objectivity and incorporate subjective elements into their approaches


13

CONSTRUCTIVISM

• Challenges realists and liberals on their conceptions of the state and state interests, arguing that both are constructed and subject to change

– As subjects, humans develop ideas, including knowledge of the world around them

– Ideas that become widely accepted function as ideational structures that affect state actions

– “Agents” shape their social context, which in turn shapes their behaviors, interests, and identities


14

FEMINISM

• Focuses on the overlooked perspective of gender, with a particular commitment to the achievement of gender equality

– Gender categories of masculine and feminine are defined in opposition to one another, making gender important to both women and men

– Because gender and its effects are pervasive, feminist scholars argue that gender has important – if often overlooked – effects for states and other actors in the international system


15

CRITICAL THEORY AND POSTMODERNISM

• These approaches take issue with modernism/positivism for their attempts to (1) separate facts and values, (2) define an operationalize concepts into measurable values, and (3) test hypotheses drawn from theories

– Postmodernists seek to find and deconstruct subtext and meaning embedded in language

– Critical theorists want to expose power relationships that underlie world orders, particularly in cases where ideology holds itself out as science


16

ANSWERING THE CHALLENGES

• Supporters of modernism or positivism suggest that postmodernists misrepresent science, which subjects all truth claims to rigorous tests

• Interpretivist approaches do promote greater epistemological sensitivity


17

NORMATIVE THEORY

• In contrast to mainstream approaches, which seek to explain “what is,” normative theory is concerned with what “should be.”

– Normative theory seeks to provide guidelines for policymakers and others

– Normative theories address a range of issues, including war, poverty, and human rights

– Sense of intellectual inadequacy, or humility, fuels the concern with international ethics


18

CONCLUSION

• Theory provides a way to systematically engage reality, or some component of reality, by asking key questions, observing patterns, and noting anomalies
